Eliminating False Beliefs That Imprison Us In the Matrix

In the course of a discussion about our human programming, I asked a young man to give me an example of one of his most deeply held beliefs.  He replied, "God is good."  What follows is my response.

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I'm going to start by reminding you that nothing here is personal. Then I am going to destroy your world. It is not my Intent to destroy you - but if you are deeply attached to your belief, getting separated from it can and will be painful. Just remember: all of these things are a choice. And do NOT make the mistake of believing anything I am telling you. Belief itself is nothing more than faith, and faith is the greatest destroyer of free will.


You say God is good.
I say god does not exist, and goodness is nothing more than a humanform assignation. I would ask you simply this: WHY do you believe in God in the first place? Think back into your early life. Is it something you were taught to believe by parents or teachers? Is it something you read in a book? Go back as far as you can and really examine where this belief came from. Were you told the typical fairy tales of a caring father-figure on a throne, looking down upon his human children? Do you understand that this is the explanation parents generally give in the western culture when the child begins to become aware of its mortality? Ah, but do you also understand that even mortality is part of the larger consensus which tells you, "All things die"?
This is a good place to really observe that all programs are deeply interconnected. As the child begins to question, the parents generally want to offer comfort or some sense of continuity that transcends all logic. So the child is indoctrinated with the prevailing belief system of its culture - in this case, Christianity. You were told that God exists, but you have never seen him (or her). You may even believe God exists... but there is a vast and crucial difference between what you believe and what you really Know. You may believe aliens from Alpha Centauri are creating crop circles in your shaving cream, but that doesn't make it so. The ONLY way to Know would be to experience it directly - and I am willing to bet you have not experienced "god" directly. If you think you have, I am willing to bet you are merely drawing erroneous conclusions based on what you (again) have been told, and have come to be-lie-ve.

Erroneous conclusions. This is another area where the seeker has to be extremely aware. A magnificent sunset or a remission from cancer is not evidence of the existence of God. So if you plan on using the argument of "I just feel God exists and therefore I know God exists..." think again. What you feel is largely rooted in biochemical exchanges in the brain or programming/conditioning that has been placed upon you by (again) well-meaning parents, teachers, friends, etc. Do you realize that you are culturally programmed to recoil from a spider or snake, and feel warmth toward a butterfly or kitten? And in the exact same way, you have been programmed at some level to believe "God is good," when the reality is that there is no proof of God and no proof of goodness. Both exist as concepts in your mind - ideas that represent something which does not exist.

As a brief aside, the idea of "goodness" might come one centimeter closer to reality than the idea of god - only because it has been proven that all humans (and most animals) really do have within themselves a barometer which tells us "right" from "wrong" at a very intuitive and base level. This has nothing to do with social standards or so-called morality. It has to do with survival instinct. For example, you know instinctively not to stick your hand in fire or try to breathe underwater. Bad things will happen, and so this level of "programming" exists under the heading of "instinct". Tribal cultures will tell you that their warriors know intuitively not to kill a pregnant doe or hunt the buffalo to extinction. None of these things have any connection to the idea of "goodness", but fall under a broader heading of what don Juan (Carlos Castaneda) referred to as "the right way to live." As it was stated in Harry Potter, "There is no good or evil, only power." The fact that the line was delivered by the "evil" Voldemort" is irrelevant. It is an undeniable statement of fact. Go(o)d and (D)evil do not exist, except as extensions of human beliefs.

If you have any doubt of this, take the concept one step further. What would "good" look like? Is it a gaseous cloud or a scoop of ice cream or a mantra mumbled on the lips of monks? What does "evil" look like? Is it a demon with black wings and an appetite for little children, or a serial killer preying on the weak? As you take this further and further down the rabbit hole, what you will discover is that good and evil, god and devil, are ALL only creations of Man, and not the other way around. Man created God in his own image because Man realizes intuitively that he is mortal and seeks something outside of himself to save him.  Man IS God, but the moment Man takes responsibility for that huge responsibility, all of Man's comfort zones are wiped out in a nano-second, and he comes face to face with himself in the mirror. But instead of seeing his intrinsic power and ability, Man usually sees only his limitations and fears, and so he sings the world into being as the illusory dream-state wherein this extant "god" exists who will somehow reach into the illusion and pluck the soul of Man out of harm's way, and into a world where the streets are paved with gold atop the big rock candy mountain.
Sound like a fairy tale? That's because it is.

When you say "God is good," you reveal that you are still operating inside the humanform program at a very base level. The first step toward real freedom (immortality, transmogrification, or however you want to label it) requires the seeker to eradicate ANY belief which places responsibility outside himself. If you believe in God, you are automatically saddled with ALL of the programming that goes with it - all of the illusions and lies and comfort zones Man has created in an attempt to abdicate responsibility for his own "salvation." By accepting one aspect of the God program, you accept the whole program, even if you are not consciously aware of it. Why? Because the idea of "God" predisposes one to believe in an extant deity/creator/savior who must be called upon and/or appeased in some way, and only then will this God intervene on one's behalf.

Extant. Outside. Separate. Apart.


Man Can Exist Without Gods

 As long as Man places God outside himself, Man has given away his power and relinquished his ability to save himself. The Catholics and others have depended on this for centuries, and if you think for a moment that it is a benevolent belief system, think again. The church depends on keeping people ignorant and dependent - because that's what keeps the money rolling in to the church coffers.
Is this good? Is this God?
If God is good, why would he allow such travesty in his name? Would a truly benevolent and loving God of goodness allow wars to be fought in his name? If you try to tell me, "God works in mysterious ways," then you are even more hopeless than you may realize. That is just the standardized lingo which translates to, "Pay no attention to that man behind the curtain." As long as you can go on believing in the Great & Powerful Oz, you don't need to look down and see that you've been wearing the ruby slippers all along. As long as you can be blinded and hoodwinked by the razzle-dazzle of "God," you are failing to see that the only God that exists is the one staring back at you over the sink every morning when you brush your teeth.
THINK about it. If you think God is good, then you must think it is good that serial killers and sexual predators prey on children, or animals are tortured by madmen who film themselves doing all sorts of heinous deeds just for the sake of doing it. Is this goodness? If God exists, would he allow such things? We could argue about free will and choice, but the bottom line is that IF God exists, and IF you accept that s/he created all things... then god created the serial killer KNOWING that person would become a serial kiiller, and God created the 7-year old girl who will be brutalized and raped by the serial killer, KNOWING that would be her fate.
If you still think "God is good," then I would bet you really aren't thinking. You are basing your statement on a pre-existing belief that has nothing to do with reality. Or you are drawing erroneous conclusions based on wishful thinking.
A man looks up at the sky and sees a falling star. "What a magnificent miracle from God!" he exclaims.

On the other side of the world, that falling star turns out to be a wayward meteorite that crashes into a village, killing hundreds. "What an evil act of vengeance from the gods!" the women who lost 3 children cries.
It's all in how you *see* it. And neither has anything to do with reality.
You create the world through what you believe. Just be sure you are creating a world you want to live in.
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Mikal Nyght 2013

[NOTE:  I'm not here to rob anyone of their belief in God.  If you need it to get through your day, that's your affair.  This seeker came to me asking how he might improve his life - and it was quickly observed that he was "waiting" for his "God" to save him from himself.  So my goal here as a responsible mentor was to assist him in removing the belief systems that have trapped him in an impotent cycle.  If you still want to send hate mail, rest assured I am no stranger to it.  MN]

Unconditional Love & The Black Hole

It's come to my attention over the years that a lot of folk who embark on this path start out with what amounts to a lot of anger and even hatred in their hearts - usually as a result of having been mistreated by some band of misfits, or some bullies in school, or by society at large. And while these feelings are entirely normal to a certain extent, it's important for the seeker to really understand that hatred holds no place in the immortal heart.

This isn't just me up on a soap box preaching for unconditional love. Instead, it is my attempt to communicate one of the most important things I've learned on this long and winding road. It is simply this:

Love is the reason.

It would obviously be impossible to communicate the full complexity of what is really Intended by the words "unconditional love." But in a nutshell, unconditional love is the only state from which a human brain/mind can evolve to the next level. Put simply: one has to evolve within the self before one can evolve beyond the self.

Well WTF does THAT mean?

It means that while a seeker might be able to use anger as a motivator and even a catalyst for change, the seeker can never really use hatred for any positive outcome, because hatred is the core root of violence, aggression and the black hole that lies at the heart of the human condition. If you have ever really (truly) hated some one or some thing or some idea, I believe you will understand what I mean by a "black hole." It is a state of being that is all-consuming - destroying even that little speck of light at the end of the proverbial tunnel. People who truly hate are the ones who go out and blow up schools or become suicide bombers or shoot up a theater full of innocent people because maybe someone called them a "sissy" back in high school, or maybe their perverse Uncle Dick put his dick where it didn't belong and they are forever traumatized and full of anger and hate and the blackness that exists in the void beyond the universe itself. In all likelihood, they even feel quite righteous about their hatred - it is an earmark of their identity, and they believe (falsely) that if they were without that hatred, they would somehow cease to exist in the way they know themselves.

This, too, is part of the programming put onto one by the consensus reality. I won't bother going into the specifics - they should be obvious - but I want to stress that what happened to you then was then, and what happens to you now is the only Now you will ever know. The one who is full of hatred for what happened in that past is living in that past - and when you think about it, that's really very twisted and sick, because it's like reliving the darkness from day to day, year to year, taking the anger and pain and hurt with one into the future, when it could just as easily be dumped along side the road with the words... "That was then, this is now."

I really don't care what "happened" to make a hateful man into a hateful man. It doesn't really matter "why" so-and-so shot up a school or strapped a bomb to his chest and walked into a crowded mall. The media and pop psychologists like to say that if we can understand WHY he did it, we can prevent it from happening again.  No, not really.  The reasons are too many and too varied - so all we can really strive for is to understand ourselves and in doing so, hopefully expand the awareness of those around us, until - eventually - the state of higher awareness becomes the new paradigm. 

So when it comes to trying to understand "why"... What matters is that the man clearly missed his own opportunity for spiritual evolution, and in his hatred (and supreme self-importance) made the decision to punish others for his own emotional failures, interpersonal shortcomings or sexual impotence or fill-in-the-blank. What matters is how this kind of thing can be avoided - just not in the way most people like to believe. I'm not just referring to the high profile media cases such as Sandy Hook and Colorado, but to the every day aspects of life which create both suicidal madmen and homicidal madmen.

The key to any and all of this is a deep understanding of what is meant by unconditional love. Contrary to popular new age beliefs, "unconditional love" isn't some mindless state of being wherein one frolicks with unicorns and runs around acting like a bliss ninny. Unconditional love is actually one of the easiest ways to understand what is really meant by my use of the word "Duality" - a state wherein 2 equally viable (or volatile) things may exist side by side without either threatening the sovereignty of the other. As it applies to unconditional love... it is entirely possible to have unconditional love for someone, and simultaneously not like them in the least.

It's like this: I can have deep empathy (another way of describing unconditional love) for someone like Jeffrey Dahmer, but in the same moment I would not hesitate to administer the lethal injection should the task fall to me. Why? Because it's entirely possible to love the core breath of Life which IS the person, but to condemn the actions of that person through and through. (Yes, I know Jeffrey is dead, but he's still the poster child for what NOT to do in life). Bringing this down to a more personal level - as the seeker progresses on the path, it becomes possible to have unconditional love even for those who have wronged us.

With that said, it doesn't mean we go invite the bully to dinner (though it's a test of conviction if you think you need to). What it does mean is getting some things straight in your head. Whatever the bully or bullies did to you really had nothing to do with YOU, but everything to do with their own limitations, fears, self-loathing and so the list goes on. When you are on the receiving end of that kind of bullying, of course it FEELS personal, but it's really about "them" and what is ultimately "wrong" with them - it has nothing to do with you. Really, really. If you could get inside the bully's head (no, not with an ice pick), you would find yourself face to face with a pathetically frightened, self-absorbed zombie who uses others as a target to mask his own inadequacies.

When you really *see* the depth of despair and emptiness in this type of person, you cannot help but experience empathy and compassion for that core spark of life which has been so damaged - but at the same time, you would not hesitate to club them over the head if you observed them bullying others in the Now. This is both unconditional love and duality, working together to provide the seeker with a workable sense of balance. You may think you can thrive on hatred and anger, but eventually you will find that the black hole of hatred will pull you in entirely and there will be nothing left of you but an empty shell that has become the very thing it loathes: another bully, another zombie whose hunger can never be satisfied.

Unconditional love isn't some doe-eyed state of nirvana. Instead, it is a lot of work - and it comes as a result of a conscious decision to release the hatred we might feel for someone, or a particular group. I realize it's popular for hard-core Pagans to "hate" hard-core Christians (and vice versa), but in the bigger picture, that mindset will only end up creating the conflict and confusion which have led to violence, war and death throughout history. As seekers, you simply cannot afford the luxury or the indulgence of your hatred - because when it consumes you, the "bad guys" have won, and they have succeeded in putting THEIR program onto you, by coercing you to mirror their mindset. And aside from who wins or loses, you simply don't have the time or energy to spare nursing your hatred - and when you are honest with yourself, you cannot help but admit that hatred does require a lot of nurturing.  Something worth examining.

Just words. Use them if you can.

The next time you feel great anger or hatred for someone or some thing, stop for a moment and ask yourself if there is any one single thing you can find about the object of your hatred that might dispel the gravity of the black hole. Can you see that perhaps they are sadly ignorant and should be pitied rather than hated? Can you see that their programming is what drives them and not any real qualms with you personally? Can you employ the old cliche of walking a mile in their shoes in order to better understand what made them who/what they are? If you can do any of these things, you will create a window of opportunity to experience unconditional love.

Allow me to repeat: you don't need to like them or condone what they do. You simply need to have unconditional love for all living things, for it's only in doing so that the seeker annihilates the black hole and creates a window of opportunity for personal evolution beyond the existing paradigm.

Orlando - January 2013
Copyright by Quantum Shaman
All Rights Reserved

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