Different Vantage Points on the Journey

Different Vantage Points on the Journey

by

Opal 

I wanted to comment on the post by my friend Lily regarding whether or not things can be considered magical, but what I had to say was a little too long to be a comment. 

One commenter said that ze (not sure if commenter is male or female) did not agree with Lily's assessment that it is hard to see such a troubled world as magical. Ze was respectful in zir comments. However, Teammate Illsa took zir statement to be minimizing Lily's experiences as a person traveling through the Dark Night of the Soul. 

Illsa's expression of defense of her friend and indignation at a perceived attack is a third viewpoint.

May I express the viewpoint that none of these individuals are wrong in their perceptions of the world. They are simply coming from different vantage points on their own personal journey.

GSB sees the world as full of magic. Ze is not wrong. There are many magical things in the world, and in a sense there is magic in everything. I perceive magic as being an energy. Everything has energy.

Lily sees the world as being rather a sorrowful place and is at a point where she has trouble perceiving anything as being magical or good. Lily is not wrong. The world is indeed a place of sorrow and suffering.

Illsa sees the world as being filled with threats to that which is good. She is not wrong. There is a lot to fear in the world.

What is key is to respect the fact that we are all on different parts of the journey to enlightenment, the journey away from suffering. No person's experiences will duplicate another's. We are all alone in our particular experiences. Yet we can share similarities and alleviate our loneliness.

It is what is.

Namaste.

Awakening

Here's one to get the ball rolling. This is a view on the process of awakening to a higher state of mind. The narrator expresses a belief that one goes through a period of cynicism when breaking out of old dogma in order to ascend to the higher truth.

If you have things that you do that tend to put you in touch with the Higher Energies, it is not necessary to abandon those tools. Just realize that they are tools for channeling the Universal Energy.

Meditation, prayers, spell work, all these things have the same outcome: to get oneself out of the logical and analytical mind which we must rely on in order to survive in the body. Once outside this logical and analytical state, the Energy can flow freely. It is healthy to relax the analytical mind in this way, just as sleep is healthy for the body.

When in the state referred to by the narrator as Dark Night of the Soul, feel free to question, to drift on the tides. Do not put too much stock in seeking a concrete answer. In my time, I have found there is no one concrete answer. There are many paths.

Need for material goods, need for adulation, these things are the needs of the ego. One need not become a hermit and live in abject poverty. But it is imperative to question your motives on occasion. Ego-based goals never lead to happiness.

I am struggling with this right now myself. I am in the dark, but occasionally light creeps in.

Love, Light, and Peace