Re-cognising the symbolic world
Jonathan | 25 Jun 2005This world — your world, my world, the worldthat each of us seemingly lives within and experiences from day-to-day — is highly symbolic in nature. In fact it is COMPLETELY symbolic in nature. Just as words are symbols — a language created and understood by a culture that agrees to use it — for the purpose of conveying a message, so too the manifest world is a language used to convey a message. This is a point about reality that most people are unaware of. For those that wish to wake up within the Dream — those that are consciously on the Path of Power — it is vital to come to a clear understanding, and eventual experience and feeling for, the fact that the world is an entirely symbolic expression. It is, in a sense, the language of the soul — a soul that has a very important and pertinent message to convey.
Everything in the manifest world is an extension or expression of the non-manifest. Nothing leaves its source; nothing leaves that which created it. Therefore everything that is manifest carries the signature or the “qualities” of the particular “configuration” of the non-manifest from which it has extended out from. Just as that which I AM was is created in the likeness of “God”, so to this world has been created in the likeness of That which I Am.
This takes place as layers within layers. Each layer addsanother level of symbolism to what we eventually see as the “finished product” — the manifest reality. The last and densest layer — and the one most unlike and removed from the Truth — is the one that is projected onto your world by the ego-mind. The tricky thing about this final “layer” is that it is by nature symbolic of “that which is not real” — in other words ignorance or lies and deception — and therefore, so long as a person is identified with and has his attention fixated on this layer, it will leave a person feeling metaphysically dazed and confused. Let’s just say that it makes life rather difficult. This is, in fact, the root of all suffering. The reason for this is that the apparent ego-mind is in fact not “real”. It is simply the result of misidentification — ignorance of That which I Am. Therefore, what the ego projects out onto the world must therefore also be “unreal”, for it too must create in its own likeness. The good news is that what the ego seemingly creates also does not leave its source. Thus by transcending identification with the ego one also transcends the ego’s false perception of the world. Once that false perception is transcended, then the Vision of the Soul burst through into ones awareness.
At the heart or core of all these apparent layers upon layers of “reality” is that which many refer to as God. We can also call it Life — although that name might be prone to arousing a very limited interpretation of what we’re referring to. We could also call it Infinity. Star Wars fans might light to call it “The Force”. Therefore, as you dive into and through the many layers of your own Being and eventually reconcile with God (with the core), the world will at that point start to be symbolic of God (Perfection, Love,Truth, the Is-ness of “things”) in your Vision. Ego-perception will fall to the side, as True Vision comes to the forefront of your mind and experience. Until that breakthrough in consciousness is experienced and integrated, however, there are many other layers of symbolic story woven into what you experience as your world.
The ability to recognise that the world is symbolic; and the ability to recognise the symbols as they present themselves; and the capacity to read and interpret these symbols, is all contained within you. It is a language that you implicitly understand — you have, after all, used it to create the world you experience and live within. Therefore you have all you need in this regard — and in fact you therefore need no-thing to do this.Of course, you might feel like you don’t have these skills and this capacity, and it is the dissolution of that lie that must take a place of high priority in your world if you wish to every break free of lies, powerlessness, and deception.
I call this “learning to read the world”. Society will at best teach a child how to read and write in the language of its choosing. English, Japanese, Maori, Hopi, etcetera. This language has its uses. For instance gives you and I the capacity to share the message conveyed by the words I am now writing and which you are now reading (some time in my apparent future !). For the most part, the language of a culture or society is constructed in such a way that it is most apt and geared towards conveying the message embodiedwithin that culture. That message is very often a self-serving one. It is based on preservation of the known and agreed upon parameters of the culture. Parameters that — certainly in the case of the Anglo-Saxonculture I was born into — are extremely limiting relative to the massive scope of That which I Am.
It is much like a religion or cult. Well, in fact it is a cult — in the true meaning of that word (a word so misused by Christian fundamentalists and the likes), the source of the word “culture”.Any cult has an agreed upon language and particular way of using the language at hand in order to convey the message it adheres to. Most religions, for instance, go to great lengths to maintain the exclusivity, stability, and purpose for which they stand for. All those that do not adhere to the ways of the religion (a theocentric cult) as conveyed through the message inherent in its use of language (symbols) are cast aside until they one day (if ever) decide to repent.
Society is also a cult — a sociocentric cult. It operates in exactly the same way as a religion, just with broader terms and boundariesthat are not as obvious as those seen in the smaller cults created by religions. It too will use language in such a way as to keep the minds within the society rigidly adherentto the parameters set down by that culture as acceptable and “okay”. It is the task of those on the Path of Power to break free of this insanity.
This brings us back to learning — actually it is more appropriate to say “re-member-ing” — the language of the Soul, as woven into the world we each individually and collective co-create. As mentioned above, language is used to convey a message. So the obvious questionis, “What message does the world convey?”. Now realise, that each layer will convey a slightly (or dramatically) different message. The message the layer of the ego-mind conveys is one of separation— suffering, war, chaos, evolution, failure, hatred, emotionally conditional love, starvation, inequality, victimisation, external power, etcetera. AdmittedlyI’ve painted a somewhat grim picture of the ego’s world view, but I think you will find that these are ultimately the things that the ego-mind hones in on and keeps at the forefront of the human experience. A brief and honest look at human history will give apply evidence to support that fact.
So it is of great import to realise the implications of the above paragraph. The primary implication is this: So long as I continue to perceive the world through the eyes of the ego-mind I will be forever locked into the experience of that which it’s language is designed to convey — which is essentially perpetual and cyclic suffering. Okay, there are some rosy moments in the midst of it all — I am not trying to deny that — but I feel that anyone who is truly self-honest will see that these apparent rosymoments are really just small carrots the ego keeps dangling out in front of us as we blindly walk through a field of rotten corpses and manure… and then wonder, “What the f*#k is that horrid, ghastly smell. I think I’m going to puke”. Puke, of course, projects out in front of the face. Thus the nice juicycarrot the ego was holding out there is now covered in something that makes it anything but “rosy” and appealing. Admittedly, many of us has learnt to suffice with this sort of existence, and have talked ourselves into a rather limited world where this scenario, “ain’t that bad mate”. Yuk.
Okay… so if you’re ready for the message I am conveying, then I am sure you get the point of all of the above. If you don’t get the point of the above then I will suggest you are not ready… that the ego has you firmly locked into it’s pathetic excuse for fun and happiness, and it might be best if you return to this material at some later date. Oh, okay… read one, read on… let’s see where we get to in all this. Something got you this far. Perhaps you’re more ready than you’d like to admit — more ready than the ego is wanting to let you admit.
The message the world is conveying to you is ultimately something like this:
“You are eternal. You are vast. You are an incredibly powerful creative force. You are powerful. You are pure love. You are a Divine Being, that is whole, holy, and complete in all ways. You are perfect, and in that Perfection you are no less than God, and have NEVER diverged from the way God created you”.
It is perhaps quite obvious that this is not the general impression most of us get when we look at the world, and go through our day-to-day lives. Why is that?
Well, for a start, we have forgotten how to read the world, and have got heavily engrossed in the horror movie being conducted by the ego-mind. That’s not an inherently”Bad” thing. No, not at all. It just ain’t that much fun after a while — say a few millions years for some of us — and it really does little to reflect to you and I the shear magnificence of out True Nature. Basically we live in the Kingdom of Heaven — yes, right here on Earth, or wherever else we find our self situated — and yet from moment to moment we perceive and experience what some might aptly call Hell, with perhaps a few glimpse of what some might call “Heaven” (there’s that bloody carrot rearing it’s ugly green head again !)
Once you are remember how to see the world through (increasingly) true perception — the Vision of the Soul and of God — then it will all start to look rather different. Suddenly you are living in Heaven, having a splendid adventure in experiential creativity, where life is just one big juicy “carrot” (way to big to puke on in way that is of any significance), with brief moments of being in the field of dead corpses and manure simply to keep you moving along at a healthy pace. We don’t, after all, want to lounge around, get lazy, and forget why we are here. Thatis in fact what has happened, and that is in fact why the flashes of the putrid field of corpses has taken president over the vast carrot in the sky.
Okay… I’ll put that stinking metaphor to rest now. I’m sure you got the message a number of iterations ago. Please forgive me.
How does one learn to read the world?
Simple.
You cease identifying with your human mind (and its endless stream of thoughts). You cease identifying with your emotions (which will never stop dancing around), and you start to live from a place of intuitive feeling.
“Easier said than done”, I hear you say. Granted. It is easy to say, are relatively tricky to actually pull it off.
All of what I write is conveying one message… and that message is something along the lines of, “This is how you might be able to break free… read on, apply what you read, fasten your seatbelt, and let’s enjoy the ride”.
So I am not going to attempt conveying the answer to such a question here in this piece of writing. My point here was simply to draw your attention to “Re-cognising the symbolic nature of the world”…
Blessings,
Jonathan
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