With amazing writers, it is not prerequisite to read their books cover to cover to understand the richness of them. Instead you can just keep returning to them, and reading segments like getting water from a well.

I started learning how to read books spiritually. This technique can be applied to anything in fact. It can be applied to watching a movie, reading an article, or even listening in a conversation.

But for now, I’d like to talk about books.

The work of Holy Spirit is in all expressions of human life. We hear this all the time, but to perceive it is another thing. Often it is difficult to perceive because our minds are not relaxed.

When we are relaxed, we are not in a “mental” mode. The analytical and judgmental mind is not on survival or thinking mode. During relaxation, Soul starts to come out and play…because it’s safe, and because it enjoys Happiness. It does so only when we are relaxed.

This is particularly important for artists: to be relaxed at all times, especially when creating something that teaches or expresses values.

Values that come from the mind is mental and therefore “Moralistic.” The values the come from the heart is spiritual.

The heart is ethical, it deals with the world in an ethical manner. This means its rules and boundaries are not “morals;” rather, are in alignment with deeper spiritual laws—Divine Laws, which are not man-made but comes from Holy Spirit. Some people may experience this as an element of grace that runs smoothly when they most need it.

When things just “work out;” that’s Grace and Divine Laws operating.

With books by favorite writers: their work is so inspiring and tight (perfected) that I do not need to read the entire book.

With amazing writers, it is not prerequisite to read their books cover to cover to understand the richness of them. Instead you can just keep returning to them, and reading segments like getting water from a well.

This slow nursing process cultivates rich inner life. In it are many things working:

• cultivation of appreciation
• development of patience and moderation
• relaxed attitude
• friendly relationship with Time
• ability to be open or surrender

And desire to return to that which you love…a returning to Love.

When Spirit is in expressions of life: it works with you in a serendipitous yet very exacting ways. It is as though “selective seeing, hearing, listening and reading” is not something that we have to work hard at, but that Spirit selects these things for us; and when it does, it is a gift.

It is a gift for instance, to be surprised in seeing a show, coming across a book, seeing a film or meeting certain people that we would not normally choose. Yet when these things happen, they appear so perfect for what is needed in that moment.

This is a very different experience than when someone (or mass opinions) selects our movies, religion, books and ideas about how to live our lives. This pushes us into a mental way of thinking—which can be well-intentioned or destructive.

Things come to us in their own time and usually the perfect time—when selected by Spirit. The way to let this happen is to be open to it, to not try to achieve it…but to be relaxed and to seek but not search; not force.

Which means that you may walk into a crowded room for instance and a conversation is going on: but when you sit down, you hear JUST THE RIGHT thing that you needed at that time. You even might say JUST THE RIGHT thing for the group even if no one knows you—a particular person or the entire group needed to hear what you said. The conversation may have lasted for three hours but Spirit selects the moment that was needed. It has perfect timing.

The technique for allowing Spirit in our lives takes place in small events. By being opened to read a book through sections rather the whole thing, this practice manifests into larger ways to let life experiences happen. Once you hit that section, just read a few paragraphs and then move onto another section.

By not “searching” for knowledge, you get it. Really good books that are well written and thoughtful have this technique naturally born in them.

When you see a great piece of art (design; such as architecture, furniture or fashion, a show, film or performance) you can see that a really tight piece of work has many sub-perfect parts in them; every little decision has a message. You can appreciate every little part that puts it all together—as though each part were a whole piece.

So it is with books.

Many people who write do not know that they are working with Spirit. Often authors write on a very mental level to get a particular job, task or creative goal done.

But in those cases, they must depend on “muses” or have strikes of lightening hit them after writing many drafts before they get that piece of magic.

That is like watching a three-hour movie to experience one great scene or hear one great line. So it is with literature as well. Long books do not make them any richer. But if a Long book is packed with Spirit—reading 300 pages will feel like 60.

But if you seriously are into the work of Masters, it is worthwhile to stick to the goods stuff. By Masters—I do not mean “known Masters.” I mean, reviewing work that has Mastership in it.

A work that has Mastership in it has those “moments” almost ALL THE TIME. It runs throughout the piece of creation. That is how you know that the artist/person is really working directly with Spirit—either in a conscious or very opened hearted way.

I keep my favorites to a minimum. Not because it is a personal choice but I find good work of Mastership rare or specific to my needs. I study only two poets, two authors and one filmmaker. I love their work dearly and revisit them whenever I need “water” from the well.

As result, I do not feel a desire to have a library of thousands of stuff. Knowledge comes with Love, so when you love something, it isn’t a matter of quantity that gives you knowledge—it is a matter of love, of being really into something.

When you touch a work of an artist/person who creates something out of their heart: you learn from them through love. Every stitch, every detail, every element is filled with Knowledge.

A Spiritual Read is an exercise of “sticking to things you love.” By sticking to them, it does not mean you have developed a rigid attitude of only reading what you like. Rather, by sticking to them, you cultivate and feed Soul.

This is why books about God are never spiritual and never about God, because the writer isn’t speaking from Love but from Intellect. Intellectualism often tears Knowledge apart. Once you have an opinion, there is an opposite opinion—so you run into circles of mental debate. The opposites never meet because that is the nature of opinions. The tendency is to fight.

People who argue about God, argue about God.

Philosophy may be useful when Intellect communicates Soul’s understanding. So the rule is to get to know Soul. Philosophy today is rarely spiritual or understood as such because Education has made it analytical. I am certain that true Philosophy was an experience of being very close to a Master and receiving him with the heart.

That is why I love Plato. I believe that he used intellect to speak from the heart. His philosophy is not of the mind, but that of Soul.

Intellectuals talk about Philosophy but often do not live it. Even while they live it, they are analyzing how meaningful it is. They develop an arrogance from living life a of voyeurism. Making fun of people’s idiosyncrasies—especially in movies. Overtime, they attract an audience that is just like them. This is where Philosophy usually becomes destructive and does not serve society nor is it a Love of Knowledge–for Philosophy is a sincere love for Truth.

In this case, the best advice or words of wisdom comes from your grandmother, a down-to-earth person, a bus driver, the shoe repair guy, or the person you buy your fish from everyday. That’s because these people experience life.

Books are a great way to relax. It depends on what you’re reading. If you let Spirit pick the books for you, it will make you relax. But if you just want to study and read everything—maybe, maybe not. There are not hard rules.

When you are relaxed, you can see the meaning of everything much more clearly. This clarity is not mental—it is Knowledge that comes from the heart’s understanding.

Some people in the world write manuals for a living. These people are doing a great service to humanity because these are instruction books on how to fix things in your life. It sounds really odd that this would mean anything…but a good manual is very hard to find. And when you find it you know, it becomes really “handy.” That’s when you learn to really appreciate the author!

The spot-reading method of Spiritual Reading is great for people in society who don’t have time to read.

When you don’t have time to read, it is like not having time to sit down to eat a meal without inhaling it. So instead of eating a large meal, you eat a sandwich.

Good reads are spiritual books by their very nature—just taking one bite of it, can keep you going for the rest of the day.

When I feel inspired, I will read a short story.

“A person who loves Truth is also a lover of Fried Chicken.”

An Eagle was born into a family of chickens. His egg had found its way there by accident. The fable varies. Some say that an American Indian Chief climbed a tree, removed an egg off the Eagle’s nest and brought it home to lay with his chicken eggs. Other versions start off the story by simply saying an Eagle’s egg had somehow been misplaced in a Chicken Barn, while others say a Farmer put it there. However, this is not a case of Who Dunnit. This story is about Spiritual Liberation.

We have also heard of variations of this in feral children (children raised by animals such as wolves). Other versions speak of a Lion being raised among lambs (The Lion Who Believed He was a Sheep) and one day, after seeing its reflection in a pool of water, realized its true self. In most cases, these parables speak about Individuality and being True and Great within oneself despite all odds; that what we always have known about our uniqueness is not a burden but leads to Self Realization or affirmation of our own uniqueness.

The parable about the Eagle and Chicken Farm differs because it speaks about what it means to be Soul, born into this world.

Later, I will also tie this parable into our particular Society and how modern industrialized living combined with the Technology/Advertising Age continues to shape us.

The story goes:

An Eagle’s egg was hatched inside a Chicken Farm. When the Eaglet grew up, it was taught by the mother hen, siblings and environment to peck and scratch at the ground all day digging for worms.

One day as the Eagle got older, it looked up to the sky and saw an Eagle soaring in the sky with its majestic wings outspread and asked, “What is that? I want to fly like that.” The Mother Hen said, “Forget about it, you’re only a chicken. Keep your head to the ground and keep pecking.”

One day, he thought he’d try this out for himself so he tested out his wings and began to fly. The Farmer clipped his wings so that he stay put in the pen and in that sense, reminded him that he was just a chicken.

A dramatic version of this story goes like this: apparently, the farmer thought he clipped his wings but he did not do so properly. One evening, when a dark storm came by, the chickens were very frightened. The Eagle was very frightened too but his reaction was not to cower and seek shelter. Suddenly his wings began to spread open and he positioned himself as his protection instinct took over to brave the storm. A mighty wind came by and lifted his wings and he began to soar into the sky—at peace with the turbulent wind.

Since then, he was not afraid to fly, never to return as a chicken again.

The message in this story is that Souls born into this world raised within a Chicken Farm (Social or Human consciousness) where we are taught to peck and look to the ground.

Deep inside us, we know there is Soul and something much higher; a greater love or knowledge of God and Spirit. But because our social consciousness engineered us to behave as Chicken, we learn to forget and suppress our Eagle desires. Even as our Eagle desires develop, we are trained to use them for the benefit of society rather than Soul’s.

Soul Awareness is not that difficult to grasp. Society has trained us into believing that our relationship to it is sensed through Mind, Intellect, Rationalization or a faint concept of Individuality; which are all based on Ego. But true Individuality is closer to the path of Soul than believing in mind power or mental concepts.

Soul and God Consciousness are immediate within us, experienced inwardly. To leave the chicken farm to fly as an Eagle does not necessarily imply that we have to leave family or social obligation to fly as an Artist, King or CEO. This is not about ambition or career potential.

Adding further complexity to the Chicken Consciousness—Society has created falsehood around concepts of Success and Leadership—by teaching us that there are two ways to deal with the Chicken World: which is to either (a) follow the system and keep pecking or (b) beat the system and not peck at all.

The hippie that leaves everything behind loses in the end because he fails to function in the world. In the 80s, the hippie generation were drawn back into society and instead of being addicted to drugs, they were addicted to money (hence the advent of “Yuppies”). Either way, they never left the chicken farm. They only believed they did: whether they thought they were flying as eagles, or pecking up the social order.

Social Consciousness owns both sides of the coin (as we live in a time-space built upon duality) and it’s the Individuals job to not get caught in dualistic ideals, even the highest.

The Eagle story is about Soul awareness as human being within the social condition. It is about overcoming the illusion of our social boundaries while realizing that they are very much a fact of life. Although this fact is true for many, it needn’t consume us as a Reality.

The freedom to be an Eagle in a Chicken Farm is the realization that one can attain freedom in this lifetime—while being caught inside a working, pecking order—whose interest (of the Chicken Farm) is to keep you looking to the earth, hatching eggs and feeding a system of Reincarnation (come back to the earth again). This is the part in the parable where the Eagle opens his wings and faces the storm—realizing he will never return to become a chicken.

When an Eagle flies and breaks free—He knows that he will never be Reincarnated—therefore he does not live in fear of Death—which is the dark storm, but he has come to understand it.

My relationship to the Eagle symbol is different. I visualize the Eagle often with a globe like pearl or ball inside its claws. This invisible Pearl of God—is in our heart. It represents the heart of God.

The Ball represents many things, including Divine Love, which the Eagle carries. This love is inside our hearts. When we open it, Soul soars. We cannot love all of mankind for what it is, but we can love what is in our hearts. When this part opens, Soul soars like the Eagle, showing itself not through ideas, but by example.

This is what the adage, Love Thy Neighbor, attempts to achieve but misses the point: because the goal is to not love the Chicken World and its chicken neighbors, but to love the Eagle while playing that part of a chicken. When the Eagle soars, it shows what the true nature of Soul and what God is. It is in realizing Soul that we experience the heart of God. In this way, the overview of life is seen through the lens of Divine Love; this is where  loving your neighbor isn’t a personal affair; it literally is God’s point of view.

In our Chicken Worldview and condition of human love, we peck and scratch for love. We seek human love at its lowest form, not realizing that Soul knows Divine Love. Divine Love is not a concept one attains; it is not a state of mysticism taught to us as a state of ecstasy that comes randomly. It is a reality and extension of one’s innermost self.

Pecking at the ground, we accept that Eagle as Soul does not exist—as though high stages of consciousness and Divine Love were meant for Saints, the Afterlife, the Enlightened, the Lucky or someone else—so we stick to our Chicken World Hearts; our human love…the kind that is good enough to make tasty soup (the giving up of hope). Human love will fail us until we are brought down to our knees—by coming to a place of understanding that the Heart of Soul cannot be broken. This doesn’t mean that we stop loving as humans—we just stop loving foolishly, possessively, and irresponsibly. It also doesn’t mean that we don’t have a broken human heart to repair.

This pearl inside the Eagle’s claw is sometimes expressed in Sufism as a heart with wings. Its variations traces to Egyptian and earlier times. The original symbol is a circle with wings.

For me, the winged globe (or eagle with pearl) is a metaphor of Divine Love (Total Consciousness) held as a Pearl in the “claws” or hands (destiny) of Soul.

The Pearl is both Soul and Divine Love as one and Spirit is represented by the Eagle that carries it. In truth, Soul carries itself. Inversely, Soul carries God. Outwardly, God carries Soul. But the meaning is same.

The goal is not to change the Chicken World. This state of consciousness should not be changed politically, socially, religiously or theoretically. The goal is to find a way to realize oneself and to survive spiritually in an antithetical environment.

At the moment, it is dangerous for people in society to open their hearts completely.

This is because social consciousness is not mature enough to permit this. If it did, a lot of black magic would take place. It is already (and has been) taking place through Advertising—which has worked its way into everything: from health, education and politics to our email system and the obvious, which is media and home entertainment as well as certain religions.

The Goal of Advertising involves invasion of Privacy—of psychological, spiritual and personal privacy—through which its commands can take over the place of consciousness (which is Soul).

It is bad enough that we told to be chickens, but even worse that we are told what being an Eagle is: often defined as becoming a one hit wonder in social networking, new media gimmicks, success defined by money and popularity, making fools of ourselves or each other on Reality TV, gimmicks to win attention by the masses, steal, lie, cheat or become a self-invented entrepreneur or media product. What we have been told about Eagles and the potential of Eagles, allows advertising— in the spiritual sense— to get closer to the pearl (the heart of Soul) so that it may own or command it.

Soul is Consciousness, it is not just an invisible thing that can’t be proven. The fact that our mental thoughts creates beliefs  that make us happy or sad is part of Soul or reflects upon it. Because of the command that Advertising has over moods, feelings and the subconscious, I call it by its name, which is black magic.

In the old days, before Advertising came along, black magic worked it way literally through Voodoo. This voodoo was not seen as negative. Like advertising, it was also sold as a benefit to humanity, for people to lend over personal power to external power (demonstrated as greater after subject humans to states of suffering, helpless or addiction; uncontrolled habits. Either this, or people were kept away from power (guarded as “secret” or reserved for the esteemed) in order to worship idols. Withdrawal of power happened through symbols (which is the language of Advertising as well as Soul). By removing certain symbols out of words, sounds and certain sacred imagery, the power was able to stripped from a person’s spiritual awareness until he is mentally or socially mutated (psychologically engineered).

Later it became Priestcraft. Later it became Religion used for social control (of souls) and later it became secret business and trade secrets. These business and trade secrets are still using the old magic that predates man’s conscious history of when he lost control of himself. With new technology, the secret reveals this power, in the form of Advertising. Be thankful that it is now completely transparent, even though many people refuse to see it, they choose to be controlled— by no fault than that we live in a hypnotic world.

I think it is only right that Eagle Consciousness has its place and time. For now, the Chicken World is where we are at. However, more and more people that soar and break free—teach others also how to do it. Only then will Advertising and the black magic of thousands upon years of old conditioning no longer affect us. Even if they do, they have no lasting power. Magic is a temporal process that has to keep self-creating to perpetuate a reality.

Higher consciousness is free of magic, it doesn’t use it and magic cannot touch it. This is the idea that has been hidden from us, and that is why we are taught to believe or disbelieve in “miracles.”

According to Soul, there is no magic. There are only miracles.

Go onto Part II of this essay: CHICKENS AND THE REAL WORD

by Ji Rising/ Blogasana.com

Although Resumes are useful in social survival, they are not useful spiritually.

As modern life attempts to bind man ( his consciousness) to invisible “contracts” with systems of social engineering (higher education, banks, debts, career), the Resume takes on a role of social role of control, like Advertising.

What is happening today with Technology is that life is becoming more “Advertised.” That is the masterwork behind why things are moving so “fast” and people are forced (or voluntarily) drop new technologies for new ones every six months, which has reduced down to two months and every eventually every minute. One of the reasons why everything is boiling over and moving so fast is because of Fear. It has to do with the fact that many Eagle Eggs are karmically being planted into Chicken Barns today: and as this happens, more “Advertising Farmers” must be sent out to clip wings so nobody, especially the talented ones don’t fly away. They want to keep you in the Barn, to serve their agenda.

The Social agenda is fine if it is ethical and promises what it delivers; if it serves for the betterment of mankind as a whole—and not only the few. But Resumes serve only the few who can compete to make to the top of the Pyramid, in order to control everyone else at the bottom. But what happens when everyone climbs to the top and find out that there is only four position at the top tier, three more above, two above that and only one at the top? This means that most people have been sold on an illusion…and so the fall of society is not financial, it is spiritual. So what happens is that people become greedy, more greedy than they normally would be, if they did not gypped on a dream. This is the fear and ego based paradigm that the Western is confronted with.

Over the past decade, people complain that everything in life has turned into “for-profit” or business. But really, the business aspect is only the logistical part of it, the real power that runs it is advertising.

Advertising is postulation: a projection of ideas. Worked with values, they fuel emotion. Decisions are based on that.

Human Laws are subjective. They have no merit until choices are made (either consciously or unconsciously) which shape the ethos of our time. We have a say in that.

We do not live in a one-corporation world, we live in a one-billboard world. This is why there is TV everywhere you go now, at every United States airport.

No matter how fast Advertising moves to keep Soul two steps backward: it is an endless game and pressure of Dominance over Free Will.

Spiritual Laws supersede and determine the validity of our Human (man-made) Laws. Man-made laws frequently violate Spiritual ones.

For example, Nature abides by spiritual law, yet animals, people and the earth are forced to depend on man-made laws that replace genetic markups through industrialized food, drugs, etc. to mutate DNA. Man’s passage into self-imposed (or self-acquiescing) slavery happens slowly and subtly because of basic violations of Spiritual Laws. He is slowly robbed of his ability to depend on things that come with his instincts. Environmentally, his wings are clipped so that he cannot use what he has to work with.

A violation of Spiritual Laws is easy to ignore because it’s not visible or written into our human laws, yet it is written in our hearts.

Modern civilization’s dependency on Resumes means loss of freedom. If no one in the future cannot find work without one, it means the Masses ability to survive (find work or gain entry into society and the work force) is controlled and based on a piece of paper—taking away his independence. As a work of fiction, it sounds like it could never happen. But it has. Developing nations have people of all ages working, surviving on their skills. The older timers in America all got their breaks working their “way up” until…

This way up was sold as “climbing the social ladder” THROUGH higher education, which qualifies and seemingly promises the future on two pieces of paper (the diploma and resume). This evolved into a business, that sells more volume of heads per year, than the biggest car dealership in the world.

For creative people, Resumes are also a systematic destruction of Artists and the artistic soul; by turning artists into careerists and entrepreneurs and to integrate that belief system into minds of future generations. An Artist should not need a resume to create no more than a Mother requires one to make babies. This is why there is very rare art in the world. It is all pouring out of studios, museums and institution.

A Resume is a piece of illusion that states that you mentally bind yourself to a social “contract” voluntarily.  More than this, the Resume concept ties into a long conditioning process of mutating the human mind from survival instinct to total dependency on outside forces and belief systems that lands him in co-dependent and helpless situations. And the only way he can beat it is by developing ambition, power and ego. His job therefore is to sustain the Negative World Power, to make sure that those who enter the corporate world follow this system.

Really what corporations are: are modern cults in disguised. The cult entry and status is barred through higher cost of education; to enjoy a systematic deployment of certain classes what would initiated into the work force at Top Pyramid level, whereas everyone else will be too broke by graduation time to bother. What the masses don’t realized is that the Top of the Pyramid is only held for those inherited into a structure. Ivy League colleges and certain industries only groom their own kind. The rest of the people flocking to them sometimes break entry. It’s possible, but by then, they clubs still make a great deal of money on education by cross-selling member ID cards to people with dreams.

To bring a member into a cult, you have to condition them into your belief system. People do not normally go by choice: they are mentally conditioned into it. That is a loss of freedom.

The grooming of youth and newer generation are led to believe that the meaning and purpose of life is found in “Career.” By the time they reach high school, nearly all their talents and mind power is funneled into an advertising agency called Higher Education. Degrees, college and work resumes get you a job in the Advertising industry. All work today is advertising.

Real jobs in the world are missing now: the real ones just require that you learn a skill or be mentored into gaining one based on your potential and true demeanor. That is the spiritual way.

Higher education is based on money and control. It is no longer about cultivating the mind of future citizens who would be responsible for our society, economy and the world’s future and “blah blah blah.” There is no turning back in public perception. And if there is; it’s through an Ad.

In the recent decade, financial crisis in lending industries has shown that education is a business. The higher education module is based on Banks that are into the Advertising Business. Films like College Inc. alludes to this in a scene were an investor says it’s all about the “marketing.” For the purpose of this entry, I’d like to focus on what this means spiritually—with regards to liberation and Soul.

The Eagle in the Chicken Barn parable is actually describing Mastership, which helps a person deal with being inside Social Consciousness (the Chicken Barn) while not falling into the belief system that keeps Soul confused and trapped.

In the Eagle Parable, when the Mother Hen said, “Forget it about, you’re only a chicken, keep your head to the ground and just keep pecking,” this means the same thing as society telling us that Greatness is only reserved for whom human history defines as “Masters;” while never accepting that each individual may have this within himself, whether self-taught or born with unique greatness.

Today, most artists copy. According to our ethos, they are encouraged to. The choice to copy is like pecking and keeping your head to the ground: because it’s safe. Original art is rare today, because of the Social Consciousness that supports art is based on schools of thought that train students without Masters. The students are trained to copy dead “masters.” People do not realize that copying is only useful when you are working with actual living Masters. If you are not doing so then you are only becoming a copy artist.

When the Farmer clipped the Eagle’s wings on his first attempt: this is the same as micro-managing in the work force: where people are not given responsibility to prove themselves, but must be monitored and recorded.

This is a form of communism in capitalism, which is to instill fear as paradigm to keep people controlled. It trains people to have weak minds rather than strong ones. When such people end up in managerial or hiring positions, they are threatened by strong personalities. But it is the strong personality that makes leaders of this world. Less of these people are hired. It is cyclical. What companies believe to be quality control and providing good customer service is actually a robbing of their employees potential and freedom.

The clipped wings are also evident in the jealousy and fear of potential found in competitive environments. People sometimes clip other people’s potential in fear of looking bad, insecurities, or they do it for profit (often true strokes of Genius involves taking financial risks).

The Eagle parable is a story about Soul in the world of Social Engineering (aka Maya, “Ignorance” as defined by Buddhists and “Dark Age” by Hinduism), but really what the story exemplifies is Mastership in overcoming Illusion.

Mastership does not mean the same as social concepts of Leadership (power and ego). Mastership is usually based on spiritual principles and a desire to link others to it. At its highest level, it is based purely on love.

I would say the highest state of Mastership for the masses today is to practice: The Law of Minding One’s own Business. I made that one up. I am secretly addressing the ad world–which has invaded too much our personal privacy and mental decisions. It is a negative practice and, you know…negative makes negative.

Carl Jung talked a great deal about a free person as being an “Individuated” person: a person who is part of this world, yet not of it. He was addressing Mastership: That is the Eagle aspect of Soul in the Chicken Barn.

A person who can live in the resume world may have the best education, win the most awards and diplomas yet does not work for Social Consciousness. He does not let it get fused with his personality to the point where he becomes a slave to those documents , degrees and opinions of self or others.

A Mastered person has gone through the ropes of all life experiences. He can live in a world of structure or without it. He doesn’t resist or is in conflict with it. If he has done nothing all his life and has nothing of status, he can be freer than someone who has it all. Either way, an Individuated person is not controlled by the values of Social Consciousness.

This is a very highly aware person living in a very unaware time. This is what Mastership means for Soul.

Parables and Metaphors help us grasp a complex message in simple terms. But they have a short leash. They say just enough that’s needed but afterward they cannot hold water (at least not ALL water).

It’s often nice to stretch metaphors (such as this Eagle parable) as far as possible and then let them snap back. But to try to apply one metaphor for every situation is a critical mistake. That is when things are taken out of context. People argue so much about what God said in bibles because the metaphor can only hold so much. If you had God’s consciousness, you wouldn’t need metaphors, but for now, we do.

The Eagle and Chicken parable helps us understand Soul in the human condition.

Last night I went to a live show by Ray Wylie Hubbard. I liked his song about chickens. I also liked his answer to how I would solve the riddle of the Eagle and Chicken for myself.

He played to an intimate crowd and sang about chickens pecking and scratching on the ground outside his front yard and about how one day he’s gonna cut their necks off. After this, the story goes:

“It ain’t mean, please don’t judge me, I’m just hungry. I love fried chicken.”

This is what a person does for Truth. A person who loves Truth is also a lover of Fried Chicken.

by Ji Rising/ Blogasana.com

The Aesthetics of Truth is quintessentially what society, humans, earth and human consciousness call Art.

Many will not look it this way, because they have been taught otherwise. They have been taught about the organization of art that is based on the history of dead masters while losing the Master’s touch—which nothing and no one can give to the artist—other than the lessons taught to artist by his Soul.

Each one of us is born into life with a path of Guardianship.

As children we had to learn this by taking care of our toys and small responsibilities as feeding our pets so they will not go hungry.

We learn this spiritual law of Dependency very early because this based on (and is the building block) of the Law of Love. To learn that another life depends on you—means that you have learned to love and care for something. And through early practice, you develop sacredness and a sensitivity to self and others as Souls—and friendships based on principles of caring for one another.

Somewhere along the way, this motion gets disrupted as too much social consciousness engineers us into believing that we are not born as Guardians but rather, we depend on others. We depend on our parents, our schools, our friends, our family and later in life, we depend on our jobs and adding greater complexity, on the concept of “career” and the status quo—as to how far something or other can get us.

This concept of Career is based on selfish motives because it concerns the ego’s desire for recognition. It is based on wants, on dependency on outer means of happiness but Soul’s destiny was not born to have a “career” as its ultimate goal. That is why no Career, even a dream one can promise inner happiness.

But the truth is that fundamentally, when we lost the idea of Guardianship, we have lost a major part of our birthright—spiritually speaking. We have forgotten to rely entirely on Self and the Inner Guidance that forms out of this love that we have as creatures who feel a responsibility to take care of others around us.

Yet the irony is that everyday and everywhere around us we are learning Guardianship—even if we do not see that way.

When a plumber fixes pipes, he is a Guardian for houses, buildings, and plumbing. In a larger context, he may be responsible for bringing water into the whole of Nevada or a desert state where water does not come naturally or readily. With this responsibility, he has to consider larger things such as rules, regulations, governments and he becomes responsible for many lives that are affected by the work that he does. He is doing Guardianship—without priding himself as such—but he does not realize it.

The worst disaster known to modern civilization are school teachers—both at the elementary and doctorate level. Teachers in the spiritual and psychology field who call themselves healers are a complete disaster.

All around us in this world, we have people claiming to be teachers, looking for a teacher and professing to be such but there are very few Masters. The Master’s Touch is missing all around us.

Those who have the Master’s Touch today are primarily self-taught. By way of the Law of Grace, the power of Spirit finds a way to bring knowledge where it can. If you can compare this to a tropical plant—and in particular to the Cactus, it will make complete sense. You will see that a desert flower is completely self-sufficient because it has made itself that way because it has to depend entirely on Itself and occasional Rain.

But within total self-dependency, that Desert Flower is further along the path of Guardianship than the most popular modern day Gurus. That Desert Flower sets the example of what it means to be a Guardian of flower or plant life.

By this example, people who are Guardians of their favorite hobbies and passions stay alive fundamentally by being a God-Eater. A God-Eater is a state of consciousness where Soul is survives purely on spirit. For without Spirit, a person has no desire to do or create anything.

When a person loves fixing Cars, he is a guardian of Cars. Particularly if he is taken by vintage ones, he will do everything to become a savior of those old cars.

Some musicians are Guardians of analog and organic sounds so they will not touch digital equipment although they regard them. Meanwhile DJs in particular are Guardians of Electronic sounds.

When it comes to Art, all of life falls into the category of Guardianship. One does not need to self-righteously proclaim that one is protecting or serving something—but Guardianship comes out of a basic need to care for something.

Learning how to care, in this world and in this life—if understood as Guardianship gives the person the fuel, inspiration, energy and passion to continue dabbling in their favorite arts.

The Nurse makes an Art of Nursing, not because she is trying to be creative, but by nature of Caring, she is a Guardian for caring for people on a physical health level.

Those who are into professions just for money have lost contact with the Master’s Touch. No doubt, there is an art to Business,  which is highly creative. For people whose only interested in money, it can be said that they are guarding Money.

On a spiritual level however, people who focus entirely on money go on through life searching for materialistic things. They replace caring for things they would rather own. They can buy even charity, healing and love and deceive themselves and others that these are expressions of caring. Yet true philanthropy is based on being a Guardian of what money can do for others, not only money .

Someone who cares more about his business (rather than being a Guardian of how business law works—at its finest and most ethical level) will usually fail on some level…because his work is driven to earn things that depend on goals that fall outside of himself—and outside of his control. By no means does he exercise self-sufficiency, even if he is the leader in his field and owns everything.

When one looks at one’s work and disposition in how one cares, in there is the Seed of Guardianship. What a mother does all day is not just motherhood but she is the Guardian of motherhood, showing not only other mothers but her own children how to care. By caring for her own children, the child is learning Mastership.

Thus parents who have children for reasons other than Guardianship of Children violate basic principle laws. They have robbed their children from self-sufficiency and brought them into a world where the child never feels cared for or loved.

If a child does not feel cared for, he will look outwardly for material ways to find love. But the truth is that once he learns how to care for simple basic things, he will find it.

Art takes place on many levels of life. It breathes through life and permeates through all things and all activity. What is thought to be the expression of Beauty in life is the form of Art contains the secret of Guardianship. Even the Sun and Clouds in the sky take on this role—for Mother Nature is the ultimate Guardian and above that, the Cosmos keep the world efficiently in order. All of those things require a level of self-sufficiency.

Self-Sufficiency is learned at the fundamental level, from being a Guardian for something great or small: simply by caring for whatever our disposition is drawn toward and paying special attention to it with great Love.

When people work hard all their life on some premise that happiness is earned when someone else gives it to them: the tendency is to become materialistic.

The basic meaning of Materialism is that one looks at others or outside oneself, or outside conditions which control us, hoping they will grant us gratification. This becomes an unfulfilling dependency.

This is why extremely business minded people have a very high passion for Fine Art and Music. They collect them because they can buy them. They can buy an entire rock performance. But this does not mean that they are happy, nor does it mean that they are Guardians of the Masters’ Paintings or Rock music.

Once they buy everything that is tangible, they go and buy the intangible. They go and buy their happiness expressed in Art or put an asking price on Beauty—and the love is just not there. What they fail to understand is when they buy Art, they cannot buy happiness because that is like buying the Artist’s happiness. The Artist took the time to care for his expressions. What the Art does in return is to act like a mirror to reflect this happiness to everyone. But you cannot buy it.

The more materialistic a person is, the he is more drawn to surrounding himself with beautiful things—but beauty is lacking everywhere.

I have been noticing that the Google Industry professionals have been using the word “Beautiful” a lot lately. I feel that this is abuse of words on their part.

They do not know what Beauty is. They are buying it after being overfilled and stuffed beyond capacity of controlling the entire Advertising world. It is my wish that they stop using the world beauty when they send out their privacy policies to the public: such as “beautiful new policy.” There is nothing beautiful in it and this is a distortion of False Guardianship.

Since I am on this topic, I would say that Google is the Guardian of Bondage. Its job is to make sure that we remain inevitably controlled on a mental and technological level—so that we will eventually believe in their self-invented values of spiritual principles. That is why words such as “Beauty” is being subconsciously slipped into their business language. All this indicates to me is they are starved of spirituality and when they cannot own more than they have, they move onto Beauty.

You will find that Art that permeates through all life expresses Guardianship–even in the case of Google thinking their goals are filled with “Beauty.” But those who are true lovers of  Art in life can tell when something is true or false.

It is a wicked game that society plays when it catches up to every peak of consciousness that we rise, particularly when humanity starts to bubble with inspiration. They shave off the cream on the top, sell it to you but feed you the bottom part instead. It is human nature to play God but if humans knew anything about it, they would see that God doesn’t play that way. So don’t blame the injustices of the world on the Invisible. Man is very transparent in his decisions.

To get around areas of Falsehood, keep an eye on the simplicity of caring without making proclamations or asking for any recognition. It is important that the plumber tries to do his job with love rather than taking on the world by writing books on the Guardianship of Plumbing.

by Ji Rising/ Blogasana.com

THE EMPTY BOWL

Long ago in a culture where society loved God and Holy spirit was a reality in their yard, in their neighbor, in the grains, the food they ate and the gratitude of sky and water, monks roamed the villages with a begging bowl in their hands.

The Monks had spent many hours and time sacrificing worldly life so that those who work can concentrate on their domestic affairs and survival—while the monks can compensate for the community by being in the Dream World and part of Divine Reality.

This exchange of commerce: between the hidden and the visible realities was unspoken and known among the community—without doctrines or education to teach them that humans are connected on all levels and are responsible for one another—exchanging gifts the way water does when it pleases the body, and when the human body is pleased with the water—the water sends that back up to God. So it is that God lets nature flows down to us, through a great invisible river that starts off as a vapor and turns into a waterfall, suddenly out of nowhere, and plants came into being.

This unspoken communication was given to the Monks who spent their days in contemplation, for the Divine radiance and realizations that they would later give to their people in the form of Peace and Peaceful living; like looking into a Sunset and understanding every bit of its meaning. But just as the Sunset does not work on earth to stay alive, the Monks too had to find a way to eat. So they set out on foot to the villages to ask for food…what little they could find.

The community never turned the monks away because they understood that the monks were in service of a different job; where they gave their life and labors to the Divine.

If they did not feed the monks, then where would the community get their “water,” spiritual nourishment or peace in the village? These things are unspoken values, understood without question, so the Monks were just as grateful to receive the Villagers’ blessings.

When the Monks hold out their begging bowl and the villager (poor or rich) gives gracefully, there is an exchange of ideas that happen similar to that of an Artist in the modern world—who has to find work in life.

Many Artists have a difficult time being in this world. He wants to dream all day long and feels that the world owes him both his meals and his privilege to create or be creative.

But a true Artist who does not nitpick over what type of food lands in his bowl will accept any job or any work offered: so that he can continue to feed his body, so that he can do his Art the way the Monks give silent service through being close to the pulse of Humanity.

It is through the Silent Work force, like silent ants going about their daily life carrying crumbs from one place to another that makes the world a peaceful and loving place. It is a world of Coordination and lack of Conflict because Chaos is handled in the order it is received: nobody cheats, nobody crosses lines and nobody cuts each other off.

Thus Monks and Villages, Ants and Crumbs, Artists and Art alike cannot cheat.

The Begging bowl is sacred and not to be thought of as homeless persons down on their luck or a person of sloth who does not want to earn his daily living.

The Begging Bowl is the Silent Knowing that we cannot live without the full bowl (material survival)—and we cannot live without the empty bowl (spiritual survival).

The empty bowl represents Invisible food of Spirit, which cannot be heard or seen until manifested, as the Visible food (which is the filled bowl).

It’s for this reason that when an Artist of true intention creates, he feeds others from his practice of Emptiness. This is the only reason why many artists do not like to attach money with their work; unless that relationship is understood in the context of empty service (work without rewards or expectations).

When a Monk holds out his bowl to the villagers, he does not ask for rewards. Instead he shows the Villagers that their hunger for Art, for God and for Peace is shown through what the monk spends his timing doing—that others, who toil daily to maintain their material life do not have time, energy or patience to cultivate. In exchange for the small food that is given to the Monk, the villagers gain all the labors of the Monk.

Whereas everyday in modern life, we are required to work hard to fill our own bowls and to have more bowls than our cupboards allow—the Silent work of an artist is needed to make the mental space of society as empty as possible. Without this emptiness, Society loses its language for the unspoken words that God speaks in our everyday life—through the silent ways that Nature works. So that when it is time to ask for Peace, there are no empty bowls around.

by Ji Rising/ Blogasana.com