This subject may seem a little off topic for a blog that is generally about The Secret, but there is actually a subliminal bit in the movie that sheds some light on this subject.
There is a two frame flash of the title and author of a book early in the movie. The book is "Life Power and How to Live It" by Elizabeth Towne. Chapter One of this book is entitled "Methuselah and The Sun", and it begins with these words:
“There are people who declare that time was when a great canopy of vapor hung over the Earth and revolved with it, as Jupiter’s vapory canopies now do; and that this vapory canopy kept off almost completely the actinic (death-dealing) rays, while it admitted light and heat rays. Thus they account for Adam’s and Methuselah’s great ages. And they say that, unless this vapory canopy is again formed around our Earth, to ward off these death dealing rays, we shall never attain immortality in the flesh.”
Well this is certainly an interesting idea, and it is possible that it was postulated even before her book. If anyone knows an earlier source, please leave a comment.
But is there any support for this idea in the Scripture? Well there is this . . .
"But there went up a mist from the Earth, and watered the whole face of the ground."
That is Genesis 2:6 in the King James Version of the Bible.
OK, assuming that this is true for a second, does it fit in? Here is the computation.
Aligning with the Jewish calendar, it appears that the expulsion from Eden happened about 4000 BC. The timelines in the Bible seem to indicate about this time as well. We have record of the following people living with the following life spans:
Adam (4000-3070BC) 930 years.
Seth (3870-2958BC) 912 years.
Enos (3765-2860BC) 905 years.
Cainan (3675-2765BC) 910 years.
Mahalaleel (3605-2710BC) 895 years. (Hmmm, dies early :-) )
Jared (3540-2578BC) 962 years.
Enoch (3378-3013BC) 365 years. (Enoch was taken to Heaven and did not live his whole span).
Methuselah (3313-2344BC) 969 years. (Longest recorded lifespan that we know of).
Lamech (3126-2349BC) 777 years. (His father Methuselah outlived him).
(In the year 3070 Adam dies.)
Noah (2944-1994BC) 950 years. Flood came at 600 years, or about 2344BC.
(All the other patriarchs die except Methuselah and Lamech in this time frame)
Noah's Three sons are born in 2494-Japeth 2452-Shem and 2444-Ham.
Again the approximate date of the flood event is from 2-17-2344BC to 2-27-2343BC before they actually left the Ark. Noah still had the really long life span, half of it post-flood. But the days of men shortened gradually according to what we read in Genesis 10. The lifespans got to be around 500 years, then 400, then 300, 200 and finally just over 100.
So what happened? Well the Flood is what happened. But it appears that the mist was not all taken away at once, but the flood appears to have started the process where the mist slowly went away. The gradually shortening life spans seem to indicate that people at each new generation were exposed to more of the aging rays of the sun than the previous generation had been.
So can we ever live to be 900 years old in this mortal life?
Sure, if the mist comes back.
Otherwise, it's wait 'till the resurrection, and then of course we will live forever.
Rock on!
Joseph
Wednesday, April 30, 2008
Sunday, April 20, 2008
Even at Birth, The Soul Comes to its Own
In my opinion, no study of the things taught in the book and the movie The Secret is complete without a companion review of the book "As A Man Thinketh" by James Allen. This book is from the same era as "The Science of Getting Rich" and it about 20 years ahead of "Secret of The Ages", which are the two main works that Rhonda Drew on for the movie.
I wish to remark about the following passage from "As A Man Thinketh":
and man, therefore, as the Lord and master of thought, is the maker of himself, the shaper and author of his environment. Even at birth the soul comes to its own, and through every step of its earthly pilgrimage it attracts those combinations of conditions which reveal itself, which are the reflections of its own purity and impurity, its strengths and weakness. (italics added).
As I have watched various forums where ideas around The Secret are discussed, I have often seen the topic come up about the abused children, and especially the babies. Critics of the movie are quick to use this topic as their argument as to the falsehood of the entire thing, because how could anyone suggest in good conscience that innocent little children "attracted" the abuse that is heaped upon them in some cases? Especially the babies who are too young to even know what is going on, much less attract something consciously . . .
I would say that this is perhaps their most powerful argument against the entire concept. I am also not here to say that they are wrong on this. But I do have some insight to offer that may shed some additional light on the subject, because I have been studying all of this for over a year now and something has just now come to me.
There is one point that must be understood first that will prevent progression if we cannot obtain agreement. That point is that we lived as individuals prior to our coming to this Earth. This can be a tough one for some because there is a "veil of forgetfulness" that is firmly in place; and because of it, we have no direct memory of our life prior to this one.
But we did live prior to this life, and we had a Father there in the same sense that we had a father here on this Earth. The Father there is the Father or our Spirit. He is our Heavenly Father. Now when we came from that existance to this current Earthly existence; what would we have brought with us? This is an exceedingly important question for us to understand the answer to.
And to help us understand the answer, allow me to jump forward to what we will take with us to the next existence after this one . . . two things:
1. Our intelligence. What we have learned. Our Wisdom, our mental know-how. Our creativity.
2. Our current vibration.
So follow me here. If these are the two things that we will bring to the next phase . . . are they also the two things that were brought to this phase ????
I think that generally they would be; but the veil of forgetfulness prevents us from taking advantage of the first. Because of the veil, we are not privy to our previous intelligence, and in effect we must start completely over. This is why education is more a matter of remembering things more than learning them, because we knew them all before. The root of the word "education", which is the latin educo, means to "bring to rememberance", not to learn.
But then there is our vibration; and it seems clear that we either did not have one at all, or we brought one with us. If we truly existed, then we would have had to have a vibration, because no energy can exist that does not. Those who do not believe that we existed before would have an argument for a blank slate on the vibration at birth; but if you believe that we existed before this life, then it unavoidably follows that we would have had a vibration there and brought it with us when we came here.
This was a powerful realization for me, especially when I pondered on the idea of "even at birth the soul comes to its own". What is "its own" ?? That would be a compatible vibration.
Now get real! Am I saying that someone might have brought a vibration with them that placed them in the abusive home ??
To tell the truth I do not know this 100% . . . but I also cannot think of any other explanation as to how they ended up there, except for a belief that someone was "unlucky".
Is "luck" a factor in a Universe that is controlled completely by divine and natual laws? We think of or know people who have been "lucky"; but I think we are just using that word because we did not really understand the operation of natural laws that was in play.
Where we end up when we come to this Earth makes an incredible difference in our lives. 90% or so of our subconscious programming is instilled in us prior to our second birthday. With this being such an important thing, would it really be left to chance?
You tell me.
But I don't think so.
I also want to be crystal clear here that I make no commentary whatsoever on any idea that someone had a "good" vibration or a "bad" vibration coming here and were placed accordingly. This would be more fodder for the critics who make another point that The Secret seems to be all about "blame the victim".
I do not know, but as opposed to being good or bad, I think our vibration just was; and because it was, it could only be placed with others that were compatible. Now is a good time to bring in some additional words from "As A Man Thinketh":
Men do not attract that which they want, but that which they are. Their whims, fancies, and ambitions are thwarted at every step, but their inmost thoughts and desires are fed with their own food, be it foul or clean. ( . . . ) Not what he wishes and prays for does a man get, but what he justly earns. His wishes and prayers are only gratified and answered when they harmonize with his thoughts and actions.
So why do I write all of this?
Because it might be helpful for someone to understand that there was a plan in place different from "unlucky" in the birth and placement of the soul.
And it leads me to what I want to say most of all . . .
Your NOW is so much more important than your past.
Your future is based on your NOW.
Your NOW is defined by you in every detail that you care to expend thought on.
So make it a good one, because all of us had dysfunctions in our past. The "victim" will hold on to those for dear life!
And the victor will let them go and forgive!
And then he will be truly free.
Be free.
Joseph
P.S. If you would like a free eBook copy of the book "As A Man Thinketh", click here.
I wish to remark about the following passage from "As A Man Thinketh":
and man, therefore, as the Lord and master of thought, is the maker of himself, the shaper and author of his environment. Even at birth the soul comes to its own, and through every step of its earthly pilgrimage it attracts those combinations of conditions which reveal itself, which are the reflections of its own purity and impurity, its strengths and weakness. (italics added).
As I have watched various forums where ideas around The Secret are discussed, I have often seen the topic come up about the abused children, and especially the babies. Critics of the movie are quick to use this topic as their argument as to the falsehood of the entire thing, because how could anyone suggest in good conscience that innocent little children "attracted" the abuse that is heaped upon them in some cases? Especially the babies who are too young to even know what is going on, much less attract something consciously . . .
I would say that this is perhaps their most powerful argument against the entire concept. I am also not here to say that they are wrong on this. But I do have some insight to offer that may shed some additional light on the subject, because I have been studying all of this for over a year now and something has just now come to me.
There is one point that must be understood first that will prevent progression if we cannot obtain agreement. That point is that we lived as individuals prior to our coming to this Earth. This can be a tough one for some because there is a "veil of forgetfulness" that is firmly in place; and because of it, we have no direct memory of our life prior to this one.
But we did live prior to this life, and we had a Father there in the same sense that we had a father here on this Earth. The Father there is the Father or our Spirit. He is our Heavenly Father. Now when we came from that existance to this current Earthly existence; what would we have brought with us? This is an exceedingly important question for us to understand the answer to.
And to help us understand the answer, allow me to jump forward to what we will take with us to the next existence after this one . . . two things:
1. Our intelligence. What we have learned. Our Wisdom, our mental know-how. Our creativity.
2. Our current vibration.
So follow me here. If these are the two things that we will bring to the next phase . . . are they also the two things that were brought to this phase ????
I think that generally they would be; but the veil of forgetfulness prevents us from taking advantage of the first. Because of the veil, we are not privy to our previous intelligence, and in effect we must start completely over. This is why education is more a matter of remembering things more than learning them, because we knew them all before. The root of the word "education", which is the latin educo, means to "bring to rememberance", not to learn.
But then there is our vibration; and it seems clear that we either did not have one at all, or we brought one with us. If we truly existed, then we would have had to have a vibration, because no energy can exist that does not. Those who do not believe that we existed before would have an argument for a blank slate on the vibration at birth; but if you believe that we existed before this life, then it unavoidably follows that we would have had a vibration there and brought it with us when we came here.
This was a powerful realization for me, especially when I pondered on the idea of "even at birth the soul comes to its own". What is "its own" ?? That would be a compatible vibration.
Now get real! Am I saying that someone might have brought a vibration with them that placed them in the abusive home ??
To tell the truth I do not know this 100% . . . but I also cannot think of any other explanation as to how they ended up there, except for a belief that someone was "unlucky".
Is "luck" a factor in a Universe that is controlled completely by divine and natual laws? We think of or know people who have been "lucky"; but I think we are just using that word because we did not really understand the operation of natural laws that was in play.
Where we end up when we come to this Earth makes an incredible difference in our lives. 90% or so of our subconscious programming is instilled in us prior to our second birthday. With this being such an important thing, would it really be left to chance?
You tell me.
But I don't think so.
I also want to be crystal clear here that I make no commentary whatsoever on any idea that someone had a "good" vibration or a "bad" vibration coming here and were placed accordingly. This would be more fodder for the critics who make another point that The Secret seems to be all about "blame the victim".
I do not know, but as opposed to being good or bad, I think our vibration just was; and because it was, it could only be placed with others that were compatible. Now is a good time to bring in some additional words from "As A Man Thinketh":
Men do not attract that which they want, but that which they are. Their whims, fancies, and ambitions are thwarted at every step, but their inmost thoughts and desires are fed with their own food, be it foul or clean. ( . . . ) Not what he wishes and prays for does a man get, but what he justly earns. His wishes and prayers are only gratified and answered when they harmonize with his thoughts and actions.
So why do I write all of this?
Because it might be helpful for someone to understand that there was a plan in place different from "unlucky" in the birth and placement of the soul.
And it leads me to what I want to say most of all . . .
Your NOW is so much more important than your past.
Your future is based on your NOW.
Your NOW is defined by you in every detail that you care to expend thought on.
So make it a good one, because all of us had dysfunctions in our past. The "victim" will hold on to those for dear life!
And the victor will let them go and forgive!
And then he will be truly free.
Be free.
Joseph
P.S. If you would like a free eBook copy of the book "As A Man Thinketh", click here.
Sunday, April 13, 2008
Great is as Great does
Today I would like to talk about a topic that fits in with the materials presented in The Secret, but which is not addressed directly. If you saw the movie Forest Gump, they you may remember a scene where Forest is talking to someone on a bench and that person says "are you stupid or something?". Forest responds by saying "Stupid is as Stupid does".
I want to talk about the opposite of this. If I were to ask you: What is a great basketball player? Would you respond with a list of requirements of what makes a great basketball player, or would you just say Michael Jordan? Same with Golf, would you give me a list of requirements of how to be a great golfer, or would you just say Tiger Woods? Notice I am asking what, not who; but it does not matter.
If Michael Jordan wrote a book that somehow contained all that he knew about being a great basketball player, would I become a great basketball player just by reading it? I think we can all agree that the answer is "certainly not".
Somebody who is a true great is the person who defines what it is to be great; but it is never the person who is trying to copy someone else. Prior to Michael Jordan, there was no one who played the game like he later would. He was not following any patterns, he was inventing his great career at every moment.
Since he had (obviously) decided within himself that he was a great player, it simply followed that everything he did would be great. Does this sound too simplistic? Well there is also the matter of belief. When Mr. Jordan had the thought in his head that he was a true great, he really believed it. And that made all the difference. Nothing can stop the Law of Attraction faster than unbelief.
Have you ever wondered why the great basketball player takes almost three steps on the way to his dunk and the rookie player gets called for traveling for taking 1.5 steps? It is not because the officials are favoring the great player, despite what many might think. It is because the great player believes or "be"s the great player in his/her mind first, and then with that strong belief (and some practice to be sure), is enabled to make great plays that are things of beauty and which do not attract adverse calls by a referee.
OK great you say, but I am not Michael Jordan or Tiger Woods . . . in fact I am not even close.
And I have to strongly disagree with you on that point I am afraid.
I know you are not Michael Jordan or Tiger Woods. There can be only one each anyway. Being Michael or Tiger is not the point, but being yourself is very extremely much the point.
Because you have some sort of talent; and with practice and proper development of that talent you can become the next world great. You have to know what the talent is first, and you may need some help getting to a world wide stage; but the Internet is a world wide stage; and this blog potentially reaches millions of people for the promotion that I give it, as an example.
So here is how it goes . . .
You identify one or more talents that you have: Things that you seem to be able to do better than almost anyone else.
You practice towards the development of that talent(s). For multiple ones you would pick the one that you enjoy doing the most; NOT the one that you think you can make the most money from. I will explain this in a bit.
You may, at first, work a day job that allows you to use and develop that talent. This is great as long as it does not stop you from taking the next step.
You will start your own business, with you as the owner, of being of service to people by using your talent, whatever it is. As you do this, you will begin to learn fundamental principles of marketing and especially Internet marketing so that you can grow your business. I am here to tell you that you can not learn these principles in any class (Sorry to the good MBA schools).
No, the only way to learn how to market something is to create it first and then get out there and sell it on the Internet. You will learn your first lesson when the hundreds of sales that you envisioned just are not happening for your first attempt. Real world results are a better teacher than all the theory classes you will ever have. As the Klemmer folks say: Never judge anything except by the results, it is sometimes harsh, but it is always fair.
If you enjoy what you are doing and if you are talented at it, and if you have some sort of a followup strategy, such as a customer newsletter (which I have used successfully), then you will slowly grow that business. The key is repeat business from existing customers to add to new business from all marketing sources.
I have written previously about my computer help business that I have started. I created this out of thin air. Because I am talented in the areas of technical troubleshooting and personal communications, I can not only solve my customer's issues, but I can do it in such as way as they enjoy my having been there. Everyone wants my newsletter after my first visit, and once they have received that 3-4 times then I become entrenched as their computer guy. Even if I raise prices later, they are likely to stick with me (unless I am way out of line . . . but I have no overhead and my competition, if you can call them that, has a lot).
So it is a slow but steady growth process, and a business that keeps growing will one day become a big business, as long as it is not mis-managed. I like to say that it is the growing direction that is the most important, not the growing speed. If you have more customers on your newsletter list at the end of the month than at the beginning, then it is a growing business, and when they keep growing you eventually get to the point where you need to hire some help, and then the business can grow some more.
But do not be afraid to start small or slow . . . I charge insanely low prices currently for what I do compared to my competitors. Having no overhead allows me to do this. I charge about $80.00 for two hours of home computer consulting where my competitors charge more than twice that. The appropriate time for me to raise my prices will be when I am so heavily scheduled at my current rates that I can hardly keep up; and as the business continues to grow, that day is surely coming.
You could argue that I am defining what great is for a home computer help business, for the simple reason that I believe that I am great at it. My customers are very appreciative of the work that I do, which I judge when they cheerfully hand over the money for my services. This actually suprised me some at first, people handing me this money so willingly, but I had provided such value to them that they were only too happy to do it. Now I am not surprised by it any more.
But learn the key here. Your greatness has to come as the result of running your own business, or it is never really your greatness. Working for someone else, in any capacity, is not likely the path to the unrestricted presentation of your talents, and you salary is typically always bounded in the upper direction, no matter how much value you provide to how many people.
But do not quit your day job just yet. It is important that you be free to grow your talent inspired business at an appropriate rate, and being free from worrying about how much you are making at first will be GREATLY helpful. Desperation around finances may motivate some to succeed, but in some cases it can actually drive away that which you seek. When should you quit your day job? Do not even start thinking about it until you are making in profit twice as much as what your salary is counting all of your benefits; and seeing a clear path and reasoning for how your business continues to grow. Sometimes you can reduce hours at your existing job to free up some more time for your porfitable business.
As your business grows to a certain point and beyond it, you will begin to have a better understanding of what they are talking about in The Secret when they talk about living in the "magic of life". And why not? You are growing a business and gaining increasing income doing what you love to do. You are providing value to others and have the satisfaction of doing so. Your upward income and value providing possibilities are unlimited. You are being a creator. You have created a business out of thin air (really is is from The Field); and you are learning about how to be a creator.
I am here to tell you that this is one of the most important things we can do during this lifetime, and that is learn how to be a creator. Trust me on this one.
We were ALL meant to create.
Please do not stop yourself from doing so.
Joseph
I want to talk about the opposite of this. If I were to ask you: What is a great basketball player? Would you respond with a list of requirements of what makes a great basketball player, or would you just say Michael Jordan? Same with Golf, would you give me a list of requirements of how to be a great golfer, or would you just say Tiger Woods? Notice I am asking what, not who; but it does not matter.
If Michael Jordan wrote a book that somehow contained all that he knew about being a great basketball player, would I become a great basketball player just by reading it? I think we can all agree that the answer is "certainly not".
Somebody who is a true great is the person who defines what it is to be great; but it is never the person who is trying to copy someone else. Prior to Michael Jordan, there was no one who played the game like he later would. He was not following any patterns, he was inventing his great career at every moment.
Since he had (obviously) decided within himself that he was a great player, it simply followed that everything he did would be great. Does this sound too simplistic? Well there is also the matter of belief. When Mr. Jordan had the thought in his head that he was a true great, he really believed it. And that made all the difference. Nothing can stop the Law of Attraction faster than unbelief.
Have you ever wondered why the great basketball player takes almost three steps on the way to his dunk and the rookie player gets called for traveling for taking 1.5 steps? It is not because the officials are favoring the great player, despite what many might think. It is because the great player believes or "be"s the great player in his/her mind first, and then with that strong belief (and some practice to be sure), is enabled to make great plays that are things of beauty and which do not attract adverse calls by a referee.
OK great you say, but I am not Michael Jordan or Tiger Woods . . . in fact I am not even close.
And I have to strongly disagree with you on that point I am afraid.
I know you are not Michael Jordan or Tiger Woods. There can be only one each anyway. Being Michael or Tiger is not the point, but being yourself is very extremely much the point.
Because you have some sort of talent; and with practice and proper development of that talent you can become the next world great. You have to know what the talent is first, and you may need some help getting to a world wide stage; but the Internet is a world wide stage; and this blog potentially reaches millions of people for the promotion that I give it, as an example.
So here is how it goes . . .
You identify one or more talents that you have: Things that you seem to be able to do better than almost anyone else.
You practice towards the development of that talent(s). For multiple ones you would pick the one that you enjoy doing the most; NOT the one that you think you can make the most money from. I will explain this in a bit.
You may, at first, work a day job that allows you to use and develop that talent. This is great as long as it does not stop you from taking the next step.
You will start your own business, with you as the owner, of being of service to people by using your talent, whatever it is. As you do this, you will begin to learn fundamental principles of marketing and especially Internet marketing so that you can grow your business. I am here to tell you that you can not learn these principles in any class (Sorry to the good MBA schools).
No, the only way to learn how to market something is to create it first and then get out there and sell it on the Internet. You will learn your first lesson when the hundreds of sales that you envisioned just are not happening for your first attempt. Real world results are a better teacher than all the theory classes you will ever have. As the Klemmer folks say: Never judge anything except by the results, it is sometimes harsh, but it is always fair.
If you enjoy what you are doing and if you are talented at it, and if you have some sort of a followup strategy, such as a customer newsletter (which I have used successfully), then you will slowly grow that business. The key is repeat business from existing customers to add to new business from all marketing sources.
I have written previously about my computer help business that I have started. I created this out of thin air. Because I am talented in the areas of technical troubleshooting and personal communications, I can not only solve my customer's issues, but I can do it in such as way as they enjoy my having been there. Everyone wants my newsletter after my first visit, and once they have received that 3-4 times then I become entrenched as their computer guy. Even if I raise prices later, they are likely to stick with me (unless I am way out of line . . . but I have no overhead and my competition, if you can call them that, has a lot).
So it is a slow but steady growth process, and a business that keeps growing will one day become a big business, as long as it is not mis-managed. I like to say that it is the growing direction that is the most important, not the growing speed. If you have more customers on your newsletter list at the end of the month than at the beginning, then it is a growing business, and when they keep growing you eventually get to the point where you need to hire some help, and then the business can grow some more.
But do not be afraid to start small or slow . . . I charge insanely low prices currently for what I do compared to my competitors. Having no overhead allows me to do this. I charge about $80.00 for two hours of home computer consulting where my competitors charge more than twice that. The appropriate time for me to raise my prices will be when I am so heavily scheduled at my current rates that I can hardly keep up; and as the business continues to grow, that day is surely coming.
You could argue that I am defining what great is for a home computer help business, for the simple reason that I believe that I am great at it. My customers are very appreciative of the work that I do, which I judge when they cheerfully hand over the money for my services. This actually suprised me some at first, people handing me this money so willingly, but I had provided such value to them that they were only too happy to do it. Now I am not surprised by it any more.
But learn the key here. Your greatness has to come as the result of running your own business, or it is never really your greatness. Working for someone else, in any capacity, is not likely the path to the unrestricted presentation of your talents, and you salary is typically always bounded in the upper direction, no matter how much value you provide to how many people.
But do not quit your day job just yet. It is important that you be free to grow your talent inspired business at an appropriate rate, and being free from worrying about how much you are making at first will be GREATLY helpful. Desperation around finances may motivate some to succeed, but in some cases it can actually drive away that which you seek. When should you quit your day job? Do not even start thinking about it until you are making in profit twice as much as what your salary is counting all of your benefits; and seeing a clear path and reasoning for how your business continues to grow. Sometimes you can reduce hours at your existing job to free up some more time for your porfitable business.
As your business grows to a certain point and beyond it, you will begin to have a better understanding of what they are talking about in The Secret when they talk about living in the "magic of life". And why not? You are growing a business and gaining increasing income doing what you love to do. You are providing value to others and have the satisfaction of doing so. Your upward income and value providing possibilities are unlimited. You are being a creator. You have created a business out of thin air (really is is from The Field); and you are learning about how to be a creator.
I am here to tell you that this is one of the most important things we can do during this lifetime, and that is learn how to be a creator. Trust me on this one.
We were ALL meant to create.
Please do not stop yourself from doing so.
Joseph
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)