Bless them All
December 19, 2007 | Leave a Comment
My last post [”What luck for rulers that men do not think.”] was about thinking — actually, it was just as much about not-thinking. Really, all my posts are, in one way or another, about thinking; but there were parts in that last post that could have seemed “anti-media,” or “anti-government.” It was actually nothing more than an invitation for US to wake-up; talking heads is not my term for the people who read the news prepared by other people and approved by others still. The point was simply this: If you don’t think for yourself, others are more than willing to do it for you; and they will. And it will cost you money, cause you suffering, and you will not get what you want, but what they want you to have. That’s all.
As for the media, government, and the heads of organized religions around the world, Bless you all. There is indeed darkness in the world; and it doesn’t settle to [or for] the bottom — it does whatever it needs to do to reach the top and stay there. But being anti-anything is never the answer. Leaders who start wars are the real victims, though they would smirk at that statement; they need our love and blessings. A leader who bends to the greed and ignorance that starts wars is a leader in need of positive energy — not more negative energy. Pray for these men to find wisdom; do not curse them.
The average person will never meet the people who are really behind governments and corporations such as drug companies or broadcasting companies; and the people we do come in contact with are simply trying to get by in life doing what they know how to do and thinking what they have been told to think. These are not bad people; and they deserve no contempt or ridicule. Likewise, the most arrogant and violent leaders in the world have much more ego than they need; and too much ego to recognize that they were denied something vital as a child. But they were all children; and they were all taught to be what they are today. This isn’t their fault; and cursing them, or criticizing them, will not hasten their enlightenment. It will only slow your own.
Bless them all; all of the people who seem to be such easy targets for blame truly need blessings. Blessings, or the direction of the positive energy of love to infuse the recipient with Divinity, are simply a way of praying for a person to shine with Divine love and light. Can you imagine being hated by hundreds of millions of people? Just think about how uncomfortable it is to be in a room with one or two people who just don’t like you; and then multiply that by several hundred million. Now, imagine being the recipient of prayers of love and wisdom from several hundred million people. There’s nothing like love to help a person become lovable. Bless the leader of China; bless G.W.; and bless the pharmaceutical companies and food companies and petroleum companies and anyone else who appears to be going to great extremes to make money — regardless of the human cost. These people would not be doing such things if they weren’t very deeply troubled and afraid. They need love; they need your blessing. Bless them all.
Bless anything in your life that isn’t how you want it. If your house needed painting, you could stand and curse the old paint, or you could bless your house with a new paint job. If your spouse isn’t kind and loving, bless them; give them a constant example of what a loving spouse might look like. And if your children are making bad grades in school, bless them and help them — don’t just yell at them and make them feel small and dumb. We are all human; we all need love. We all have the capacity to love; so we don’t necessarily need love from external sources — but it sure is nice! Bless those you love; and bless those you hate. Your hatred isn’t hurting them, it’s hurting you; and it isn’t helping to raise that other person up, either. Blessing, however, will help people become more than they are right now. Love them all; and bless them all.
*Recently, a friend suggested I check-out an interesting site; and he sent me the link to “The Blessing Experiment.” I went to www.BetterToBless.com; and I was pleased to find such a wonderful site with such a positive approach to changing the world for the better. Kate Nowak, writer and creator of several inspirational movies (available at BetterToBless.com), has created a community with a powerful message: “It’s always better to bless.” Visit www.BetterToBless.com and take the “blessing challenge,” or sign-up for Kate’s FREE Monthly E-zine, “The Blessing Way.”
"What luck for rulers that men do not think."
December 19, 2007 | Leave a Comment
Jesus said, “As a man thinketh, so is he.” You may not be religious (I’m really not religious, either…); but the truth does not stand or fall because of the reputation of the speaker. Truth is always truth. This saying isn’t true because Jesus said it; Jesus was quoting when he said this — these words appear in the Old Testament, and in every other religion on the planet. Buddha said, “What we think, we become,” for example; and Gandhi (who was neither a Jew, Christian, nor a Buddhist) expressed the exact sentiment thusly, “A man is but the product of his thoughts; what he thinks, he becomes.” What a gift this is! I wonder why so few use it…
It doesn’t matter what we think; thoughts are the seeds and we need only think (plant) them in order for them to grow into something. And we reap in our bodies and lives the physical fruits of those thoughts we sow and cultivate in our minds. Unfortunately, most people simply don’t think — they memorize and repeat things. If your opinions, for instance, match those of a “talking head” on any national television news show, what makes you think those are your opinions? “Opinion,” said John Erskine, “is that exercise of the human will which helps us to make a decision without information.” H.L. Mencken wrote, in 1925, “The average man never really thinks from end to end of his life. The mental activity of such people is only a mouthing of cliches.”
If you think for yourself, you can do anything; indeed, “all things are possible.” Gandhi said, “Those who know how to think need no teachers.” Could this have been what Jesus was referring to when He said, “I have access to all knowledge.” He didn’t say, “I know everything…;” He said that He had access — He knew where and how to get it. Consider that prayer is focused thinking; and it is often used to ask questions from a higher power or source. Voltaire wrote, “No problem can withstand the assault of sustained thinking;” and, when asked how he discovered the Laws of Gravity, Sir Isaac Newton replied, “I thought about it all the time.”
Of course, most people believe they are thinking. Alas, mentally reciting the thoughts and words of others is not thinking. When people think their own thoughts, they can do anything; when people think the thoughts of another, they can be made to do anything. A king wrote, “Now the people are as one and nothing will be restrained from them that they seek to do.” Later kings discovered that power could be harnessed by directing the thoughts of those “unified” people. Through laws, religions, and mass media, people are told what to think from cradle to grave — people who do not find a way to think for themselves, that is. And we believe what we are told for many reasons. People can be made to not kill each other, for instance, by telling them God said not to do it, or that something bad will happen to them if they do; and those same people can then be made to kill people by telling them it is their legal, moral, or patriotic obligation to do so. The common denominator: Being told what to do and believing you have to.
Wisdom teachings protect us from such traps — if we have been taught, of course. Following the teaching to “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you,” could keep you from “doing unto others what someone else told you to do to them.” Listen to your heart; this is where true wisdom lives. Anthony De Mello once wrote, “People mistakenly assume that their thinking is done by their head; it is actually done by the heart which first dictates the conclusion, then commands the head to provide the reasoning that will defend it.” Think for yourself and follow the guidance of your heart. Much of your stress and illness will disappear when you figure out how to do this.
When you think for yourself, you can easily discern your thoughts and desires from someone else’s agenda and control. We all have the power to do this; our ability to choose our thoughts, in fact, is our only true free-will. This is our birthright and most people simply hand theirs over to those they perceive to be “smarter,” or more powerful. When you can make a bunch of people believe what you say, you can direct a tremendous amount of energy. Buckminster Fuller said of belief, “Belief is when someone else does the thinking.” Belief is actually an energy that people put into thoughts in order to make them happen. If you don’t think for yourself, others can convince you to give them that greatest of all human powers — your belief. “What luck for rulers,” said Adolf Hitler, “that men do not think.”
Think about that.
