The Writings of Gordon Phinn
Journey To Knowing
The Deity Is Not Up For Discussion
Expanding Perceptions and Powers
As we practice our chosen discipline, here in the physical, and extend our explorations in the astral, our experiences seem to sharpen our perceptions and increase the power of our intuitions, most often by clearing out the blockages built by doubt and self-consciousness, leaving us with a clarity that can sometimes be quite shocking.
Graduates and Ascended Masters
At some point on our treks through the valleys and mountain paths crisscrossing the intriguing remains of mystical and esoteric teachings that come down to us from ancient times, many of which managed to survive repression by mainstream religions to be modernized by twentieth century teachers and facilitators into conveniently updated Zen, Vedanta, Magick, Sufism and the like, we come across references to the White Brotherhood, the Secret Chiefs, the Ascended Masters.
Applying the Wisdom
As we move along the various paths the inner journey unveils, we begin to examine, out of curiosity or concern, the lives of others. We seem to see them more clearly, now that out own delusions of grandeur have been modified by seeing the untidy and rather tacky aspects of the current ego and some of its past life cousins. The lenses on our vision seem sharper, less muddied by the prejudices of unconscious judgements and more influenced by the discernment conferred by true humility.
Closing The Circuit
The circuit? That’s the one where we return to where we started and see our very own footsteps in the sand that we presumed had washed away in the tides of many incarnations, those passages through personalities and cultures that we assumed had left some indelible marks, but then find, much to our pleasurable surprise, that they can fade to insignificance once we shuck the comfort zones their gates and fences provided. Poverty and wealth, illness and health, ignorance and education, they all drop away as the feathers on Icarus’s wings as he closes in on the sun. Perhaps he dies on that final descent, or maybe he merges with the divine fire, a spark surrendering?
The Adventures We Don’t Recall and Why
I have previously advised on the practice of patience when those dreaded ‘dry spells’ interrupt the joys of crazy adventures in dreamland, leaving us high and dry with no enigmas to unravel. Certainly, effort, of the strenuous sort, seems not to resolve the blank canvas that upsets us. It’s not pushing ahead determinedly that catches the elusive butterfly in flight, but a unfocused yielding to whatever may come which presses the right buttons. And that yielding, that submission, may take some time to manifest the unseen. You know, days turning into weeks and maybe months before a breakthrough.
Night and Day
They are two different worlds aren’t they? Or are they? One is packed with schedules and duties, commitments and challenge, the other is some kind of magical mystery tour, entertaining, annoying and mostly mystifying. One abides by the rules of making sense and the other most definitely does not. One is lighted and demanding of attention, the other is shadowy, shifty with trickery. One is rule bound with cultural norms, the other operates as though some fun-loving anarchists wrote the guide book.
Laughing At Ourselves
I once titled a collection of essays, Laughing At The Universe Of Lies. As many of them addressed the many instances of deliberate political and economic fraud, conspiracy and cover-up, it seemed more than appropriate. Our experience of the world, filtered most often through the corporate media, is one of public figures, drawn from the ranks of government, corporations, banking and intelligence agencies, is one of denial, double talk and bare-faced lying, only some of which is later tackled by the forces of law enforcement and justice.
Just Another Place To Be
If enlightenment is just another “plight in three dimensions” but the endless implications of transcendence when we exit, then is it any more than another stage on the unfolding of our flower blossom? As blissful and serene as the experience may be, with the itch of desire and ambition no longer needing scratched, is it to be prized any more than the inching towards it that many aspirants endure, or the daily dramas and comedies that we all find ourselves in, regardless of our status in the spiritual playground?
Enlightenment… and What Then?
A friend, then in the grips of Buddhist practice and philosophy, once asserted to me that we all are enlightened several times a day, but in the rush of perceptions and reactions, forget the content and how effortlessly profound it seemed. I suspected they were correct in their assessment and set myself to locating some methods whereby those inspired moments could be collated and conserved.
Hitting the Sweet Spot of Being Here Now
Being complete and whole in the moment without crutch or dependency to the past or the future, either recent or distant, has been a goal of several spiritual traditions, perhaps Zen most noticeably. The western popularizer of that tradition, Alan Watts, certainly established it in his many books of the 60’s and 70’s, several of which came my way back then. I also recall Ram Dass (aka Richard Alpert) spreading the notion with his popular book Be Here Now in that same decade.
Stability Before and After
Our journeys through the mysteries of Being and our being within it can leave us quite mystified, somehow simultaneously inspired and baffled. It is sometimes quite the challenge to keep both feet on the ground while one’s head and heart are in the clouds. After visiting ‘there’, with all its charms and joys, coming back ‘here’ can feel drab and quite depressing. Is it all worth it?