Why Fear the Occult?

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The Art of Peace

Most of us have heard of the "Art of War" by Sun Tzu. For those who aren't familiar with it, The Art of War is one of the oldest and most successful books on military strategy. Personally, I love the fact that Sun Tzu's philosophy makes it clear that "the peak efficiency of knowledge and strategy is to make conflict altogether unnecessary."

In other words, the ideal strategy in war is to win without fighting and accomplish the most by doing the least. This is a Taoist philosophy, and like any perception of great depth, it might appear as a paradox at first.

Although a seeming contradiction, it can be recognized that the goal of any and all conflict, or war is to achieve a greater peace. The illusion of opposites does indeed make it hard to see at times. We can realize this though simply by looking at the root intention of those involved in the conflict. We can also realize that conflict actually helps define what peace is. Peace gives conflict a meaning just the same. Without one, the other would be a constant and therefore unnoticeable. They are two sides of the same coin. They are one.

To further illustrate, check out the similarities in the best fighters and the most peaceful people:

The best warriors are able to maintain a calm in battle. They can be in full motion, yet maintain a stillness with in. They are able to adapt to whatever the circumstances are and make the absolute best out of the situation.

The people best at staying peaceful, blissful, and all around happy are people with the ability to adapt to life just as the best warriors who ever lived. They are able to adapt to whatever the circumstances are and make the absolute best out of the situation.

The art of peace and the art of war have a whole lot in common!

Related posts:
The Pure Paradox
The Illusion of Opposites
The Peace Loving Warrior

Feel The Love

Have you ever received a message, a gift, a letter, or any kind of reminder from another that made you really feel the intent of love with in it? I'm talking about that feeling of being filled with love to the point of overflowing from with in.

This has happened to me recently. It brought to light the realization that we can only ever feel what is already with in us. We always already have what ever we feel.

In other words, the fact that we can receive only a material reminder that can act as a trigger to release such great feelings within makes it only too obvious that the source of love was not external, but internal.

It can be likened to a faucet that we have inside. When opened, this faucet will flow out an infinite amount of love. This "love tap" is totally under our control, but we do not have control over it until we become conscious of it. While aware of it's existence, we can feel this unending flow of love overflowing with in us. While unaware of it, we unconsciously squeeze off the flow, believing the source to be external.

Ever realize that no matter how much they try, no one can actually make you feel their love? Some one can attempt to give you the world and unless you are in the right mood, you will not appreciate it. Once again, the source of all love realized by a conscious being is internal.

You only feel what is already there!

The only reason why you do not feel it at times is because you are closing off the faucet that would be gushing at full pressure all the time. The only way we manage to do this is to lose consciousness of this fact. And the only way we lose consciousness of this is to be overly influenced by the individual ego identity, getting caught up and trapped in the external illusion.

Don't think. Feel. Feel the love.

Related posts:

• Love Is Our Nature
• What Is Love?
  

Out The Box

Most people live in a box. Many will go through their whole lives without making a conscious effort to get out of this box.

This box is made of identity concepts and past experiences. Within this box, all contentment and happiness is short lived. You are also subject to several levels of stress and suffering.

Outside the box there is only peace. This peace is expressed in countless ways. Joy, excitement, enthusiasm and freedom are a few forms of this peace.

To get out the box, you first have to notice that there is a box. This box is very real, although it is invisible to your five basic senses. Many times people confuse the box for who they really are.

When the box starts to get damaged, they believe that they, themselves have been damaged. Some times, it takes a box getting nearly completely destroyed before people start to wake up and notice that they are not their boxes.

Are you ready to get out of the box? If you have caught glimpses of being out, are you ready to stay out? To learn how, read What Is Really Good? and stay tuned!

Related posts

• Shatter Proof
• Growing Pains
• Either Master or Slave
  

Blinding Light and Blinding Darkness

Light is often talked about as the solution to darkness. This perspective does, however, buy into the illusion of opposites. (See Illusion of Opposites) As discussed in The Power of Light/Love, it is all really of the same thing. In other words, there is really only light. Everything else is varying degrees of light or a lack of light. Darkness is often vilified because of the illusion of opposites and the duality that is created as a result.

To illustrate this; take a good look at the relationship of light and darkness and the way we need both of them equally. A person could not use light to see without darkness. To have an over abundance of light would leave us in the same condition as having no light. Definition of any kind could not be observed. Total light is blindness just as total darkness is blindness.

It is the varying degrees and resulting shades of light that give us the opportunity to define our world. Our surroundings vary in color and shades of light allowing us to give definition to what we see. The same may be said for sound and silence, matter and space, and movement and stillness. One could not exist without the other. As a result, it stands to reason that they are one in the same; utterly indivisible.

Leaving behind the idea that light is good and darkness is evil is to transcend the old and relative paradigm that is ego based. The ego thrives off of duality. There must be another for the ego to be relevant. If there is only oneness, the ego loses it's identity; it loses it's purpose. It loses it's power.

Logic will agree that if something is indivisible, then it must be one. It is all one. It is all good. It is all light.

The Illusion

Many philosophers have pondered the nature of reality and often questioned if it is real or merely an illusion. Albert Einstein said, "Reality is an illusion, albeit a persistent one." The ancient teachings in many spiritual scriptures and religions refer to our reality as an illusion as well. Hinduism, to name one, refers to this illusion as 'Maya'.

What is it about the nature of reality that could possibly have philosophers, religions, and science all in agreement? What raises doubt of the authenticity of what we experience our universe to be?

Dreams are an excellent clue to point to the fact that we may experience a reality that is not necessarily real. In the middle of a dream, we are convinced that it is real and we react to everything as if we are physically going through it. In fact, the dream is real. It is just as real as your waking life in the moment you are experiencing it. When you realize that reality is all created in your brain, the source of the stimulus is irrelevant. The end result is exactly the same. Whether you are actually walking down a country road in the physical world or you are dreaming that you are doing so, the electrical activity in your brain is virtually identical. In other words, your brain does not know the difference.

From the scientific point of view, when you examine what the physical world is made of, you will come to realize that it is made of mostly empty space and energy. Matter that was once thought of as solid is actually mostly "not there". What is there is merely vibrating energy. On top of these mind boggling facts, it has also been documented that the act of observing and the intention of the observer actually influence what is being observed. In other words, we shape this vibrating energy.

Spiritual teachings have been speaking of this now scientifically documented information for thousands of years. However, today it is easier than ever to connect the dots. It is easier than ever to inform yourself and see through this illusion that we all live in. It is easier than ever to awaken from this dream.

For more on this and related concepts, read What Is Really Good? and stay tuned!

The Illusion of Opposites

You've heard that opposites attract. You've probably also heard that like attracts like. So which one is it? It can't be both. Can it? Actually it is both. The reason why is because the concept of opposites is an illusion.

You have probably heard it many times before. You've heard the stories of people who had arguments or even physical altercations when they first met. Funny enough and often enough; these people then end up as close friends. Some people may call this opposites attracting. On the surface it would seem that way.

Why does this happen? These people are very much alike. This is the reason they had an initial conflict and it is the reason why they would become close as friends. (Another paradox.)

Here is an excerpt from What Is Really Good? on the subject:

The DNA for all humans is over 99% identical. It is the negligible difference; the remaining less than 1%; that gives us the infinite differences among us.

It's kind of like the snowflakes of a blizzard. There are countless trillions of them and yet every one of them is different. They are all made of the same stuff; the same composition; and the one piece of content they differ on gives us the same overwhelming ratio of similarities to differences.

Think about how much more similar opposing forces are to each other than different. EX: Police and violent criminals, armies of opposing nations, gang bangers from opposing gangs, social and political activists of opposing sides on an issue, opposing sides in any contest (sports, academics, business, social, intellectual, etc.); basically any and every situation of conflict imaginable. The only difference in these mostly similar and opposing forces is the piece of content they differ on. This piece of content is which side of the whole they are identified with; which polarity of the situation they are aligned with; which relative opposite they would like to oppose. For the most part, besides this factor, the opposing sides are overwhelmingly similar.

The illusion of opposites is simply an extreme in the overall illusion of duality. There can be no object with out a subject. Funny enough; the extreme nature of an opposite, points more to the similarity the two things have.

The nature of duality is that there can be no negative without a positive; there can be no left without a right; there can be no up without a down, etc. Since one can not possibly exist without the other, it stands to reason that they are one in the same.
They are not separate from each other.
They are not a "they". They are an "it".
What is "it"?
"It" is.