Entrance Fee

Having recently revisited my favorite spiritual texts (The Bhagavad Gita, The Dhammapada, and the Bible’s Matthew), I can see a common thread that I wasn’t previously focused on. And that is: when the Almighty Creator calls you back, you can’t just walk-in and sit-down next to him. You have to earn this coveted spot. There’s no free pass. The Creator doesn’t want some inept slug sitting at his table.

For example, reincarnation isn’t a reward. It means you didn’t cleanse yourself enough before arriving at the Almighty’s house. But don’t worry, you have plenty of chances to try again in your next lives. As for Jesus, he was asked who the greatest in heaven was (Matthew 18), he replied: “Verily I say unto you, except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven.” And in the Parable of the Talents (Matthew 25), the master punished the servant that didn’t return the master’s money with interest.

In other words, you arrive upon this Earth as an unfinished lump of clay. The Almighty Creator does NOT want that unfinished clay back. He expects YOU to improve upon it and shape it throughout the course of your existence.

At your ultimate arrival, you can’t show-up empty-handed. But what can you give a Being that has everything? Cultivating your consciousness as a gift to the Almighty Creator is about all you can do. You’re returning your soul with interest.

Isn’t it rude to assume the Almighty wants you back in an unfinished state? Therefore, refine yourself into something worthy of entrance. Does your Creator love you? Sure, but He’s a Tiger-Mom that demands achievement.

I tried the “God loves and accepts me as I am” approach. But I quickly noticed an endless supply of external circumstances pecking at me – there was nowhere to hide. Something is ALWAYS pushing me towards the refinement of consciousness. I’m not good enough as-is, something wants me to improve.

When Jesus was asked which was the greatest commandment, he replied “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.” And that’s what I assume he meant by becoming childlike. It’s to love unconditionally, to be eager and full of delight, lacking cynicism, approaching the world optimistically, appreciative of whatever’s provided. In other words, be the good-kid God knows you can be.

Drifting Dreamer

If existence really is a dream, that opens up the possibility for this experience to be a somewhat random accident. It also implies that the world is completely malleable – and may alter its characteristics and narratives at any time. If that’s true, then there isn’t an active host, there’s more of a consciousness drifting through a dream. I’d say the world is weird enough that it seems dreamy, not designed. But it’s so elaborate, so detailed – perhaps it’s been a very long dream.

What if consciousness sprang forth in the middle of empty space, no arms, no legs, just the ability to imagine. What would such an entity do but dream. So within this entity’s drifting mind, a world forms – full of dramatic creatures with the ability to physically feel and interact with their environment. It’s a bit melancholy actually, bittersweet perhaps. These creatures even have the ability to pass-away, another trait this entity lacks.

Perhaps for him, death is a sweet sentiment – having imagined every possible scenario over eons of dreams. Yet, to witness his characters striving to maintain their existence is pleasing, inspirational in fact – and keeps the dreamer dreaming. In these dreams, there’s camaraderie everywhere – shared struggles and teamwork-based triumph. Whereas, the dreamer dreams alone – creating companionship in stories.

Through many tellings of his stories, he’s likely to have learned tricks to separate and captivate parts of his awareness – creating characters that seem independent of one another. Since they have the same puppeteer, a shared narrative is easy to coordinate. And it’s no coincidence that the origins and implementation-details of this world are hidden and elusive.

I suppose it’s a dumb idea to investigate the origins of existence in order to discover something you’re purposefully hiding from yourself. Hm, perhaps Alan Watts was right, it’s just God playing hide-and-seek with himself.

To Intervene

Would a creator create creatures that are fully autonomous or ones that require his help? In other words: does a creator want to be needed, happily intervening when asked – or does he want to sit-back while proudly observing the self-sustaining system he launched?

In one sense, a self-sustaining system might make him feel powerless as flaws reveal themselves and suffering ensues. Would he fix some things along the way or just let the system devolve until it destroys itself? But in another sense, there’s a thrill in seeing whether your creation can sustain or not.

Whereas if a creator chooses to be needed, the creatures would have to be placed in losing-positions. For him to fix anything, problems need to exist. And the more intense the suffering, the more significant the repair (and the greater the gratitude). Stepping-in with deus-ex-machina solutions would surely inspire a creator to feel godlike.

Or perhaps there could be a dual-mode mechanic where those that ask, receive – and those that don’t ask, muddle through on their own accord. Maybe there’s a safety-net in place for those afraid to fall. To intervene, or NOT to intervene – that is the question. Must we suffer the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune? Or can we summon the open-arms of a creator to end our woe? Not with death of course, but with divine intervention – our prayers answered?

Old Man in the Sky

When I was a kid, I believed in a bearded man that descended to Earth to fulfill my prayers. He donned robes of red and flew in a magical sleigh — his holy bible was the Sears Wish Book. I’d scour and study the good word (and pictures) for hours at a time, compiling my finds into a list. There were many movies dedicated to his ever-presence and magical fulfillment capabilities, so I was well-versed in the doctrine of Old Saint Nick.

One truth that was always told: it was NEVER too late to save Christmas. A Christmas Miracle was ALWAYS waiting around the corner until the very last minute. Children would be filled with glee while adults would finally feel the relief they desperately needed. At first they’d be incredulous, yet they’d have no choice but to believe in the magic of Christmas and graciously accept the gifts they were given.

To say that I’m a fan of Santa is an understatement. When I imagine building my perfect woodworking shop for instance, I imagine it looking like Santa’s Workshop. When I see folks donning his red robes, I don’t see imposters, I see celebrators of the season doing their part to extend his reach. Every lit bulb I see is the twinkle in that jolly ol’ fellow’s eye. I don’t see the commercialization of Christmas, I see the physical representation of joy wrapped in paper ready to be ripped apart to reveal the revelry within.

To gaze upon his visage, I see a selfless elf with boundless cheer toting a bottomless sack containing the fulfillment of everyone’s wishes. And all he asks in return, is that you live your best life. Is that not a being worthy of the highest praise? You ask me, when the chips are down, when times are tough, when the final flicker flashes — you ask me who I call for help? It’s Santa Claus.

Xmas Msg

To me, the true meaning of Christmas is a lighthearted celebration of life. During a time of darkness and confusion, I believe Jesus came down to Earth to brighten things up. He turned water into wine, hung out with whoever, argued with austere authorities, and healed those in need. From the heavens, God saw the pain and misery that man put himself through and sent His only begotten son as a means to lighten the mood.

But of course man rejected Jesus’s message and sent his ass home the hard way. Jesus himself complained of man’s hardened heart and man’s inability to understand the message of peace and joy. But thankfully, God doesn’t give up so easily and we’re reminded of this message every year with a lighted tree pointing towards the heavens, encircled by gifts below — because that’s what life is, a gift from God.

It’s no coincidence that Santa looks like a fictionalized representation of God in heaven, an old man sitting atop a throne listening to Christmas wishes and fulfilling them with the help of his angelic elves and flying sleigh. Every year God provides a new opportunity for us to accept the simple premise that life is an experience that should evoke enjoyment in the living.

The world was never intended to be dark and dreary, only man’s negativity makes it so. Therefore, the true Christmas Miracle begins within, it comes from the acceptance and adoption of merriment wherever we go. With a “Merry Christmas!” and a “Happy Holidays!” we remind ourselves and each other that life is a party in which we’re all invited guests. And as guests, it is our sacred duty to participate and enjoy the festivities.

Seeking Appreciation

I’ve heard it said that “God loves you”. But what does that mean? It seems a bit abstract. Am I supposed to love this being back? How do I love an abstract entity? I can’t hug God or do any favors for him, right? And what if I find this world unpleasant, how do I love a creator of such miserable conditions? Why should I love something that’s only provided me with a piss-poor time?

Okay, some decent questions. Now let me ask you this: is there ANYTHING that you enjoy here on Earth?

Hm, well there are a lot of shows I’ve watched over the years that I’ve really enjoyed. I don’t particularly enjoy living life, but I do like watching it.

Okay, so you’re saying that your status as an embodied-being has at least provided you with an ability to appreciate shows about being human. Otherwise, if you were merely a conscious-cloud-of-gas, you probably couldn’t relate to human comedies or dramas, right? It’d be like watching a fish tank for example, it’d get real-old real-fast — whereas you can watch TV for hours everyday, year after year.

So if some entity created this world just to provide you with a means to enjoy shows about humans, that’s a pretty good gift, right? Maybe some aspects of the world were rushed and are not-so-perfect, but the storytelling-aspect is top-notch. So based on your enjoyment of shows/videos/movies/etc, you’d probably say it’s an impressive gift, correct?

I suppose if you put it that way, with all the shows and movies and stories I’ve enjoyed over the years, this world has been worth the price of admission. It’s like having a life-time pass to a cineplex or Netflix or something. I have to put up with a bunch of inconveniences, but the overall storytelling aspect is pretty great.

So with that in mind, imagine that God is the buddy that put all this together for you. It’s like he built the theater, the movie-projector, put in the seats, stocked the refreshments, wrote all the movies, had the actors do their stuff, and put in the special effects — in other words, he created a planet and everything on it just so you could enjoy an endless supply of entertainment. And all you ever have to do is sit there and enjoy it.

Are you telling me that you can’t find any love in your heart for a buddy like that? Again, maybe the seats are a little uncomfortable, maybe some people talk during the show, and maybe the popcorn could be warmer, but overall this is an impressive setup don’t you think? And correct me if I’m wrong, but you’ve done nothing to deserve this gift, it’s simply been given to you.

I mean yeah, I suppose I didn’t do anything to deserve it. But it’s certainly not perfect.

Well if someone gave you a sweater as a gift, would you wear it in the summer? Probably not — but if you did, you’d get too hot and probably hate the sweater after a few hours. So in other words, if you’re not enjoying a gift, it might be because you’re not using it correctly. Is it possible that the world is better than you think, and you’re just using it incorrectly?

Hm, I suppose that could be true because I find the whole thing kinda confusing. I honestly don’t know what I’m doing, so it’s very possible that I could be doing something wrong.

So let’s get back to your original questions. In terms of God loving you: all this was created for your enjoyment — why else is there a world filled with so much orchestrated drama just sitting in the middle of nowhere? God isn’t abstract if you think of him as the buddy that designed and manufactured all this. And in that sense, everything you interact with is just a piece of God — so yeah you hug God whenever you hug anything within this world. And if you find this place unpleasant, it’s likely that you’re doing something wrong, like wearing a sweater in the summer. At the very least, and as the most simplest set of instructions: just focus on the stuff you do like and your experience on Earth will vastly improve.

Lighten Up

A part of the Overcoming Negativity series.

Lest you think this is a new or unique problem, far from it. It’s been a central theme of existence since the beginning. The message of Jesus is basically this: “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand” i.e. “Give-up your bad-attitude because paradise is right here and now, enjoy it!” If you read the book of Matthew, you’ll see a guy that’s increasingly frustrated by the negativity and stubbornness surrounding him. So much so, that he eventually rage-quits the game in the form of suicide-by-cop.

The take-away from the plight of Jesus should be this: Don’t be a passionate pessimist like those that surrounded him — the world God created isn’t a shit-hole that’s made to frighten inhabitants. It’s a wonderland meant to be enjoyed. And you’re being a total dick by constantly criticizing it and not even trying to have fun. Those people took life way too seriously, and Jesus essentially told them to lighten up — now, we can do what they refused to do, we can choose to lighten up.

Jesus simply walked up to the sick and said: “Hey, cut it out. Stop already, you’re going to be okay. Existence is a great experience that you should be celebrating, not lamenting.” And you know what? Those people that could only imagine their bodies as sources of pain-and-suffering wised-up and went along their merry way. But so few listened, they were so sure of themselves and their pessimistic perspective: “Life sucks, and then you die!”

It’s such a simple message too: lighten up. Stop interpreting everything in such a dark and dire way. What divine being would create a nightmare-world designed to torture inhabitants? Spoiler Alert: None, because that’d be dumb. Yet for whatever reason, inhabitants insist on imagining the worst. And being that God is giving, those inhabitants always find what they seek. But what a mockery we make of our wondrous world if that’s what we ask for. So lighten up for Christ’s sake!

An American Beginning

An excerpt from the fictional tales of An Imagined History of America.

It all began one day in England when Mr. and Mrs. Pilgrim were attempting to worship the Almighty Creator in their own special way. You see, they liked to sacrifice fowls and roast them on an open spit right in front of the king’s castle. But one day the king himself, on his way for a morning walk, saw this practice and was to have none of it.

“See hear! What on earth are you doing!?”, shouted the king.
“Why we’re giving burnt offerings to the Lord, your majesty,” said Mrs. Pilgrim.
“But why here and why now!?”, inquired the king.
“To worship the true King of men and give thanks for all His blessings of course, your majesty,” replied Mr. Pilgrim.
“Guards, get these fools away from here! Immediately!”, shouted the king.

Mr. and Mrs. Pilgrim were ushered away and their offerings were disposed of by the king’s men. The reason they chose the doorstep of the king as their place of worship was actually a slight bit of defiance you see. Mr. and Mrs. Pilgrim believed that the true king of man resided in heaven. They thought of the earthly king as a charlatan and fraud — a blasphemer and usurper that put himself in the place of Almighty God.

“You know what Martha, I believe we should leave this unholy land and start a new life elsewhere, in a place free of blasphemy — in a land ruled by God himself, God’s Country,” said Jonathan.
“Why Jonathan, your boldness and passion enflame my heart. Yet we are mere townsfolk, where are we to go, how are we to make-do for ourselves?” replied Martha.
“But Martha, we are children of God and He shall provide. And I’ve heard talk of a new land, they call it America. A veritable Garden of Eden that the Almighty created for those that worship Him with all their heart, all their soul, and all their mind,” replied Jonathan.
“Oh Jonathan! I shall not doubt His ways! Truly we must travel to that land He provideth!”, said Martha excitedly.

And so it was that Mr. and Mrs. Pilgrim found themselves determined to travel to God’s own country. Within their small circle of friends, they convinced others to make the journey with them — all simple townsfolk lacking the knowhow to survive in an untamed wilderness. But by their ignorance, their faith was emboldened!
“Surely God will make safe passage and provide the provisions we need!”, they’d say.

Then came the day upon which Mr. and Mrs. Pilgrim, and their friends, boarded a ship that would set sail for the Promised Land. It was a long and arduous journey, something the simple townsfolk weren’t used to. The winds and waves rocked their tiny ship and many of the landlubbers amongst them lost their lunch overboard. But what nourishment did they truly need, but the word of God — and so they read their Holy Bible day-in and day-out as they sailed abroad.

Finally, after so long at sea, they landed. But it was cold, so frigid in fact that Mr. and Mrs. Pilgrim lost half their party due to a lack of faith in the Lord. Woe to he that doth not trust in Him to provideth. For truly, some were superficial in their belief whereas others came with the seed of God sown deep within. The day of reckoning had come where wheat was separated from chaff.

And after those first frigid days, the party ventured deeper into the new world. God had not forgotten those that had brought faith instead of knowledge. No, for he sent to them a native-guide that miraculously spoke their own very language. A native that had been taken from his home years earlier, trained in the king’s English, and returned. Even an unoccupied native-village awaited their arrival. God provideth!

Once Mr. and Mrs. Pilgrim and their friends settled into their new life in God’s country, they set about to give thanks to the Almighty for the blessings received. After finding the largest fowl they could, a turkey, they set it as the centerpiece of a magnificent feast filled with all kinds of local farm-to-table goodies. This great dinner would be known as Thanksgiving in the years to come.

And with the Pilgrim’s example, many other religious zealots also made their way to the New World. Of course, when you get a lot of opinionated people together that share a penchant for disregarding mortal authority, there’s bound to be some underlying friction. And so it was that many separate colonies were created, each with their own ideas of how to run things. This was America’s beginning: a land given to the faithful by God.

Devil in Disguise

What if there really is a devil in disguise? A hidden tempter trying to sway you? Whose only purpose: to keep you from reaching Heaven.

Think about it: would a creator really design a cruel world in which inhabitants were forced to struggle for survival OR would a creator design a wondrous world to delight and amuse its inhabitants?

So the world truly is a paradise, but due to the dark veil before you, you simply can’t perceive it. The prince of darkness casts this veil, infusing you with doubt and despair. But why would a creator include such a character in his world?

He wouldn’t. He gave you the free-will to interpret the world however you pleased. If you see devilish circumstances: YOU are the devil. And to defeat this devil, you deny him: “Get behind me satan!”

Satan (or really you), will be infusing obstacles in the form of pessimism and lack into your perception. You won’t merely perceive an apple, you’ll see rot and taste decay. But your job is to deny these dour expectations.

Seek and ye shall find. Seek the worst, you’ll find it. Seek the best, you’ll find it. The truth, the reality you experience, is an interpretation. The kingdom of Heaven, paradise, is at hand — seek it and you’ll find it.

The Good Life

What is it that one must do to live the good life? Hard work? Doing what exactly? Which path leads to the good life? What even is “the good life”?

If you believe external factors are beyond your control, then you can stop right there. How can you fulfill something that’s outside your influence? Luck? Are you feeling particularly lucky?

Either the good life is a gift you can willingly accept or it doesn’t exist. You can’t get there from any perspective except pure acceptance and appreciation. It’s the salvation the Bible talks about — an undeserved gift given to you by a loving Creator.

The good life is literally right here, right now. The entrance is opened by your willingness to perceive it. In the Bible, they couldn’t see it, they literally witnessed the son-of-God being murdered by man. He tried to tell them that Heaven is at hand, but they just couldn’t grasp it.

So will you learn the lesson? Will you choose to seek the goodness God wrought? Will you drop the veil of darkness that separates you from the light? A commitment is all it takes: to disregard pessimism with all your might.

That’s the hard work in which you must invest. Without trust in life, all bets are off anyway. For whatever reason, you’re tempted to see the worst — but have faith in the best, and you’ll receive it.