Spiritual Communities
A reader gave some good comments on his experiences with community living. Here are a few things he said:
“In my experience with it, it seemed that everyone (all rugged individualists) all wanted everything their own way and wanted to get every detail perfectly planned out prior to actually doing anything, so nothing is what got completed.
“There were endless iterations of the design process which would boil nearly to a close when, each time, another issue inevitably cropped up or an old one that someone thought could be dealt with better.
“So my advice along those lines is develop an upgrade rollout plan in advance and get a finalized design for Community version 1.0 that is ‘good enough’ and get it underway planning for cumulative, per-planned upgrades to Community versions 1.5, v2.0, v3.0, etc.
“Have a pre-defined, detailed process of arriving at group decision that everyone involved knows, understands and not only agrees to be bound.”
JJ: This is good advice. One of the greatest mistakes people of goodwill make is too much reliance on democracy or group involvement in decision making.
Pure democracy results in mediocre decisions and often even these are a long time coming. On the other hand, giving a leader the power of a dictator or king results in corruption. The best course is to use the best of the two as explained in my book The Molecular Relationship.
The Molecular Relationship corresponds somewhat to the USA Founding Father’s concept of a Representative Republic. Presently, the Republic does not work well because it is corrupted and did not have self-correction built into it as the Molecular Relationship will. Therefore, The United States Of America needs to fall back on the will of the people which would be a big improvement at present.
Suppose someone wants to start a community and gathers people around him and says: “Hey guys, let start a community where everyone has a say. We’ll take ideas and vote on what’s best.”
Such an approach will produce mediocre ideas and a tremendous amount of conflict and hurt feelings.
The molecular way is for an initiate to come up with a plan and present it as “the plan.” He listens to comments and suggestions and takes the best of them. He can call for a vote on certain matters if he wants, but because he is initiating the project he is the final decider and he needs to make sure the group understands that.
Then after the plan gets under way individuals will either be assigned or take upon themselves a portion of the work that they will oversee and leadership positions will be acquired through election from the bottom up.
There are a number of things I am against that exist in some planned communities. I do not think many group endeavors should be mandatory such as eating together as a group, community gardens, community farming, businesses, etc. Neither should they be forbidden but should only exist if they evolve naturally through free will. For instance, I wouldn’t enjoy eating with a big group all the time but would now and then.
Zion is more about being in each other’s proximity to blend mental and spiritual energies than doing everything together as a group. The power of individuality must always be maintained while at the same time advancing in group consciousness.
ACIM Stimulates Soul Contact?
Reader Question: Since your emphasis has also been on the stimulation of soul contact (to prepare the way for the Christ), do you still recommend the study of ACIM for students here, or do your teachings more or less supersede the necessity and/or essentially render it moot?”
JJ: Because soul contact is such an ephemeral and illusive thing to most it is good to have several approaches available. ACIM [“A Course in Miracles”] does present a valid approach that reaches some people in a way that no other teachings do. Other seekers are not impressed with it.
The “Holy Instant” comes when one releases himself from the god without and focuses on the God within. This creates a shift in consciousness and attention.
Basically, ACIM is accused of saying the same thing over and over. The points repeated are important, but it words the repetitions a little differently each time often shedding addition light on various mysteries.
Spiritual Internet
A reader asks: “I have been reading more and more about the God within, and how we need to open our eyes. Tell me. How does the God “without” fit into all of this? Am I understanding correctly that they are called Masters, and are not God.”
JJ: The One Universal God is pure spirit and intelligence and can only be contacted from within. It’s body without is the universe itself which only corresponds to the age of a child, so contact without is not practical.
Those who have mastered the manifestation of the God within are called Masters as well as Elohiym. As [the Mormon prophet] Joseph Smith taught these are the Gods mentioned in the Bible. He accurately referred to them as a “Council of Gods.”
They are Gods to us because they manifest the Spirit of God and are far beyond normal humans in consciousness.
Reader: “So their job is to bring to pass and help mankind realize who they really are?”
JJ: Their job is to lift us up to where they are as others higher up the ladder lifts them up.
Reader: “So what then is the purpose of prayer to these masters? Do they really ‘reach out’ and touch our lives by helping us, or is that just an illusion we like to think that ‘God’ helps us.”
JJ: We do not pray to the Masters but to the Spirit of the One God. The sincere prayer then ascends to the plane of Spirit and is placed there like a blog on the “Spiritual Internet.” If the prayer attracts interest, it will be picked up by either your Solar Angel, a Deva, your Higher Mind or a discarnate spirit. It is rarely answered by a Master, but could be if it is a matter of importance for a large number of people.
Reader: “I have been working very hard on soul contact and I am getting nowhere with it. I honestly feel more “alone” than I ever have. I don’t know what I am doing wrong.”
JJ: The seeker always feels a great loneliness before sure contact is made.
In the meantime, study and contemplate higher principles. When you feel a “flashing forth” within that seems to shed greater light on principles you are experiencing some of the first steps in soul contact.
The first gentle whispers of soul contact are easy to overlook. I am sure that following the soul has brought you here in contemplation, but the guidance was very subtle.
Every time you follow the subtle the power of soul it increases until eventually soul contact will be as obvious as life itself.
Don’t give up. You are being watched. Tune in and experience the results.
Never despair, but if you do, work on in despair. – Edmund Burke
Aug 20, 2009
To search the website, containing millions of words, replace the word “search” with the word or phrase you want to find and place the entire line in the Google search box.
“Search” site:freeread.com
Join JJ’s Facebook group HERE
Easy Access to All the Writings
For Free Book go HERE and other books HERE
JJ’s Amazon page HERE