May 30, 1999
Knowledge of the Paths
Before we proceed with the nine points let me make several comments on the two paths.
We all follow the path of least resistance from time to time. Normally, when we drive to the grocery store we take that same route which has been proven to be most efficient. This is a proven quantity, the path of least resistance, to attaining our destination.
What sets the person apart who is polarized on the path of high resistance is that he or she is willing to break off from the norm and follow the more difficult path when a higher purpose seems to be involved.
Another point is that all choices on the path of high resistance are not necessarily correct or the most moral way to go. Nevertheless the treading of this path will always reveal some higher knowledge and wisdom.
For instance, let us say that Ralph decides to sell everything he has and buy an RV and travel across the country. His coworkers, family, friends and even his minister tries to talk him out of it (resistance), but he does it anyway.
He travels around for a year and concludes he made a mistake and seeks to return to his old job.
Even though this decision did not work out the way he wanted he still exercised the will to follow the resistant path. He will take this valuable will to go against the grain, plus his experience, with him to new and higher endeavors and in many ways this is more important than being right.
A knowledge of these two paths (least and high resistance) is preparation for the great decision we mentioned earlier. In this great decision the two hidden paths become visible to the seeker. They are most commonly called the right and left hand path or the path of light and path of darkness. Life and death are two other names used.
The average person has a vague knowledge of right and wrong, but knows nothing about these two paths. When one becomes a seeker he begins to sense the paths of least and high resistance, but still does not see or understand the great choice. Finally when the seeker becomes a committed disciple and is willing to his full attention on his progression the two paths open up before him.
Only he or she who is willing to give his all for the benefit of the whole, even his life and dreams, will have enough light to choose correctly.
Fortunately for us, several wrong choices do not lead us to the dark path. When we do make choices toward the dark side our soul goes to work and does everything possible to steer us back on course including much pain and suffering to wake us up. To attain the dark path takes as strong of a determination toward self as the path of light does toward the whole. Most of us eventually learn our lessons and choose the right hand path when the day comes. Only a few failures are stubborn enough to pursue the dark path until their destruction becomes assured.
It is an interesting fact that the masses are easily manipulated by the illusions created by the dark ones, but among the highly evolved a very high percentage have discovered their errors and are on the path of light.
DK tells us that “True humility is recognizing your point on the path and acting accordingly.” That’s not an exact quote but relates the general idea.
If I have caused any to re-examine themselves then I am doing my job. The disciple must be on a constant vigil to remind himself to keep his mind “steady in the light,” and his heart full in the love of Christ.
It is good to not get so confident in your light that you forget to examine yourself, but is also necessary to move ahead with confidence that your decisions are made with purity of heart.
It is a good sign to consciously choose life to the highest one can perceive.
The big question for you now is what is your next step? Where does your soul guide you as to the initiating project you should be involved in?
May 31, 1999
The Nine Points
(1) The decision to go to war in Kosovo.
Some may think that going into a difficult war for a seemingly good purpose would be high resistance, but not so in this case. Bill Clinton has such strong personality energy that when he decided that bombing was necessary it became the line of least resistance for NATO nations to follow his lead. Whereas previous Vietnam war protesters think that a war to push back an invader in the Gulf to be a wicked thing, they tend to see a crusading war for an ideal to be a cause to bomb for and eventually to send our best blood into battle.
Clinton strongly desires a positive legacy, and look at the presidents who have good ones. George Washington, Abraham Lincoln and Franklin Roosevelt – all war presidents – all great presidents. For one wanting a legacy a good quick war may be the line of least resistance. He thought the war would be over in a month, the Serbs refused to cry uncle so the quick war legacy thing is backfiring.
(Note: The War lasted 15 months)
(2) The decision of Bill Gates to create Windows 95 and 98.
Gates followed the path of high resistance in initiating his company and advancing his first operating system, but after that everything was a matter of fine tuning.
“Natural evolution” is the key phrase here. Especially after Windows 3 became a big hit the path to improve it became a path of least resistance. Natural improvements such as Windows 2000, will continue to be the least resistance. However, it may be possible that Gates may decide to take a chance and create an entirely new operating software. Unless he is forced to do such a thing he would be following the path of high resistance. For right now it does make business sense for him to follow the least resistant path, but that could change.
(3) The decision of Steve Jobs to create the Mac.
I am biased toward owning a Mac, but that is not the reason I give Jobs credit for taking the path of high resistance. Steve Jobs already had a successful computer company when he got the idea for the Mac. The path of least resistance would have been to make natural improvements on what he already had. Instead Jobs pursued a dream against the advice of many and alarmed numerous investors.
As time progressed many people began loosing faith in Jobs, especially when his trumped us Lisa computer failed miserably,. The pressure was on to just get out a product that would sell. Jobs did more than that and pushing against high resistance he produced a quantum leap in computer and system technology that is only now being recognized.
(4) The decision to get up and go to work at your regular job Monday morning.
If you don’t have to get up and go to work Monday like some of you lucky ones this would not apply to you. But, if you have a regular job, even if you do not feel like it (like me) it is still the path of least resistance to get up and go to work. For those of us with regular jobs a lot of turmoil and upheaval would follow sleeping until noon on Monday morning.
(5) A decision to tell your boss (who irritates you to no end) to take a flying leap.
If the boss is obnoxious on a daily basis and you are a fairly emotional person the pressure can build within you to eventually tell your boss off. When the boss finally gets to you it may very well be the path of least resistance to let him have it.
I will admit there may be circumstances where it could be the path of high resistance, but this would be the exception. An altruistic motive may make this possible.
(6) A decision made by an unmarried woman in her fifties to get pregnant and raise the kid on her own.
Some would think the answer here would be least resistance because in their judgment this is not a moral thing to do, but basic right and wrong does not determine the path of high resistance. Right or wrong, if the woman’s motive was good and she was willing to buck the system to fulfill it, the path of high resistance is entered. This higher path will reveal to her much wisdom about her choice and she will end up with more wisdom in this area than one who chose the safe path.
(7) The decision by Rosa Parks to not sit in the back of the bus.
It is interesting that there were millions of opportunities for someone to do what Rosa did, but it took someone with the guts to go against the grain to finally stand up for what is right. Now, in this time, we need more Rosa Parks in other areas of life.
(8) The decision by the Republicans to go ahead with impeachment proceedings against Bill Clinton
Even though it may have been the right thing to do, the Republicans were following the path of least resistance because there was a lot of pressure on them to follow the direction they took. They received many letters from their voters telling them to stand up to Clinton, plus the Starr Report placed them in a corner where they had to do something or look like total wimps.
Notice that the voting was 100% party line on the Democratic side to not remove Clinton from office and only several Republicans went against their party line. It would have been the path of high resistance for either side to go against his party (as long as the person was doing it for the right reason). This especially applied to the Democrats where none made that choice and followed the low resistant safe path.
(9) Karvorkian’s decision to end the lives of the terminally ill.
Someone corrected me on this, saying that Kavorkian only provided the tools and situation for the people to end their own lives. Point well taken.
Remember that we are not judging whether Kavorkian is right or wrong, but one thing is clear. He sincerely believes he is doing the right thing and providing a good service. To perform this service he is willing to become one of the most criticized persons in the world and even give his life and liberty for the cause. No one can argue that there is tremendous resistance to his work.
Question: We have mentioned that there are times when decisions are made on the path of high resistance that may be wrong or even immoral by some standards. Nevertheless, it is a path we must all take sooner or later. How could it be that we can be making bad or wrong choices, yet still be doing the right thing from as higher point of view?
Copyright by J J Dewey
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