Part One – Awakening
I want to float a thought by you. It is radical. I warn you in advance that if you accept the premise, you will be forever transformed. It will cause you to question everything you believe. It will probably cause acute cognitive dissonance. However, it is extremely empowering.
It is this: Your existence is in extreme peril. I am not just talking about your temporal physical existence. Yes, your physical existence is at peril. The extinction of the human race is a very real possibility these days. The odds are about 50/50. However, I am talking about your metaphysical existence. The death of your spiritual essence. – Or Infinitude. The choice is yours.
I know that some of you have already come to the conclusion that when you come to the end of your life on Planet Earth, that that is the end. Period. No reprieve. No trip to heaven. No reincarnation. No soul that lives on. No life after death in any form. If that (Atheism) is already your firm stance, then this essay is not for you. Pack it up. Read no further. Go ride the roller coaster. Pop that Champagne cork. Chow down on hedonism. Or, perhaps, you might agree with the course of action presented here; so you might benefit from the read.
I also know that many of you (about 2.5 billion) have some vague background memetic going on that says that you will survive the eventual decay and dissolution of your physical body. A belief in Jesus offers you hope for eternal life singing with the choirs of angels. A belief in Allah will bring you to heaven, with or without a gaggle of virgins. Perhaps you are one of Jehovah’s chosen people and get a free pass to the afterlife.
There are also somewhat more than 2.5 billion folks who believe to some degree that they will get a ‘do over’, another life to live in the quest to become enlightened and achieve Satori. Reborn into new life, determined by how well you lived out this life. Maybe come back as a buddha. Perhaps as a grasshopper. But, back you will come, depending on Dharma and Karma, to have another chance to prove that life goes on; and so do you, even if you do not remember it at the time.
And, of course, there are an unknown number of folks who have some idea of the soul just hanging out here on this planet, in this dimension, as some sort of adventure to play out while the godhead goes about exploring what is to ‘To Be’ whilst empowering you, as an individual aspect of itself, to expand upon that exploration. The fifth dimension awaits. Ascension awaits. The Pleiadians await. Kinda up in the air; but guaranteed to be ‘fucking far out’.
A few just say, “Whatever… I’ve got this life and I will do the best I can with it. What happens after that, happens. And I have no control over that. I will just live my life as best as I can and see what happens.’’ Pragmatic types. You gotta respect them.
Some worship other gods, goddesses, fallen angels, gurus, future saviours, ancient aliens or wood nymphs. Dance. Sing. Chant. Twirl round and round. Eat mushrooms. Practice tantra in the woods. Worship the great mystery. Honour the sacred. Respect the divine. Aspire to become at one with the All that is All.
And then there are that select few who have given up or traded their soul in return for whatever temporal riches they have lusted after. Lost and never to be found or redeemed from their infection of psychopathy.
No matter what belief system you have adopted (except you devout atheists who likely have quit reading by now and you psychopaths who will not likely read any of this), you have faith that, or confidently expect that, or maybe just hope that you have a soul or some essence that predates and survives the experience of life on Planet Earth. That when you shed this mortal coil, the real immortal you will continue on somehow, perhaps even with a sense of personal identity that includes the ‘you’ you now know. In any case, you would like to believe that your spiritual essence survives and thrives.
Although I have said before (somewhat tongue in cheek) that you should consider the idea that life is not some test you must pass in order to reap some reward; that life is the reward for a test you have already taken; and that you get to decide whether you have passed or failed that test, I am now putting it to you that your final exam is at hand.
What this critical test will determine is not whether or not you will end up in heaven. No paradise awaits. No hell below us either. Neither does this lifetime determine how you will be reborn. You’ve already used up all your incarnations (human and otherwise). There are no do overs; no pearly gates; no ascended masters awaiting to guide you gently but firmly through a life review. This is it. The end of the school term. No reprieve.
You pass this test and you get to be Creator. You fail and you cease to exist. No pain. No suffering. No retribution. Just the end. No soul to be redeemed. No blissful reunion with Divinity. Just another light extinguished. Sounds harsh perhaps, but it will not hurt in the least. Your soul simply ceases to exist. Diehard atheists have already resigned themselves to this fate. You can too.
On the other hand, maybe if you put some effort into it, you can pass this test and become the immutable and ineffable Source. Any fundamentalists amongst you will, of course, find the idea that you could become the Godhead somewhat blasphemous. Nevertheless, this is the choice that lies before you. Rise up to become the LIGHT from which all things emanate (infinitude) OR have the little light that you are now extinguished once and for all (oblivion).
I would expect that you might be more than a bit curious as to what form this exam will take and how you can prepare to pass it. I will come to that in a few paragraphs, so read on and I will reveal how to pass the test.
So yes, the rumours you have heard are true. The hints and allegations made by various spiritual traditions and religions are true. The life you are living is the test. The choices you make determine whether you pass or fail. It is a multiple choice exam. That is to say, you get to exercise your will.
According the philosopher, David Hume, the nature of free will is “the most contentious question of metaphysics.” Contentious as the actual nature of free will may be, you know that you have the power to make choices and that those choices produce results. The free will (choice and result) meme permeates human culture: karma, cause and effect, sin and retribution, crime and punishment, what goes around, comes around, et cetera.
A short time ago, I wrote a piece called Your Time is Now. That was the head’s up lead in to this more in depth, in your face, notification. You may want to step away to read that piece now and then come back to this piece. Remember the test will be explained and the crib sheet for that test await you here.
Part Two – Activism
Before I talk about the actual test and provide you with the steps you need to take to pass, I believe I need to remind you about: 1) your inherent power, and 2) the way things are.
Some days you may not feel like it, but you are extremely powerful; or at least you have the potential to be if you choose to step up.
What you do matters. What you choose has enormous implications. And what you choose to do has not only moral implications, it has an effect on how the future turns out. Not just your personal future, but the future of our world and all the other lives and life forms that make up your world. It is impossible to do nothing; impossible to be a mere spectator. You are intricately involved, whether you like it or not; that powerful, whether you admit it or not.
You are also extremely creative. As the great Gautama Buddha reminded us, “We are what we think. All that we are arises with our thoughts. With our thoughts, we make the world.” Your thoughts create all day every day. What you choose to think has an impact.
The creative power of your consciousness lies in your ability to conceptualize and idealize. Thought creates. It was thought that caused the universe to come into being and it is thought that continuously recreates the universe in each new moment. The power of focused, purposeful, intentional and concentrated thought is at your command.
So, you get to choose what to think. That is your power to be creative. And that is why certain powers that be are so interested in controlling how and what you think. They actively work to constrain your power. Memetic engineering is being used to shape your thoughts all day every day.
Break free. Start choosing your thoughts very carefully. Start thinking intentionally. Start thinking on purpose. You can be the change. Yes, you can. In fact, that is the purpose of your existence.
Ok. now that you know that you shape the future, I want you to consider this set of circumstances that make up your current reality:
>> Environmental degradation that threatens the health of the planet and our own survival.
>> Rampant pathological consumerism that fuels resource depletion and waste production.
>> Out of control capitalism that pursues profits above all else, sacrifices ethics and treats people as cogs in the machine: grunt workers; compliant consumers; cannon fodder.
>> Amoral corporatism that feeds the war machine, destroys communities, cultures and ecosystems in the quest for ever greater power and control.
>> Political systems so corrupted that they no longer serve people and instead work to make people compliant to artificial and inhumane ideologies.
>> Poisons in our food, water and air that are creating epidemic levels of sick children, diabetes, cancer and immune system deficiencies of all kinds.
>> 16,000 children dying of starvation every day while half the food produced gets thrown away.
>> Fossil fuel companies clamouring to ‘drill baby drill’ whilst climate change has almost reached the runaway, out of control state.
>> Mind numbing entertainment and news media manipulation designed to dumb down the population and to create psychological and spiritual disconnect from nature and the cosmos in order to foster individual disempowerment and existential despair.
>> An elite crowd of predatory psychopaths has taken control of most of the power structures of the world; and pretty much determines what you get to think, how you get to live and what you are allowed to believe.
Such is your current reality. If it is allowed to continue unabated, it will destroy you. And here is the rub. If you sit back and allow it to continue, you fail the test. Maybe you can pretend to yourself that you are not responsible for things having got this way, that the way you live your life is not directly causing this; but you do not get to escape the responsibility for allowing it to continue to unfold.
So the test itself is this: how you go about living each and every day that remains to you. Maybe you only have one day until you do the dust to dust ceremony. Maybe there are 15,000 days left for you to grace this planet with your presence. Unknown. Just in case it is closer to one than fifteen thousand, you better get started. Would not want to lose by default now, would you?
So, there are two default ways to fail the test: 1) be an active supporter of the group of folks who are intent on raping and pillaging planet and people for profit and power, 2) be complicit: sit back and allow them to do it without even raising your voice in objection, let alone actually doing something to put a stop to the destruction and desecration. And another, third, actively and purposely chosen path to failure (explained below)
Remember, failure does not carry some tortuous punishment. Nor does it provide for a rewrite, do over, or second chance. The only thing that happens is that the little flame that is your essence gets extinguished once and of all. No blissful merger into Source. No anything. Just oblivion.
On the other hand, passing this exam results in you becoming the undying light from which all things arise. Before you get too terribly excited about the prospect of escaping oblivion, consider this… if you think total oblivion is tough, imagine total responsibility combined with immortality. It could easily be considered more of a punishment than a reward, especially by those who are adverse to accepting any responsibility for even the smallest part of how things are right now.
So now, if you have fully considered the implications of this final exam, and would like to know how to pass, allow me to provide the cheat sheet – the abbreviated answers to the multiple choice questions that are faced by you in this most important test you have ever faced.
There are eight ways To Be that are listed below. You must become and demonstrate all eight. There is no partial pass or gradient grade. No %. No grade point average. It is a simple pass or fail. Embody all of the attributes listed below and pass the test. And now that you know how to pass the test, if you fail to endeavour every day to do your best to become and to enact all of the below, then you fail. The third path to failure mentioned above is knowing what you need to do and choosing not to become that person and embody those attributes listed below.
Be Compassionate. Open your heart. Albert Einstein once said, “I want to know God’s thoughts – the rest are mere details.”
Later, he reported back, “A human being is a part of the whole called by us universe, a part limited in time and space. He experiences himself, his thoughts and feeling as something separated from the rest, a kind of optical delusion of his consciousness. This delusion is a kind of prison for us, restricting us to our personal desires and to affection for a few persons nearest to us. Our task must be to free ourselves from this prison by widening our circle of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole of nature in its beauty.”
Be Reverent. Honour the sacred. Recognize the sacredness of all creation; the Earth herself, the radiant Sun, the glorious cosmos, and, of course, the infinite Source of all that is; including your own splinter of consciousness that is an integral part of Universal Consciousness. Walk each day in a state of veneration of the miracle of your own existence and of the beauty of all creation. Have daily rituals that connect you.
“The requirements for our evolution have changed. Survival is no longer sufficient. Our evolution now requires us to develop spiritually – to become emotionally aware and make responsible choices. It requires us to align ourselves with the values of the soul – harmony, cooperation, sharing, and reverence for life.” ~ Gary Zukav
Be Grateful. Relish the gift of life. Recognize that you are abundantly blessed and express your thanks for those blessings. You are alive. You have the power to choose how to be in this world. That is a gift. You can give and receive love. That is an enormous blessing. You can choose how and what to think. You can be creative. That is a power to be grateful for having.
“Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life. It turns what we have into enough, and more. It turns denial into acceptance, chaos to order, confusion to clarity. It can turn a meal into a feast, a house into a home, a stranger into a friend.” ~ Melodie Beattie
Be Contributory. You are unique. In the whole universe of a billion, billion galaxies, each containing a billion, billion stars and countless more things we have yet to imagine or conceive of, there is only one you. There may be more than six billion other human beings walking around on this particular planet that you inhabit right now, but there is only one you.
Only one you with your unique attributes, your special characteristics, your distinct potentials and your exceptional opportunities to offer the gift that you are to the rest of life. You are unique and what you have to offer is also unique. Consequently, if you do not do what only you can do to be of service to others, then that is forever lost to the world. And, ask yourself this – if you do not offer the gift of you to the world, why do you even deserve to be here?
“The purpose of human life is to serve, and to show compassion and the will to help others.I don’t know what your destiny will be, but one thing I know: the only ones among you who will be really happy are those who will have sought and found how to serve.” ~ Albert Schweitzer
Be Awake. Most folks are sleep walking through life. They are unaware of their own true nature. They are also unaware of the true nature of reality. They are unaware of how they are being disempowered by an artificial system (matrix) that keeps them asleep and compliant. Educate yourself. Opt out of the cult of your culture. Stop buying stuff you do not need. Stop buying the propaganda you are being force fed via the media. Stop buying into false dogma. Turn off your television and turn on your inner vision. Start trusting your own intuition. Start trusting what your heart tells you.
“Our species needs, and deserves, a citizenry with minds wide awake and a basic understanding of how the world works.” ~ Carl Sagan
Be Empowering. Uplift others. Everyone, excluding those few who have already chosen to abandon their souls to the psychopathy of power and greed, deserves the opportunity to become that highest and best versions of themselves. Everyone deserves to be told what is at stake. Everyone deserves to have the opportunity to connect to the sacred. Everyone deserves to stand in their own power.
Be Intentional. Always ask why? Why am I doing this? Why am I thinking this? Why do I believe this? Why am I feeling this way? To what end am I travelling? What is the purpose of my journey? What is my intention is thinking this way? In acting this way? In doing this thing?
Is what I am doing, thinking, feeling, believing in harmony with the intentions I have set for myself? What intentionality can I bring to each moment of my life?
“In the universe there is an immeasurable, indescribable force which shamans call intent, and absolutely everything that exists in the entire cosmos is attached to intent by a connecting link.” ~ Carlos Castaneda
Be a warrior. OK. So now we come to the crux of the matter. Are you willing to become a spiritual warrior? A warrior does not turn a blind eye. A warrior stands and courageously faces that which must be defended against and defeated. A warrior is a protector. A warrior makes a stand. A warrior is an activist. It is time for each of us, and yes that includes you, to stand up and become an activist, to be a warrior.
In case you think this is a new perspective, a new hard line stance I have taken, please note that in the article I wrote back in May of 2005 called The Precipice, I closed with this…
“You are at the ultimate choice point: you must either become an activist or become de-activated. All other choices have been used up, invalidated, have become obsolete. Now, your only choice is…will you, too, become obsolete as nature responds to what you have previously chosen.
Will the single largest extinction of life in the entire history of planet Earth include you?
The answer is yes, unless you first transform the way you think and then the things you do.”
And then, in April of 2013, I repeated that when closing out the piece entitled Surviving a Toxic World…
“Put bluntly, if you do not wake up, your current dream state will soon turn into a nightmare; if you do not become aware, you will be unable to free yourself from the cultural miasma that is in the process of self-destructing and it WILL take you down with it; if you not become active, you will be de-activated.”
Leslie
ps. I hope you pass. I desire your success. The world needs you.