Gods In Training

Light and Shadow

2007-09-04T22:59:00.000-07:00

Metaphors and Passive income: apparently two very distinct ingredients, how can they live in the same blog? Material and Spiritual, Ying and Yang, Light and Shadow, Body and Soul. Can’t have one without the other. Have you notice how the contrast between the light and shadow makes the light brighter? Spiritual greatness is only enhanced when compared with material abundance. Science and magic. The last two hundred years have seen the strongest dichotomy between these two sides of the same coin. Heads and tails. How can you separate one from the other?

If someone boasted being in search for spiritual enlightenment through material gain, they would be duped a fraud, a con artist. However, each one of us accepted the mission of coming here, in search of enlightenment and growth, in this MATERIAL environment. With these MATERIAL REQUIREMENTS.

The new phenomenon of The Secret is the first PUBLICLY ACCEPTED movement to show a possible reconciliation between the two enemies. For the first time, it’s OK to aspire to want things, objects and money, without selling your soul. Numerous other spiritual practices before The Secret advocated similar ideas, but they were generally discarded by larger audiences.

Accept that wanting to have a better material life is part of the challenge of living, of evolving, of growing. It’s OK to balance spiritual growth with material abundance! (And did you notice that I emphasized the word "balance"...)

Inside the tent during Burning Man

2007-08-27T22:29:00.000-07:00

From the thousands of millions of souls available to reincarnate, WE were the chosen ones to be here at this moment in time. Each and everyone of us represents a group of souls, a group of individuals with whom we have immense compatibility of ideals and interests.

We are the CHOSEN ones, the ambassadors, the representatives selected to come to this ‘conference’ on Earth. We are here at this massive convention, a gathering with the objective of experimenting new things, new ideas, new expression. We are on the forefront of new thought and new creation.

Why do we go to a convention, a cruise or on any other trip? To experiment new things, to reconnect with old friends and acquaintances, to exchange ideas, to have fun, to get out of our normal environment and find new possibilities. And upon returning, we come back infused with new vigor which benefits the entire group, our entire family.

So HOW DARE we waste this opportunity by not living the fullest and most interesting life we can? How dare we complain about a little bit of discomfort from temporary bad housing or bad roommates? But most important of all, HOW DARE we waste this fabulous trip by not acting, by not participating? It’s like going to Burning Man and sitting all day inside the tent… It’s like going to Europe for the summer and sitting inside the hotel room. Who cares if your feet hurt from walking 10 miles a day, or the food isn’t exactly what you like. The point is to enjoy, the experiment new things using all of the senses.

We are here for a very short time. A hundred years is just a drop of time, just a weekend in the grand scheme of things. So lets enjoy it!

The Pensieve

2007-08-24T22:26:00.000-07:00

The Pensieve is described by Wikipedia as “a stone receptacle in which to store memories. Covered in mystic runes, it contains a type of matter that is described as neither liquid nor gas. A witch or wizard can extract their own memories or someone else's and store them in the Pensieve and review them later. It also relieves the mind when it becomes cluttered with information. Anyone can examine the memories in the Pensieve, which also allows viewers to fully immerse themselves in the memories stored within, much like a magical form of virtual reality."

The Pensieve is one of the many magical objects found in the Harry Potter books by J.K. Rowling and is one of my favorite ones because it allows to “empty the mind when excessively cluttered with information”. Although originally written for a younger audience, this series of books has created some serious addicts of all ages. I became acquainted with Harry Potter books almost by accident, when I was asked to review them for some design work proposals back in 1999, and have become an avid reader ever since.

I’ve owned a sort of Pensieve journal for many years, even before reading about it. Instead of liquid or gas matter, it has pages. Instead of mystic runes, it has a hard cover embroidered with beads. Now in it’s 10th book, each one lasting about a year and a half, the Pensieve has been particularly interesting when I’ve needed to evaluate growth or change experienced during a certain span of time. I use only hard cover books with pages which cannot be ripped off and write with a permanent pen – no possibility of regret – once the thought is in the Pensieve, it’s registered forever and can be examined at any time later.

I hope to transfer some of the more interesting thoughts from my Pensieve to this blog – which in a way is a “public Pensieve”. Not quite as intimate as the original, but still, a very good way to empty the mind when it becomes cluttered with information…

Happy Mothers Campaign

2007-08-22T22:24:00.000-07:00

I’ve been exchanging emails with an old friend from Brazil. This is part of what we wrote today:
Val: “I think that after we have our own kids, we have the obligation of being happy, any way we can! A happy mother can only raise a happy person, well rounded, well loved… That is what the world needs, don’t you think? Happy Mothers! I’ve always felt that way towards my daughter, it was more important for me than house chores, I always felt like I had to be happy, just because she exists!”

Me: “I totally agree… A happy mother can only raise happy children. I also think it’s important for a mother to have her own life, her work and to love whatever activities she has – it can only set a good example. I think your solution for world crisis is the *best proposal* I have heard in a long time… Happy mothers… Shall we start a campaign?”

And so we decided to launch a world wide campaign with the following slogan:

“HAPPY MOTHERS create a better world for our children”.

All we need are some bumper stickers and buttons -- oh, and let's not forget, a little help from the good men who can make all those mothers happier! :-)

Metaphor: Rollerblading

2007-08-21T22:18:00.000-07:00

My favorite sport activity right now is dancing, which I practice three times a week. Until beginning of July, dancing made me feel fit and strong, however, thanks to numerous summer activities, I’ve slacked off a bit during the last month and a half.I also roller blade about once a week. I noticed that my blading skills suffered considerably during the last month and I can only attribute it to lowering of muscle tone and overall physical fitness.
While I was blading today at the beach, I was thinking and wondering: even though I had not changed my blading schedule at all, it suffered due to my lack of physical fitness. Overall fitness had not only improved my muscle tone, but also my coordination and balance when applied to a completely different physical activity.
The old adage: “Use it or loose it” can be applied well here, but I lost more than just what I was using. So maybe the contrary is also true: the more physically fit I feel, the better I will be able to handle other seemingly unrelated physical activities.
This is all very obvious, but the parallel I established today was: can I apply this to other areas of my life? If I practice some sort of mental exercise such as a memory game, will that improve more than just my memory, will it make my mind sharper in other areas as well? If I practice some form of spiritual ritual, will that improve other unrelated areas such as human relations?
And on the same token, if I don’t practice any form of spiritual or reconnecting ritual, will that ALSO make me loose MUCH more than what I’m not using?

Gods in Training

2007-08-18T01:47:00.000-07:00

Why “Gods in Training”? Because that is what we all are, creators, capable of amazing mysteries and miracles. We have the essence of God inside and outside of us, all around, everywhere, permanently.

The word "God" is heavy, loaded with ideas and concepts adopted by centuries of organized religion. You don't like the word? Then use something else: "Deliberate Creators". "Higher Self". "Inner Self". The words used to describe it don't really matter at all, only that you DO USE the IDEA.

I went out with a friend tonight and she said: "I don't think we are Gods in Training, we ARE ALREADY absolute creators". I couldn't agree more, and I explained to her what I meant when I said 'in training': a true creator is like an artist who is constantly modifying her craft; sometimes a project doesn't work out exactly as she would like, so she continues on to the next and makes a better project. A failed project is a stepping stone, a lesson to be learned. Even when a project DOES turn out exactly as she expected, she needs to go on, find a new project to work on. There is no FINAL destination, the creator is always learning, changing, evolving.

"Doesn't it make you feel tired to know that you can never GET THERE? There is no final destination to the journey?"
Well, imagine if you did in fact get to a point of evolution where you were absolutely perfect and no longer had to work at all on anything. Sure, it would feel wonderful for a while, but after some time, wouldn't you feel totally bored of being so perfect?