Running Waters

1999-10-26 07:27:00

My friends,

When I told you I hoped there would be many interesting posts to read when I returned it looks like you took my words to heart. It took me a while to read them all.

My first reflection brings to mind a great statement from the past: "How long can rolling waters remain impure?" The waters here are in motion making stagnation impossible and the motion toward Becoming a reality.

I also see that the disturbance of the waters brought out some lurkers and some old members back into play, particularly Rob and John Kosier, with words of wisdom.

I'll give you several of my thoughts on this matter.

I see the word censorship keeps surfacing, sometimes I think a little unfairly. As long as a person or group does not attempt to restrict the free speech of others by their own initiative they are within their rights to create a group, forum, newsletter or whatever which is confined to certain lines of thought. For instance, it would not be unfair censorship to have a forum on atomic physics and to attempt to prevent people from posting on bird watching. The bird watchers still have their freedom to create a forum of their own design with no limits on their discussion. To force a discussion on bird watching on the atomic scientists would take away more freedom than it gives so one could not cry censorship here in the name of freedom.

With that said then should we make rules here that will silence Saul for good and send him into the ethers of oneness where none can speak? I think not.

But neither should we seek to silence postings such as John W, Glenys, Anni, Travis and others who have spoken in painful honesty. If one believes that Saul has a right to be heard then those who think he is out of line also deserve to be heard, even if feathers are ruffled.

Rick is the initiator of this list and as such has set certain guidelines from the beginning. There have been times when he has warned us to not get too far off topic and then others when he tells us to lighten up. It is a good sign that he has pushed both directions. We may not always agree with him, but it is good to have a common sense moderator to keep the house in order.

Basically then I support the idea of maintaining the list with the same guidelines that we have followed from the beginning. We have never asked anyone to leave and I do not think we have to. In fact I do not remember anyone ever asking anyone else to leave. Some have asked certain people to either stay on topic or start their own list which is certainly within the perimeters of this list for one to so request.

I must take part of the blame for any distraction that Saul has caused for I have spent quite a bit of time countering his posts. I felt this was necessary because this topic is one that is bound to come up time and time again and I hoped to state my position as clearly as possible.

Some may find it interesting that Philo from the book even argued on some of the same topics we have been discussing.

Let me quote:

My fear was somewhat reinforced by Elizabeth's next statement, "So are you a part of the Brotherhood of Light?"

"So you know of the Brotherhood?" he (Philo) asked, a little surprised.

"Some things," she said.

"Tell me something you know," he said.

I tried sending Elizabeth a mental message to not reveal too much. She answered. "I know that there is a Brotherhood of Light and then there are the Dark Brothers."

"Ahh. The illusion of good and evil," said Philo. "In the end, good and evil are seen as two parts of a whole. The Brotherhood is just the Brotherhood. They are neither good nor evil. They just are. You just are. I just am. I AM." He spoke I AM with the mannerism that he was saying something infinitely profound.

"So, do you see yourself as being one with the Brotherhood?" I asked.

Philo looked in the direction of the ceiling. "All who are one with the Higher Self are brothers and dwell in oneness."

"But I have had a definite experience where I have encountered a being from the invisible world that was definitely not good. He was definitely evil and wanted to do me harm," Elizabeth countered.

Philo began pacing back and forth, his hands clasped behind his back. "There are lives in every plane who do not realize their connection with their source and seem to do harm. In reality, they are just mischievous children who have not found their way home. If one of them comes into your life experience you must ask yourself why you needed that experience."

"So, you are saying that if someone robs me it's because I need the experience?" I asked.

"Yes, and if the experience seems unpleasurable, you must ask yourself what there is in you that wants pain in your life rather than pleasure."

"Do you believe in karma then?" Elizabeth asked.

"Karma is for those who feel they need it. When you no longer need it, you do not have to suffer its consequences."

"So, if I kill someone and decide I don't have a need to pay for my crime, then I don't have to pay for my wrong doing?" I said, incredulous at his philosophy.

He reflected a second and replied slowly, "You bring to you what you think you need. If you feel you do not need punishment, then you will not draw it to you."

"So if he is not punished, how will he learn that it is wrong to kill?" Elizabeth asked.

"All souls progress toward the Light, and as we do, we just drop our harmful characteristics and keep the good. The old souls become part of the One Brotherhood. It does not matter what they have done in the past because it is the past and they live in the present. The Present is all there is."

"See. I told you this guy was great, didn't I?" Lance exclaimed, elbowing my arm. "He has an answer for everything."

"But having an answer and the right answer are two different things," I said, glaring at Philo.

I think that we should continue to have an open forum. Then if there is someone who seems to be distracting from the teachings or posting too much off topic the free speech within the forum will allow others to send strong messages that will cause the offenders to self moderate their posts. The natural interplay of the members themselves will cause the postings on the list to settle down to a happy medium.

Meanwhile, I believe I have said about all that is pertinent for the present on duality. If I say much more I will start duplicating myself and probably convince no one.

If someone feels ambitious it may be profitable to comb through my writings on Samu's archives and create a compilation of my writings related to duality, karma and oneness. Then when the subject comes up again we can just send them these postings.

I personally hope to concentrate more on the pure teachings which I'm sure will be good news to most of you. I'll be posting more shortly.

Love to all, including you Saul,

JJ