Spirituality course: week 5
This week I'm going to introduce some concepts using a story. I really like this story, and hope you will at the least get something useful from it.
The Little Soul and the Sun p.1
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There once was a soul who knew itself to be the light. This was a new soul, and so, anxious for experience. "I am the light," it said. "I am the light." Yet all the knowing of it and all the saying of it could not substitute for the experience of it. And in the realm from which this soul emerged, there was nothing but the light. Every soul was grand, every soul was magnificent, and every soul shone with the brilliance of My awesome light. And so the little soul in question was as a candle in the sun. In the midst of the grandest light - of which is was a part - it could not see itself, nor experience itself as Who and What it Really Is.
Now it came to pass that this soul yearned and yearned to know itself. And so great was its yearning that I one day said, "Do you know, Little One, what you must do to satisfy this yearning of yours?"
"Oh, what, God? What? I'll do anything!" the little soul said.
"You must separate yourself from the rest of us," I answered, "and then you must call upon yourself the darkness."
"What is the darkness, o Holy One?" the little soul asked.
"That which you are not," I replied, and the soul understood.
And so this the soul did, removing itself from the All, yea, going even unto another realm. And in this realm the soul had the power to call into its experience all sorts of darkness. And this it did.
Yet in the midst of all the darkness did it cry out, "Father, Father why hast Thou forsaken me?" Even as have you in your blackest times. Yet I have never forsaken you, but stand by you always, ready to remind you of Who You Really Are; ready, always ready, to call you home.
Therefore, be a light unto the darkness, and curse it not.
And forget not Who You Are in the moment of your encirclement by that which you are not. But do you praise to the creation, even as you seek to change it.
And know that what you do in the time of your greatest trial can be your greatest triumph. For the experience you create is a statement of Who You Are - and Who You Want to Be.
I (God) have told you this story - the parable of the little soul and the sun - so that you might better understand why the world is the way it is - and how it can change in an instant the moment everyone remembers the divine truth of their highest reality.
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from
Conversations with God book 1 by Neale Donald Walsch, p 33-34 first hardcover edition
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There are many different ideas in this short story. We discussed last week that everything is united, yet we experience disconnection in our lives. How is this possible if we are truly one? In order to experience unity we must first experience separation. Every experience is relative. This concept is described with yin and yang especially. Something cannot exist without its opposite. In this story, the soul experienced itself as one with all the other souls; one with God. Yet in time that experience faded until the soul could not truly experience the unity. The soul needed to define itself, but how could it define itself in the presence of the All, among souls exactly like it? The soul needed to experience that which it wasn't in order to experience that which it was. I'll leave more details of this for our discussion.
Another concept is that our perspective determines our reality. This soul, once in the realm where darkness existed, thought itself to be separate and abandoned. Yet this was not the case, the soul had simply forgotten who it really was! It got caught up in the realm it was experiencing and forgot the divine perfection within. Everyone does this. That is why there are people in this world who are meant to remind us of who we really are. Have you ever had a time where someone showed up at just the right time, and said just the right thing to make us feel better? That is the Force reminding us of who we really are.
There are many other concepts, but I'd like to see what you all grab onto, what speaks to you more than anything else. For your homework pick one part of the story and discuss what you thought it meant, whether you agree or disagree with it, and anything you learned specifically from this story.
The Little Soul and the Sun p.1
------------------------------------------------------------
There once was a soul who knew itself to be the light. This was a new soul, and so, anxious for experience. "I am the light," it said. "I am the light." Yet all the knowing of it and all the saying of it could not substitute for the experience of it. And in the realm from which this soul emerged, there was nothing but the light. Every soul was grand, every soul was magnificent, and every soul shone with the brilliance of My awesome light. And so the little soul in question was as a candle in the sun. In the midst of the grandest light - of which is was a part - it could not see itself, nor experience itself as Who and What it Really Is.
Now it came to pass that this soul yearned and yearned to know itself. And so great was its yearning that I one day said, "Do you know, Little One, what you must do to satisfy this yearning of yours?"
"Oh, what, God? What? I'll do anything!" the little soul said.
"You must separate yourself from the rest of us," I answered, "and then you must call upon yourself the darkness."
"What is the darkness, o Holy One?" the little soul asked.
"That which you are not," I replied, and the soul understood.
And so this the soul did, removing itself from the All, yea, going even unto another realm. And in this realm the soul had the power to call into its experience all sorts of darkness. And this it did.
Yet in the midst of all the darkness did it cry out, "Father, Father why hast Thou forsaken me?" Even as have you in your blackest times. Yet I have never forsaken you, but stand by you always, ready to remind you of Who You Really Are; ready, always ready, to call you home.
Therefore, be a light unto the darkness, and curse it not.
And forget not Who You Are in the moment of your encirclement by that which you are not. But do you praise to the creation, even as you seek to change it.
And know that what you do in the time of your greatest trial can be your greatest triumph. For the experience you create is a statement of Who You Are - and Who You Want to Be.
I (God) have told you this story - the parable of the little soul and the sun - so that you might better understand why the world is the way it is - and how it can change in an instant the moment everyone remembers the divine truth of their highest reality.
---------------------
from
Conversations with God book 1 by Neale Donald Walsch, p 33-34 first hardcover edition
--------------------------------------------------------
There are many different ideas in this short story. We discussed last week that everything is united, yet we experience disconnection in our lives. How is this possible if we are truly one? In order to experience unity we must first experience separation. Every experience is relative. This concept is described with yin and yang especially. Something cannot exist without its opposite. In this story, the soul experienced itself as one with all the other souls; one with God. Yet in time that experience faded until the soul could not truly experience the unity. The soul needed to define itself, but how could it define itself in the presence of the All, among souls exactly like it? The soul needed to experience that which it wasn't in order to experience that which it was. I'll leave more details of this for our discussion.
Another concept is that our perspective determines our reality. This soul, once in the realm where darkness existed, thought itself to be separate and abandoned. Yet this was not the case, the soul had simply forgotten who it really was! It got caught up in the realm it was experiencing and forgot the divine perfection within. Everyone does this. That is why there are people in this world who are meant to remind us of who we really are. Have you ever had a time where someone showed up at just the right time, and said just the right thing to make us feel better? That is the Force reminding us of who we really are.
There are many other concepts, but I'd like to see what you all grab onto, what speaks to you more than anything else. For your homework pick one part of the story and discuss what you thought it meant, whether you agree or disagree with it, and anything you learned specifically from this story.
posted by Jaxson at 22:06
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