Hay-Ku of the Day (Answer the Call)

By all means, “Do
Without” what your Heart Calls you
To “Do from Within.”

But only in the following context:

(A Link related to “Mother Mirror” HOTD)

https://www.facebook.com/richard.f.hay/posts/10215767773571938

Haiku of the Day (OOMM, Appendix H, The Caboose, “O Death, Where Is Thy Sting, O Grave, Where Is Thy Victory”)

A Thousand Haiku

Offer Correlative Views

Of the Truth I Am.

The Center of All

Conscious Attention is the

Heart of Awareness.

Thinking and being

Are mutually exclusive 

States of Awareness.

I am subject to

Mental objects the moment 

I think that I am.

Drugs and alcohol

Are rather clumsy attempts

To master one’s mind.

When I know I am 

Not only form but field, I am 

Not subject to death.

What I really need

To be saved from is myself 

As I “think” I am.

Christ without the cross 

Is a “futile attempt” to 

Save me from myself.

Suckered into a 

Choice between two opposites,

I am torn in two.

As the finger is 

One with the hand, so am 

I One with my Father.

“I can’t help myself”

Is one of the truest things

Mind will ever say.

Self-evident things

Bespeak Trans-Conceptual

Knowledge of being.

Free will relates

To my being free to think

Whatever I wish.

Think whatever you 

Wish, but be prepared to bear

The consequences.

A man cannot be

Subject to objects without

Thinking himself so.

Finding excuses 

To stay contracted is how 

An ego survives.

If the Truth Be Known,

Spirit is “up and in” and 

Flesh is “down and out.”

The Thread upon which

The Pearls of Life are strung is 

The Knowledge I Am.

As long as there is

One who thinks he’s separate

A cross is needed.

Born again in the

Spirit of God when I stop

Thinking otherwise.

Meditation serves

To de-fragment the Field of 

Awareness I Am.

“Be ye perfect” does 

Not call for perfect doing, 

But perfect being.

The only way I

Can be perfect is if God 

Is perfect in me.

The reason I can’t

See God is because

God’s the 

One who is looking.

The Name of God I 

Take in vain a thousand times 

A day is “I Am.”

Refusing to think

About a problem will cut

It off at the root.

“You don’t have to think 

That way!” offers sage advice 

Very few accept.

Rich Note:  Appendix H, “The Caboose, “O Death, Where Is Thy Sting, O Grave, Where Is Thy Victory,” in a “section by section” sampling of “Out of My Mind and Back to My Senses”(OOMM). For those whose interest might be piqued or experience a heartfelt resonance with what is shared, I would highly recommend downloading the Amazon Kindle sample of OOMM, as it effectively constitutes both a synoptic and seminal, 59 page “mini-book .”]

http://rfhay333.blogspot.com/?m=1

Hay-Ku of the Day (Mother Mirror)

Any attempt to

Change my world without changing

Myself is futile.

Any attempt to

Change your world without changing

Yourself is futile.

Any attempt to

Change our world without changing

Ourselves is futile.

(1) Neville Goddard-Wise:

“Leave the mirror and change your face. Leave the world alone and change your conceptions of yourself." --Neville Goddard

(2) Metaphor-Wise:

“Binoculars: A dual state of mind projects its relative limits in much the same way that looking through a pair of binoculars projects its circular limits. The mental screen of relative words and thoughts through which we look is similarly projected on the limitless horizons of consciousness. What we see is real, though the mental boundaries we unwittingly project are not. From this one might surmise that life is really some form of self-projection, both individual and collective, and that the world serves as a mirror in which it reflects. In this regard, both Scripture, which declares, “For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he . . .” (Pr.23:7), and quantum physics, which concludes that “the observer conditions his observations,” bear witness to the likelihood of this premise.”

Haiku of the Day (OOMM, Appendix G, Reading Strategies, “He Soever Seeks to Save His Life Shall Lose It”)

Relating to God

As other than I Am is

A fatal mistake.

I am a Divine

Self-Reflection conscious of

Relative Being. 

Beware, for one who

Judges becomes subject to

Absolute standards.

1.Use other haiku on the same page for potential contextual help.

All I now see are (1)

Self-reflected images 

Of divine being. 

Only a still mind (2) 

Reflects a perfect image 

Of Divine Glory. 

Divine reflections (3)

Shatter in turbulent minds as 
Sunlight on the sea. 

Prismatic rainbow (4) 

A coat of many colors 

Shattered white light. 

The thematic “common thread” in the above haiku is “light” and how it relates to or interacts with relative environments. In the first two, light is implicit in the “reflective” characterizations; in the third and forth it is explicit. The secondary thread is “mind” as a centrally referenced, self- reflective state of conscious awareness that serves as a “mirroring mechanism.” In this regard, a still mirror/mind reflects a perfect, whole and compete image; whereas a moving mirror distorts, or in the case of the sea metaphor, seems to “shatter” the image. Of course, the light is never really divided or shattered, either by the “turbulent mind” or the “prism,” but it truly seems so when the mind moves, becomes relative, and thereby introduces an adulterating prismatic effect on the “pure light” of awareness. 

(Note: Using strategy five, see 1 Corinthians 13:11–12 and John 1:4 for additional “light” with regard to the self- reflective and partial nature of relative/carnal mind, as it relates to the “Word” of God I Am, the Divine Conscious Awareness of Being from which all “Life” flows and “Light” radiates.) 

2. Identify the major theme or common tread that particular haiku reflect.

All I now see are (1) 

Self-reflected images (2/3)

Of divine being. (4)

(1) The non-relative and peaceful nature of a perfectly present mind. 

(2) The unitary nature of a mind that ceases all mental movement. 

(3) Both 1 and 2 restore the pre-conceptual, non-dual state of pure conscious awareness I Am. 

(4) The Pure Consciousness of Being I Am (The Son) is one with the Field of Absolute Awareness (The Father) in which it arises and into which it eventually resolves. 

(Note: Use strategy 3, as well, to recognize that to be perfectly present and/or mentally still both have the effect of restoring conscious awareness to a non-relative or unitary state, here and now; and, further, that a present mind becomes still and a still mind becomes present.) 

3. Seek to see how things are the same, rather than different: 

Peace is a state of (1) 

Pure consciousness in which all (2) Mental motion stops. (3) 

1) Peace implies a state of mind that is still, silent, present and unitary. 

2) Pure consciousness implies a non-dual (100% and thus unitary) state of awareness that is still and, thus, peaceful because of its non-relativity. 

3) When all mental motion ceases the field of one’s awareness becomes unmoved, non-linear and peaceful. 

4. Read each haiku as if it were prose or a saying: 

Man’s option to be (1) 

Perfectly self-aware is 

Seldom exercised. 

Paying attention (2) 

To material matters 

Instead of being. 

(1) Man’s option to be perfectly self-aware is seldom exercised. 

(2) (We are) Paying attention to material matters instead of being. 

5. Correlate individual haiku with the Foundational Scripture referenced in Appendix F. 

At all times I pray (1)

To be still and know I Am (2) 

Hid with Christ in God. (3)  

(1) Pray unceasingly. (1 Th. 5:17) 

(2) Be still and know that I am God . . . (Ps. 46:10) 

(3) For ye are dead and your life is hid with Christ in God. (Col. 3:3)

[Rich Note:  Appendix G, “Reading Strategies, “He Soever Seeks to Save His Life Shall Lose It,” in a “section by section” sampling of “Out of My Mind and Back to My Senses”(OOMM). For those whose interest might be piqued or experience a heartfelt resonance with what is shared, I would highly recommend downloading the Amazon Kindle sample of OOMM, as it effectively constitutes both a synoptic and seminal, 59 page “mini-book .”]

http://rfhay333.blogspot.com/?m=1

Hay-Ku of The Day (OOMM, Appendix F, Foundational Scripture, “Thy Words Were Found and I did Eat Them.”]

God the Father of

All is a Name given to

The Absolute One.

The Access Code for

The Divine Mind is Being

Consciously Aware.

At the Heart of All

Is the Consciousness I Am

Fully Self-Aware.

Related Present Day Pop-Ups:

Christ in You” is the

“Aware Presence of Being

I Am” Here and Now.

“Christ in You” is the

“Perfect Self-Knowledge” the “Light

Of Awareness” Is.

“Christ in You” is the

“Divine Self-Knowledge” at the

“Heart of Awareness.”

“Christ in You” is the

“Perfect Self-Knowledge” of the

“Light of Awareness.”

“Christ in You” is the

“Radiant Self-Knowledge” of

“The Father of All.”

Christ in You” is the

“Divine Self-Knowledge” of the

“Absolute Father.”

The “Living Word of

God” is the “Knowledge I Am”

“Conscious of Being.”

(A Sampling of Seminal Scriptural Favorites from Appendix F)

“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. (Jn. 1:1) 

In him was life: and the life was the light of man. (Jn. 1:4)

“And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not. (Jn.1:5)

“And God said unto Moses, I AM THAT I AM: and he said, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, I AM hath sent me unto you. (Ex. 3:14)

“...this is my name forever, and this is my memorial unto all generations. (Ex. 3:15) 

“I am the LORD: that is my name; and my glory will I not give to another, neither my praise to graven images. (Isa. 42:8) 

“Be still and know that I am God . . . (Ps. 46:10)

“...for I am God and not man; the holy one in the midst of thee; and I will not enter into the city. (Hos. 11:9)

“... for I am God and not man; the holy one in the midst of thee; and I will not enter into the city. (Hos. 11:9)

“Thy words were found, and I did eat them; and thy word was unto me the joy and rejoicing of mine heart: for I am called by thy me name O LORD God of hosts. (Jer. 15:16)

“For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. (Rom. 10:13)

“One God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all. (Eph. 4:6) 

For in him we live, and move, and have our being: as certain also of your poets have said, For we are also his offspring. (Acts 17:28) 

“Be ye therefore perfect, even as your father which is in heaven is perfect. (Mt. 5:48)

“To whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. (Co. 1:27) 

“Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: because he trusted in thee. (Isa. 26:3) 

“I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet hall he live: and whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die. Believeth thou this? (Jn. 11:25, 26) 

“Behold, I stand at the door and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me. (Rev. 3:20)

“If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you. (Jn. 15:7) 

“For he is our peace, who has made both one, and hath broken down the middle wall of partition between us; (Eph. 2:14)

“Having abolished in his flesh the enmity, even the law of commandments contained in ordinances for to make in himself twain one new man, so making peace; (Eph. 2:15)

“And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect will of God. (Rom. 12:2)

“But speaking the truth in love, may grow up into him in all things, which is the head, even Christ. (Eph. 4:15)

“I am he who liveth, and was dead; and behold, I am alive forever more. Amen; and have the keys of hell and of death. (Rev. 1:18)

“And the glory which thou gavest me I have given them: that they may be one even as we are one. I in them, and thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one; (Jn. 17: 22–23)

“...Awake thou that sleepeth, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall give thee light. (Eph. 5:13,14)

“As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.” John 9:5 KJV

“Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on an hill cannot be hide. (Mt. 5:14) 

The light of the body is the eye; if therefore thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be full of light. But if thine eye be evil, thy whole body shall be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is in thee be darkness, how great is that dark- ness! (Mt. 6:22–23) 

“Arise, shine; for thy light is come, and the glory of the LORD is risen upon thee. (Isa. 60:1)

“Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus; who being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God; But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of man. (Phil. 2:5–7)

“For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind. (2 Tim. 1:7)

“For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he: Eat and drink, saith he to thee; but his heart is not with thee. (Pr. 23:7)

“When I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child: but when I became a man I put away childish things. For now we see through a glass darkly; but then face to face; now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known. (1 Co. 13:11, 12)

“I am crucified with Christ, never the less, I live, yet not I but Christ liveth in me: and the life that I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me. (Gal. 2:20)

“Wither shall I go from thy spirit? Or wither shall I flee from thy presence?

I am the living bread which came down from heaven: if any man eat of this bread, he shall live for ever: and the bread that I will give is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world. (Jn. 6:51)

“I am the door: by me if any man enter in, he shall be saved, and shall go in and out, and find pasture. (Jn. 10:9) 

“And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me. (Jn. 12:32)

“I am the good shepherd: the good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep . . . I am the good shepherd, and know my sheep, and am known of mine. (Jn. 10:11, 14)

“I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing. (Jn. 15:5)

“I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending, saith the Lord, which is, and which was, and which is to come, the Almighty.” Revelation 1:8 KJV

“Ye shall not need to fight in this battle : set yourselves, stand ye still , and see the salvation of the Lord with you, O Judah and Jerusalem: fear not, nor be dismayed; to morrow go out against them: for the Lord will be with you.” 2 Chronicles 20:17 KJV

“!Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light. (Mt 11:28–30)

[Rich Note:  Appendix F, “Foundational Scripture, Thy Words Were Found and I did Eat Them,” in a “section by section” sampling of “Out of My Mind and Back to My Senses”(OOMM). For those whose interest might be piqued or experience a heartfelt resonance with what is shared, I would highly recommend downloading the Amazon Kindle sample of OOMM, as it effectively constitutes both a synoptic and seminal, 59 page “mini-book .”]

http://rfhay333.blogspot.com/?m=1

Hay-Ku of The Day [OOMM, Appendix E, “The Heart Box” (Alternately Titled: The Perfect Gift), The Ark of the New Covenant]

The Door upon which

The Lord knocks is within

And opens without.

I Am reborn when

Consciousness returns to a

Non-relative state.

Origin of the Heart Box (The Perfect Gift ) 

The heart box actually evolved from a synthesis of several meditations. The first involved opening the windows and doors of my mental house to the Light of God, in order to allow Him to penetrate my inner darkness. The second of these involved releasing all fear, as an emotional contraction of my heart, and so allowing my heart to remain open and loving in the face of vain imagining about outward appearance. The third concerned the idea that my self-image, or ego, as a by-product of my relative consciousness (carnal mind), was little more than a mental mirror. Only in the case of my ego, this self-reflective mechanism produced the self- limiting equivalent of prison walls because of the habitual self-preoccupation it tends to induce. This as a direct result of an inherent bias towards, identification with and attachment to form; a very real tendency which similarly predisposes me to define a physical room in terms of its surrounding walls, instead of the inner space which is more truly its nature. 

Well, to make a long story short, I got a bit carried away one day and decided to go beyond opening the windows and doors of this mental house of mine. I decided to go all the way with God—to raise my mental roof and drop the mental walls I thought I had erected between myself and Him. In the very moment that I did, however, I had a rather profound insight—an unfolded box, such as the mental house of my ego, was really a self-enfolded and enclosed cross! God was not only out there, he was in here! I was not merely an isolated, separate, self-enclosed box. I had a hidden capacity to be ever so much more—- to make of myself a living cross through which the Spirit of Divine Love might be made manifest. A Divine Child who never-the-less remained hidden in the darkened recesses of my own self-enfolded, egocentric, carnal nature until I was ready and willing to take up my cross daily and follow Him.

What a wonderful image—my own mental house, closed and dark, finally completely opened to God’s Light, Life and Love, a living revelation of His own Heart—His very own Son shining forth from the midst of that once dark mental glass of mine. Thus, in the face of all appearance, all my self-imagined fears, all I had to do was remember to keep His Heart open and unboxed. Needless to say, I fell in love with the imagery, and immediately sought to translate it into a concrete and tangible reminder of “Christ In You, the Hope of Glory,” and the heart/box/cross was born. May The Perfect Gift serve as a constant reminder of God’s Perfect Gift—Eternal Life through Christ Jesus. May it also help us remember to keep our mental boxes open in the face of adversity, to keep our love for one another ever flowing, to crucify our self-love and self-interest on the cross of here and now, and, thereby, to allow the Love of God in us to shine forth in all its Glory. 

1992

P.S.  The number of Heart Boxes (HB) made and shared over the previous 14 years is now up to 141. Original versions were made with mahogany and held together with brass hinges. Subsequent boxes have been made of nearly every wood imaginable, including some rather exotic laminates that used birch and black walnut.

[Rich Note:  Appendix E, “The Heart Box,” (Alternately Titled: The Perfect Gift), “The Ark of the New Covenant,” a “section by section” sampling of “Out of My Mind and Back to My Senses”(OOMM). For those whose interest might be piqued or experience a heartfelt resonance with what is shared, I would highly recommend downloading the Amazon Kindle sample of OOMM, as it effectively constitutes both a synoptic and seminal, 59 page “mini-book .”]

http://rfhay333.blogspot.com/?m=1

Hay-Ku of The Day (OOMM, Appendix D, “Early Insights, Come Let Us Reason Together”)

Life is Here and Now

Death is always there and then

God’s in the Balance.

Being Consciously

Aware as I Am is the

Son of God in All.

THE TONGUES OF MEN AND ANGELS

“Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, and I have not love, I AM become as sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal.” 1 Cor. 13:1 

No matter how exalted my present state of relative being may seem; no matter how nearly the “word” of egocentric existence comes to “speaking” the absolute “Truth,” the divinity now attempting to express itself through the vehicle of my being remains but a weak reflection, a muffled echo, a dim shadow of the infinitude which lies within the non- relative, self-existent, unconditioned portion of my being. For the Christ within, the indwelling and innermost “I,” the “I AM” of self-existent being—the True Word unbound by the conditional “this or that” of relativity—must remain silent. Ever blocked from expressing the full extent of its infinite nature until such time as natural man’s dualistic mode of consciousness, and the relative state of being it gives rise to, is transcended; until mankind’s erroneous division of consciousness into “self and other” is recognized for the congenital lie it was at inception and now continues to be. For only with a full realization of the Truth—that being the fundamental unity of all consciousness—will all falsehood return to its original state of non-existence, even as the darkness must cease to exist in the presence of the Light. But that Truth may not fully manifest until self- conscious man’s implicit faith in separation, as bespoken in selfish thought and deed, is supplanted by a bedrock belief in the indivisible unity of all creation. No, not until the faith and certainty born of a re-fusion of self-consciousness with All Consciousness—of the relatively perceived part with the whole from which it was cleaved—finally occurs can the full potential now lying dormant within man be brought to its ultimate fruition . . . Yet the degree to which such perfection may be made manifest through man in his position as the crowning glory of creation depends entirely on the extent to which his natural tendency toward self-consciousness ceases to block and thus make relative what would otherwise manifest as a perfect expression of limitless being; so ceases to block the absolute freedom implicit in the unconditioned, self-existent, all-originating state of consciousness that lies at the very root of his being.

STATISTICAL ENLIGHTENMENT

BILL - I did a little statistical analysis which you might find interesting. Based on a two parameter analysis (sim- ple linear) I found that there was a significant, direct cor- relation between our 100% intellectual encounters and the recency of your release of creative energy. From a predic- tive standpoint, you will be 100% intellectual, 0% heart on the day immediately following release of your creative energy. You are more likely to be 0% intellectual, 100% heart on the day of or the day immediately preceding re- lease of your creative energy. The sample consisted of 15 observations over a two year history of our encounters, and a scale based on intellectual/heart of 1–10. Booze was not included in the parameters. Correlation was .98, T-value was 2.46, and COEF of determination was .96. Significant? 

RICH - COMMENTS: Based upon the current “self-im- posed” constraints and limitations of the organism [RE: finite energy levels whose discharge necessitates periodic down-time for recharge (also applicable to physical energy as well, i.e. sleep, etc.)] and assumption of all duties by a cybernetic servo-mechanism which sometimes gets con- fused and thinks it’s in charge, I concur with your findings. 

RICH - ANALYSIS: I find the circumstances surrounding the existence of this particular mechanism to be quite similar to that of a simple storage battery in need of a periodic re- charge from a continuous energy source. Such a mechanism cannot truly be differentiated from its source, regardless of their apparent differences, for they are both but separate ex- pressions of one and the same energy, and thus identical in essence. Consequently, any alienation of the battery from its source is purely illusionary, for they can never truly be parted. Once this is recognized, it becomes clear that the batteries only real limitation, periodic depletion, is simply the result of its own isolation. The solution to this “fatal flaw” is obvious. Exchange the battery for a wire, whose own nature is emptiness but whose true value lies in that emptiness, and keep it constantly connected to its energy source. In that way the battery is “hot wired” directly to its source and be- comes, both in fact and in essence, one with it. Having thus exchanged the container (a storage battery) for a vessel (a wire), the only essential difference remaining between giver and receiver becomes one of magnitude, defined in terms of volume (space) and rate (time). 

Substituting a conduit resolved the difficulty of accepting an infinite supply and reducing resistance to zero will, in like manner, allow acceptance of an infinite rate. Once this bond is completely established (renewed?) the energy between the two will equalize and the receiver in actuality, as well as in essence, will become one and so equivalent with its source. 

RICH - EXTRAPOLATION: If “self-conscious,” rational, two dimensional, linear man is viewed as just such a battery and God his infinite, external energy source, then this analogy would seem to imply that man, while not God (for the battery is not its source) has within him the potential to become one with God. All he need do is “open” himself (become a wire) and allow God’s essence (the eternal energy of the universe) to flow through him, rather than constraining it as even the most enlightened of us do. The question of resistance is just as simply resolved. It is the “self,” the rational consciousness that we often refer to as the ego, the I who knows, that impedes the flow and is the cause of all resistance. Become selfless, become love, reduce this resistance to zero, and your birthright will manifest. 

I’ve offered this for what it may be worth to you in you search, for each of us, whether we realize it or not, are searching for the same thing in everything we do, either consciously or otherwise. Although we may know it not, we are all on the same path. It differs only in outward manifestation because of the limited perspective of individual self-consciousness. 

P.S. This is not a recording, the malfunction in the auto-pilot (copilot) was recently adjusted and is now functioning in a less limited manner. 

1978

NATUREII

(Written in response to the following comment by Myron Q. Synergy on the Jersey Devil BBS in 1987): 

“By the way, you must have noticed that ‘nature’ does NOT have what we consider to be our ‘best interests’ in mind . . .” 

Why, Myron Q, you noticed too! Think she’s trying to tell us something?—something to the affect that we’re acting counter to our own long-term best interests. The operative words are “what we consider,” for what we see as desirable and good for us is subject to considerable subjective bias. Nature, on the other hand, has a much longer time-horizon and is considerably more objective. For Nature is an impersonal force or trend—intelligent, but blind—which moves according to the natural or preordained or generic order of things, in a consistent, logical and specific pattern. It is not subject to the personal bias and individual short sightedness of mankind and, as such, can be very unfeeling with regard to personal desires that run counter to its natural movement. 

The following thoughts also came to me:

1) For the scientifically minded:

“Nature knows and we’re guessing!” 

2) For the religious minded:

“God knows and we’re guessing!”

3) From the preacher in me: 

On what basis do we as human beings—relative states of mind and consciousness—with our partial and circumscribe perspective, “judge” what is ultimately in our own “best interests”?

4) From the parent: 

The child, being “spanked” for playing with matches, seldom sees it in his “best interest.” Yet, though the child seldom considers the “spanking” to be “ultimately good,” the “parent,” who is concerned for the child’s long term welfare, does. 

5) From the behaviorist: 

The pain associated with putting one’s had in the fire is seldom seen to be in the “best interests” of the individual so burned. Seen from a less personal and more objective perspective, however, the pain has a very “good” purpose—to get one’s attention and prevent the loss of the entire organism (ie. careful of the type, but careless of the individual, etc.). 

6) From the naturalist: 

In truth, there are not two natures, yours and nature’s; but one nature, and if the will of “mother nature” appears to run counter to that of her “offspring,” it is fairly obvious which is the “wild hair” and must be tamed, and which serves the “ultimate good.”

7) From the psychologist: 

One who takes things “personally” is subject to “subjective bias.” Nature, on the other hand, has no such flaw in her mental vision; as an impersonal or blind force, she is not subject to such near-sightedness—a disorder that may be referred to as “mental myopia.”

😎 From the metaphysician:

There are several analogies that I have written pieces on previously that go along way towards illustrating the true futility of our present predicament—interestingly enough, they all involve water in one form or another:

(1) In the first case, let’s suppose that we have come to the beach for the day to enjoy the ocean; not to stay, but just for a temporary visit. Let’s further assume that we are in the water and after diving in hit our head on a rock; a collision that results in a temporary case of amnesia in which we forget who and what we are, why we are there, and where we came from.

Let’s further suppose that, for one reason or the other, we come to believe that our home was not on dry land, on the beach, but far out to sea. Faced with this circumstance, we would quite naturally attempt to swim against the waves to return to the “seeming home” that our mistaken perspective created in an otherwise “blank mind.” The “waves,” for their part, as part of the natural or higher order, would in fact actually be an ally with respect to their natural tendency to carry us back to our “true home” on the beach. Trouble is we, in our unconscious condition—at least unconscious in terms of who and what we were—would not be likely to catch that subtlety. Based on a mistaken premise that our home was out to sea, we would more likely attempt to swim against and fight the waves, and see them as “bad” from our limited, partial and imperfect perspective. 

The eventual result would of course be that the “greater aggregate energy” of the ocean, as manifest in the waves, would wear us down and carry us to where we belonged (subconsciously wanted and need to go) anyway—to our home on the beach. Our state upon arrival, either conscious or unconscious, would, of course, depend entirely on whether we “woke up” and realigned ourselves with the “natural flow” of the ocean towards our home on the beach. 

In this respect, the secret thus lies in consciously recognizing that our “higher nature,” in the form of the “ocean” (oceanic form?) is ever in the process of carrying us home—of going where we truly want and need to go, but just don’t know it— though we certainly don’t see or feel it that way. For in having done so, one may thus relax, get himself a “surf board,” and, as the credit card ad used to say, “master the possibilities” and in so doing give the blind energy of nature the added dimension of self-aware intelligence—your intelligence; the controlling and directive force that is the birthright of your “consciousness of consciousness.”

(2) The other analogy that comes to mind, is in the case of a man who finds himself in a river and believes that his home is in the mountain from which the river seems to originate, and not the ocean, where the river truly originates. He can “see” where the river obviously comes from—at least in terms of relative sight and sense—but he can’t see, or for all intensive purpose forgets, that “river water” is just “ocean water” that has undergone a rather length process of evolution. For the “river,” in reality, is just the “ocean” in another form, and a temporary one at that; a form whose very nature causes it to ever seek and return to the sea. 

This evolutionary process of the “river” evolving back into the “ocean,” is, of course, preceded by what may be called an in-volutionary (conscious involvement and personal identification, if one were talking in terms of Universal Consciousness or Spirit) process whereby the “ocean water” evaporates, is distilled into rain and transported to the “mountain top”; where upon it once again beings its long journey to the “sea.” 

To return to the analogy of the man and his circumscribe sense of being, he would quite naturally come to think that his home was on the mountain. After all, that is obviously where he and the river have come from. As a result, he would have a natural (unnatural is truer) tendency to swim against the natural current or order of things and so run counter to Nature. Again, as in the case of the waves and the ocean, the river has a lot more latent and potential energy going for it, and so our ignorant swimmer must eventually exhaust himself and pass into relative unconsciousness. At that point, he would be carried to the ocean in a relatively un-evolved state of awareness. 

The secret, again, lies in recognizing the natural order of things—aligning yourself with that natural order, which may be viewed as your “elder brother” or “higher self,” as it were—and enjoying both the trip and the lovely scenery along the way. This is truly learning to go with the “flow of nature”—the Taoists call it the “watercourse way”; truly learning to align oneself with  the latent power of the “river or wave” and so becoming its master. This, by first giving into it, becoming one with it (in mind, as well as fact), and having done so, using one’s mind and conscious intelligence as a directive and controlling force for the evolutionary advancement of all; thus, in effect, giving blind and mindless nature a vehicle through which it may manifest conscious intelligence—which, after all, is and always was the intended function of “man” (I use the term generically, for a woman is and always was exactly that—a womb-man).

Seen in this light, we, as conscious states of mind and being, are nothing more than “nature” become conscious of itself as such. This river and wave analogy also pretty well describes the idea of “fate and predestination,” as related to “free will.” Put simply, we’re all going back to the “ocean,” whether we like it or not; how we get there, on the other hand, and in what relative frame of mind or state of consciousness— conscious, unconscious, or somewhere in between—we arrive is entirely up to us.

Truth of the matter is, the “ocean” is our “true nature”; and our manifest destiny, as it were, is to return to that original state of mind, consciousness and being. Or, to put it more nostalgically, our destiny is to return “home,” to return from whence we came. Though we may know it not, this is what we seek subconsciously in everything we do, in every attempt to find peace and rest, in every attempt to be done with constant “becoming” and finally to “become”—to become fulfilled, whole, complete, perfect and done with all lesser states of mind and being. Recognizing this, any conscious reluctance or resistance to this trip must be born of ignorance.

(3) This has nothing to do with nature, per se, but our present circumstance may also be likened to a drowning man clinging to what he thinks is a life raft—a life raft which in the higher scheme of things is really an anchor. Given such a mistaken perspective, it matters little whether his ultimate good is served by taking it away from him. Just try to take that apparent life raft away and see how rational his response is? 

In a similar vein, we all mistakenly cling to the “false gods” of relative consciousness—temporal and transitory states or conditions of mind and being—in the unreasonable and illogical hope that they will eventually bring lasting peace and permanent happiness. Thus, do we unwittingly attach ourselves to “dead matter,” that which by its very nature must eventually fall back into the “divine dust” from which it necessarily arose. The true sorrow in all this is that if we insist on our attachment to matter and the things of matter, matter will inevitably bring mind and consciousness—as a “higher form of being”—down with it. Worst yet, by so defining happiness in temporal terms—relative states and conditions of transitory being—we, as fundamental states of mind and consciousness, unwittingly decree our own unhappiness as a function of their relative and inevitable absence. This, in turn, has the very real and practical affect of turning what was originally intended to be a “joy ride,” into a “nightmare.” 

1986

[Rich Note:  Appendix D, “Early Insights, Come Let Us Reason Together,” in a “section by section” sampling of “Out of My Mind and Back to My Senses”(OOMM). For those whose interest might be piqued or experience a heartfelt resonance with what is shared, I would highly recommend downloading the Amazon Kindle sample of OOMM, as it effectively constitutes both a synoptic and seminal, 59 page “mini-book .”]

http://rfhay333.blogspot.com/?m=1