human pride

Human Pride Supports the Great Illusion

Posted on by Harold Boulette

Fable Is Love’s World, Poem By Schiller

“Tis not merely
The human being’s pride that peoples space
With life and mystical predominance,
Since likewise for the stricken heart of Love
This visible nature, and this common world
Is all too narrow; yea, a deeper import
Lurks in the legend told my infant years
That lies upon that truth, we live to learn,
For fable is Love’s world, his home, his birthplace;
Delightedly he dwells ’mong fays and talismans,
And spirits, and delightedly believes
Divinities, being himself divine.
The intelligible forms of ancient poets,
The fair humanities of Old Religion,
The Power, the Beauty, and the Majesty,
That had their haunts in dale or piney mountain,
Or forests by slow stream, or pebbly spring,
Or chasms or wat’ry depths;—all these have vanished.
They live no longer in the faith of Reason,
But still the heart doth need a language; still
Doth the old instinct bring back the old names.”

~ Friederich Schiller: The Piccolomini, Act. ii.”

Human Pride

Pride can be a good thing, but often isn’t. This poem is talking about one of the adverse effects of human pride: it hides the truth from us.

While we love to be individuals, to be unique, we love even more to be part of the group, to be accepted. We don’t like to admit that, but it is true for nearly all of us nonetheless. And fitting in with the group, with our neighbors, our family and friends, means accepting what they believe.

This Common World

The world of matter is what this poet is calling “the common world”. It is common in the sense that it is ordinary. It is also common in the sense that it is a shared experience. But as a shared experience, it must be shared similarly to avoid confusion.

Suppose you are sitting in a movie theater with one hundred other people. You are all watching a movie. You think you are seeing trees and flowers, houses and people, cars and trucks, etc. Actually, however, there is noting on the screen but abstract blobs of color constantly moving and changing. Yet if everyone agrees that at a particular moment what is on the screen is a red and black truck, nobody is the wiser. But if everyone is forming their own idea of what is on the screen, those images will differ greatly. And when people start talking to each other and realize that they are seeing different things, they will begin to figure out the truth. And the “real” world of matter functions much like that movie theater.

The powers that control the realm of matter, both physical and spiritual beings, don’t want us to see beyond the illusions anymore than a stage magician does. So they train us beginning when we are infants to listen to what others see and say and form beliefs. This creates a common view and allows everything to keep moving along smoothly in this realm of illusion. But a common illusion isn’t reality. A shared fantasy is still a fantasy. Continue reading “Human Pride Supports the Great Illusion” →

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World of Illusion and the Dazzling Truth

Posted on by Harold Boulette

“The Buddhists talk about samsara, the world of illusion. It is the place that most of us live. Mistaking illusion for reality is said to be the root cause of our suffering. Yet in some immensely elegant way suffering itself can release us from illusion. Often in times of crisis when we reach for what we have considered our strength we stumble on our wholeness and our real power. How we were before we fixed ourselves to win approval . What has been fixed is always less strong than what is whole. In a time of real need we may remember and free ourselves.

“Integrity usually comes to people slowly and takes them unawares, as part of a natural process of maturing or through the need to be there for someone else who is counting on them. But it can appear full blown in times of crisis or loss.” ~Rachel Naomi Remen

World of Illusion

The first mistake that most people make when told that the realm of matter is a world of illusion is assuming that this means that the material world doesn’t exist at all. They start believing that matter, space, and time does not exist. Of course, none are willing to prove their theory by holding their breath for three hours.

The fact that what you see a stage magician do in his act is illusion doesn’t mean he isn’t doing anything. It means that he is hiding what is really happening from the audience so as to present a pleasant and mysterious fantasy. Likewise, the world of matter is an illusion staged by the Demiurge. It is very real. Yet it is not what it appears to be. Nonetheless, when you are trapped inside the illusion, you must follow its rules or you will be injured or even killed.

Dreamscape

In the movie, “Dreamscape,” the scientists learn that when a person dies in his dreams, they will die in real life as well. Because of that, a villain plans to kill the president by using an evil psychic to attack him in his dreams. The hero, another psychic played by Dennis Quade, has to stop the bad guy. Similarly, the world of illusion can cause death, even if we know it is an illusion. It is true, though, that if we do understand that it is illusion, we are able to break some of the rules of the illusion. Continue reading “World of Illusion and the Dazzling Truth” →

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falsehood

Falsehood & Ignorance: Two Peas in the Same Pod

Posted on by Harold Boulette

“There is no devil worse than falsehood and calumny. Ignorance is a nonentity, but falsehood is the substance of evil. The columniator rejoices whenever he has found something upon which to base his lies and to make them grow like mountains. Opposed to it is the truth, it being a ray of light from the eternal fountain of GOOD, which has the power to transform man into a divine being. …

“Those who are false do not love the truth. Those who are foolish do not love wisdom. The true Rosicrucian prefers to enjoy the company of those who can appreciate truth to that of those who who would trample it with their feet. He will keep that which he knows locked up in his heart, for in silence is power. As a minister in state does not go about telling to everybody the secrets of the king; so the Rosicrucian does not parade before the public the revelations made to him by the king within, who is nobler and wiser than all the earthly kings and princes, for they only rule by the authority and power derived from Him. His secrecy ceases only when the king commands him to speak, for it is then not he who speaks, but the truth that is speaking through him.” ~Franz Hartmann

Devil of Falsehood

Lies are a favorite tool of the devil, and so it is reasonable to say that falsehood is itself, a devil. All falsehood comes from the devil or dark beings. Lies are never a tool of the angels of God or the beings of light. If you find that someone is lying, you can assume that person is doing the devil’s work, intentionally or not.

Why are lies a favorite of the fallen angels known as the devil? Because they created and control the realm of matter. Because the dimension of matter is one of distortion and illusion, it is also the realm ruled by falsehood. So we really don’t need to speak of a devil of falsehood as if there were many devils, but only one dealt in lies. Whether there is but one devil or several, falsehood is their primary tool of control.

Ignorance and Falsehood

Hartmann says that ignorance is “a nonentity,” while falsehood is the true evil. I think that he means that telling lies is an active evil while being ignorant is passive. I don’t think that is always true. In fact, I think more often than not, it is false. It is the people who know the truth who limit who they share it with, and how much of it they share. On the other hand, those who are ignorant generally think they know what they are talking about and are willing to share their beliefs and falsehoods with everyone. So while ignorance itself may be passive, sharing that ignorance with anyone who will listen is not. And there is a lot more of that going on than the sharing of intentional falsehood.

Ignorance of Reality

While intentional falsehood may be worse than ignorance, some spiritual teachers say that ignorance is the only real “sin”. That idea shocks many. They will ask, “What about murder, rape, theft, and so on. Are they not sins?” Yes, they are. As are many other types of negative behavior. But the point is, we only do those things when we are ignorant. Ignorance of one form or another is the cause of fears, insecurities, and anti-social behavior. Greed doesn’t happen when we are aware that having more than we need, or can possibly use, doesn’t do us any good. Fear doesn’t happen when we know the truth of the world we live in.

The belief in the total reality of the realm of matter is the greatest falsehood. Matter is an illusion. Even science now agrees with that. The Quantum Physicists say that this universe appearing to be so solid, so real, is just a hologram. As an illusion, getting too involved in it is pointless. The only real worlds (or dimensions) are those of spirit. The spiritual realms are permanent and unchanging. They are forever. Matter is temporary and constantly changing. While we do have to live and function in the realm of matter, we need to remember that it is like playing a part in a play. When we understand that, how can we get jealous or greedy? Those negative things happen only because of ignorance.

So ignorance is not truly passive and engaging in regular falsehoods is done only by the ignorant. Wake up to reality and the falsehoods will end ( except for the polite and harmless compliments where the person isn’t really asking for your honest opinion). But we can’t get rid of all ignorance until we awaken our spirit and soul. Only the soul can know and understand the spiritual realms. But it must be awakened first. The best way to do that is by using the light of the spiritual sun following techniques shared by the mystery schools of the world for centuries. Doing it blindly, without proper instruction, rarely works. Telling yourself you don’t need training is another falsehood.

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Illusion

Illusion of Matter and the Hidden Reality

Posted on by Harold Boulette

“The Buddhists talk about samsara, the world of illusion. It is the place that most of us live. Mistaking illusion for reality is said to be the root cause of our suffering. Yet in some immensely elegant way suffering itself can release us from illusion. Often in times of crisis when we reach for what we have considered our strength we stumble on our wholeness and our real power. …

“Integrity usually comes to people slowly and takes them unawares, as part of a natural process of maturing or through the need to be there for someone else who is counting on them. But it can appear full-blown in times of crisis or loss. …

“With certain people we may get to try on a greater wholeness for a time, to actually experience being more. These experiences are a sort of grace. They help us know not only the direction of our personal wholeness but how it feels and even tastes.” ~Rachel Naomi Remen

World of Illusion

The world of illusion isn’t limited to what you see on stage during the performances of a magician. Virtually everything that we think we know of the physical world of matter is an illusion.

We need first to clear up one thing about the idea of the physical universe being an illusion. Many people jump to the conclusion that if you say something is an illusion, that it doesn’t exist. Therefore, they think when they read that the physical realm is an illusion that is doesn’t exist. It’s a dream, nothing real. That is not what illusion means at all.

When you say that the tricks of a stage magician are illusions, that doesn’t mean nothing is happening on stage. It means that what is really happening is not the same as what appears to be happening. For example, the assistant that appears to disappear in a puff of smoke really descended through a hidden door in the floor of the stage. The same applies to the Great Illusion of the physical universe. It isn’t what it appears to be, but it is something real.

One thing that has become very popular in recent years is “Manifesting”. By this is meant manipulating the physical world according to our desires. Besides the fact that this results in attaching us more firmly to the illusion, what is the point of manipulating fantasy?

Reality Behind the Illusion

So what is the reality behind all that Illusion? That is something that most say must be experienced for yourself. But I think I can give you some hints, although I don’t claim to entirely know the answer myself.

We all know that, according to the basic laws of science, matter and energy cannot be destroyed, only changed. There are simple changes and more complex ones. Carving a rock into a statue of David is a simple change. Only the shape was changed, the substance is still marble. That is, within the illusion, it is still marble. Turning milk into cheese is a slightly more complex change. Burning wood to make heat is a complex or complete change. Changing matter into energy or energy into matter is the most complex type of change. At least if we limit ourselves to the physical world for now. But the fact that energy can become matter, and matter can become energy should teach us something. It should teach us that there is no fundamental difference between matter and energy. To put it in simple terms, matter is slow energy, energy is fast matter.

While that is a concept that has been taught in spiritual schools and mystery schools for ages, it is only recently being accepted and taught by empirical science. Specifically, the quantum physicists are now telling us that the apparently solid universe is actually a hologram of light. Not matter with light shining on it, just light. So matter is being recognized by science as an illusion. A wonderful discovery of theirs that has been taught in mystery schools for several thousand years.

Going Deeper

But even the discoveries of quantum physicists are limited to the physical universe. We need to dive deeper to get beyond illusion altogether. We need to enter spiritual realms. When we do, we will discover, among other things, two fundamental truths. The first truth is that spirit is real and permanent. And it existed long before matter. Therefore, the soul cannot be an offshoot of matter. And consciousness is a spiritual thing as well. Therefore, it is not a creation of the brain. Second, things happen first in the spiritual world before they descend to the physical realm. Not everything because such things as disease and death don’t exist at all in spiritual worlds. But for most things, they must form first in spirit, then become matter. What this means, if you think about it, is that those who access spiritual realms get a look into the future because they are seeing things that have not yet materialized. While that should not be your primary reason to start spiritual development, it is certainly a good second one.

Illustrating Image by Ashutosh Goyal from Pixabay

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