From a site visitor: In the glossary entry on death, you wrote, "The only thing that can be said to die (that is, that can be ‘given up') is the assumption that roles and appearances are real.’ I don’t get that. Please clarify.”
F.: I Am consciousness. You Are consciousness. Compare that to any "form" that energy might take: wave form, particle form, etc. Regardless of the "form," the energy was not created and cannot be destroyed. Energy was, is, and shall be. Consciousness was, is, and shall be. It manifests, but it is not "born." It manifests only temporarily, but that does not suggest that it "dies." Those are the Absolute facts. Now to the misconceptions in the relative about persons and roles that seem to come and go: all persons and all roles are only assumptions and are not real. What can "die"--what can be given up--is the notion that an assumed role can define That Which You Truly Are.
F.: I Am consciousness. You Are consciousness. Compare that to any "form" that energy might take: wave form, particle form, etc. Regardless of the "form," the energy was not created and cannot be destroyed. Energy was, is, and shall be. Consciousness was, is, and shall be. It manifests, but it is not "born." It manifests only temporarily, but that does not suggest that it "dies." Those are the Absolute facts. Now to the misconceptions in the relative about persons and roles that seem to come and go: all persons and all roles are only assumptions and are not real. What can "die"--what can be given up--is the notion that an assumed role can define That Which You Truly Are.
For example, consider persons who were married and divorced. They imagined that “spouse” really identified who they were. But for that (false) identity to exist, another person was required to complete the assumed role. But That Which They Truly Are is real, depends on nothing else and no one else for its existence, and never changes. What They Truly Are, They Were That prior to a court officer signing a document and after a court officer signed another document. Court officers, like all persons, deal in lies and illusions and assumptions that false identities are real.
A document cannot create You; a document cannot destroy You. It can inspire a false belief that a dependent role can define who you are. How grand is the lie? Take the fictional Thomas Smith as an example. He married Jane Jones and a man in a robe told her that she was now Mrs. Thomas Smith. She assumed that new identity and all the fears and expectations and desires that came with it. But her fears were realized when Thomas left her for Mary Martin. In a court, a man in a robe told Jane Jones/Mrs. Thomas Smith that she was no longer Mrs. Thomas Smith but could once again be Miss Jane Jones; shortly after that event, another man in a robe told Mary Martin that she was Mrs. Thomas Smith. She assumed that new identity and all the fears and expectations and desires that came with it. But her fears were realized when Thomas left her for Patty Prentiss. In a court, a man in a robe told Mary Martin/Mrs. Thomas Smith that she was no longer Mrs. Thomas Smith but could once again be Miss Mary Martin; shortly after that event, another man in a robe told Patty Prentiss that she was Mrs. Thomas Smith. Do you see the insanity of assuming identities? "Mrs. Thomas Smith" was a role assumed by three different persons, and all three really believed that they were who and what their culture told them that they were. But the culture told three different persons that they were the same person. In the remote past, Jane was Mrs. Thomas Smith; in the past Mary was Mrs. Thomas Smith; in the present, Patty is Mrs. Thomas Smith. One can guess that in the future, Patty will not be Mrs. Thomas Smith. From this example, isn’t it clear that any assumption of any persona as a real identity is an insane case of mistaken, false identity? Are you assuming any false identities as real identities? Are you unconsciously listening to all the persons in your culture who haven't a clue as to Who They Truly Are yet unconsciously allowing them to tell you who or what you are? Then you'll also unconsciously accept all the fears and desires and expectations that come with roles and guarantee misery in the relative existence. Please enter the silence of contemplation.
A document cannot create You; a document cannot destroy You. It can inspire a false belief that a dependent role can define who you are. How grand is the lie? Take the fictional Thomas Smith as an example. He married Jane Jones and a man in a robe told her that she was now Mrs. Thomas Smith. She assumed that new identity and all the fears and expectations and desires that came with it. But her fears were realized when Thomas left her for Mary Martin. In a court, a man in a robe told Jane Jones/Mrs. Thomas Smith that she was no longer Mrs. Thomas Smith but could once again be Miss Jane Jones; shortly after that event, another man in a robe told Mary Martin that she was Mrs. Thomas Smith. She assumed that new identity and all the fears and expectations and desires that came with it. But her fears were realized when Thomas left her for Patty Prentiss. In a court, a man in a robe told Mary Martin/Mrs. Thomas Smith that she was no longer Mrs. Thomas Smith but could once again be Miss Mary Martin; shortly after that event, another man in a robe told Patty Prentiss that she was Mrs. Thomas Smith. Do you see the insanity of assuming identities? "Mrs. Thomas Smith" was a role assumed by three different persons, and all three really believed that they were who and what their culture told them that they were. But the culture told three different persons that they were the same person. In the remote past, Jane was Mrs. Thomas Smith; in the past Mary was Mrs. Thomas Smith; in the present, Patty is Mrs. Thomas Smith. One can guess that in the future, Patty will not be Mrs. Thomas Smith. From this example, isn’t it clear that any assumption of any persona as a real identity is an insane case of mistaken, false identity? Are you assuming any false identities as real identities? Are you unconsciously listening to all the persons in your culture who haven't a clue as to Who They Truly Are yet unconsciously allowing them to tell you who or what you are? Then you'll also unconsciously accept all the fears and desires and expectations that come with roles and guarantee misery in the relative existence. Please enter the silence of contemplation.
