At birth you’re in essence. At this point a child really expresses what it is. But adults put a lot of effort into making one other than what one is. Soon one loses the natural inclinations. One also develops false personality to protect one’s center. And so a mask forms and it becomes hard to know what one really is. To get to true personality and essence one has to decrystallize. If you were to awaken in the process, while still crystallized, the soul would be in shock. The soul needs to awaken to a body in essence. Our work is to remove our mask of false personality, s l o w l y shake essence alive. In the process essence emerges. It is given time to emerge. Essence gets refined, so it can be ready to link with a soul.
Sunday, March 31, 2013
and when I did...
Giovanni Girolamo Savoldo
I learned from watching him that a "Courage" entered him and no matter what happened he was going to "Remember Himself"
He struggled for almost two weeks, and the friction kept growing.
I did not see him for several days and when I did I was shocked. It was like meeting someone who had shed their skin. Everything was the same but different, somehow everything was new. His eyes were different and I knew he was very present. He was "Real".
I saw that as I would arrive at "Self Remembering" he always seemed to be already there, waiting for me.
From that time on he has always been there waiting for me, without judgement. Like a good friend who no matter what, was pleased to greet me.
Friday, March 29, 2013
Don Quixote: A Journey Toward Consciousness - Great Neck, Long Island
The Academy of European Arts and Culture ~ Long Island
Invites you to attend
Don Quixote: A Journey Toward Consciousness
Saturday, April 20, 2013 ~ 4:30pm
$15
RSVP ~ 866.312.7922, ext. 4
From the novel:
"There are two types of beauty: one of the soul, the other of the body; that of the soul emerges and shows itself in its understanding, its honesty, its good conduct, liberality, and proper upbringing, and each of these fit and may be found in an ugly man; when one lays eyes on this type of beauty, and not on that of the body, love tends to grow quickly and with advantage."
Let us remember the beauty of the soul. Please join us for a presentation and discussion about this enlightening literary masterpiece from Conscious Being Miguel de Cervantes.
Thursday, March 28, 2013
Suffering
Titian
Lamb and Wolf
it wakes up in the body. It is locked in there.
And it has to try and escape.
When we awaken, the Soul is outside the body but has to be
very near. This is the point where the Soul and Body or
Wolf and Lamb have to "Learn to lie down together"
Tuesday, March 26, 2013
I remember...
Rembrandt
"I know! I know! I've always known. I had simply forgotten. How could I have forgotten what is so obvious?"
I felt that I had expanded in myself to fill the room, to fill all space available. That I was centred everywhere and nowhere. That I was part of everyone and everything around me. That in some sense I myself was God. After an unknown period, perhaps only a few seconds, I descended again to the normality of the restaurant, the noisy chatter at other tables, the waiter clattering the plates....
~Joyce Collin-Smith
Monday, March 25, 2013
Instrument of Light
El Greco
We descended into us from we know not where. We often find ourselves like a surprised spectator. Man is a running stream whose source is hidden.
We descended into us from we know not where. We often find ourselves like a surprised spectator. Man is a running stream whose source is hidden.
The soul is a vast background that cannot be possessed by the foreground creature.
From deep within me, and sometimes from behind me...
a light shines. This light of life which shines
upon things and people makes me aware that
the creature is nothing but an instrument of that light.
Sunday, March 24, 2013
On my soul!
Animals and vegetables! If I realize you I have satisfaction,
Laws of the earth and air! if I realize you I have satisfaction.
I cannot define my satisfaction..yet it so,
I cannot define my life, yet it so.
I swear I see now that everything has an eternal soul!
The trees have, rooted in the ground....and the weeds of
the sea have...the animals.
I swear I think there is nothing but immortality!
That the exquisite scheme is for it, and the nebulous
float is for it, and cohering is for it,
And all preparation is for it...and identity is for it..
and life and death are for it.Saturday, March 23, 2013
Muscles of the Soul
William Blake
It doesn't matter if you get negative sometimes.
It is something for the soul to push against -
in a way its like building the muscles of the soul.
Thursday, March 21, 2013
Doubt
Caravaggio
The deeper we move in the work I see that there is no room for doubt. There are too many places for the machine to enter and prevent us from doing real work. As we make verifications, we have to hold onto to them and move forward, trusting our Souls, trusting the unknown, trusting God. For me personally, I observe how many times I get tripped up in my machine, in the details, even as I hold the highest as the third force. It's an art - isn't it? The slow art of balance and refinement - so we can move on earth with the Divine.
Wednesday, March 20, 2013
Eros
John William Waterhouse
We tend to think of love from the Eros side of things, when the attraction side is there, when there is the production of sex energy. That is not love. That is the fuel that gets you there, or brings you to the door. Then you have to find the higher in the other person.
~Mervyn J. Brady
We tend to think of love from the Eros side of things, when the attraction side is there, when there is the production of sex energy. That is not love. That is the fuel that gets you there, or brings you to the door. Then you have to find the higher in the other person.
~Mervyn J. Brady
Tuesday, March 19, 2013
Conscience
Howard David Johnson
The energy of the feeling is quite different from self judgement and the feminine dominance that goes with it.
Self judgement is basically negative and leads one away from right work. It drains one. But remorse fills one with a tender bitter sweet energy, a longing directed to putting something right to the best of one's ability. The gnawings go on until something is done, which is why people in general can't bear the feeling and buffer it till it dies down. Even if one can't immediately put something right through external actions, still the deep feeling has great value in itself if experienced without negativity.
~JC
Monday, March 18, 2013
Real I
Rembrandt
Sunday, March 17, 2013
Smelling the Roses by Mervyn J. Brady
Smelling the Roses, Memoir of an Irish Philosopher by Mervyn Brady is now available.
Smelling the Roses: Memoir of an Irish Philosopher, is the story of Mervyn Brady, a spiritual teacher's childhood journey, told in his own humorous and eloquent words, with insightful commentary by those who loved him.
https://www.createspace.com/
Saturday, March 16, 2013
Sky
Edmund Dulac
I was here watching Mervyn transform, I now see a new teacher, and believe more in the divine trust. Mervyn has enabled me to more intimately see myself. The "stone" has been lifted off him, and the divine has entered and merged within him. I remember him saying at that moment, "This inverted bowl we call the sky". He was aware of great presence in his head and the "skull" as his sky; also in turn a wonderful freedom from his body. He also said: "I no longer serve men but God"
Thursday, March 14, 2013
"Truth"
Jusepe de Ribera
As we progress in the Work, we may come to see certain discoveries and verifications as "Truth" we can rest there for a while, but not for too long or we run the risk of becoming comfortable and content. The machine may only wish to go so far on the path, but it cannot be the one that is making that decision. So what is "truth" at one stage of our journey becomes just an aspect of the "truth" as more is revealed.
Wednesday, March 13, 2013
Grace
Giovanni Bellini
Today let us talk about Grace.
Most people will have some angles on what it is, however for a Student it is an essential ingredient in ensuring the evolution of the Self Remembering process. As Grace is the fuel we need.
There are 3 kinds of Grace.
The first one is called simply "Grace"
This comes as a direct result of your own efforts.
When you try not to be identified, working with negativity etc., Grace is a dividend or reward for the various efforts.
The second one is called "Sanctifying Grace" and comes to you from the efforts of others.
Coming to meetings and hearing knowledge, accepting photographs from other Students and digesting their help and knowledge.
The third one is most important because it comes directly from a Higher Source. It is called "Supernatural Grace"
Supernatural because it does not come from the realms of nature but from above.
It is essential that a true Student becomes familiar with the workings of this one.
Otherwise in spite of gallant efforts on himself or herself, and all the efforts of their friends and fellow Students, there simply wont be enough Grace to fuel the emergence of the Soul.
Grace and Sanctifying Grace come from human effort and are thus a coarse Hydrogen.
Supernatural Grace comes from a source higher than man...
So as Grace and Sanctifying Grace are within your power to create, Supernatural Grace is not.
It is a gift, just like Love.
We cannot manufacture Love, It arrives.
To study Supernatural Grace is the same and as difficult as it is to study" Love".
Tuesday, March 12, 2013
Reach into the Spirit...
William Fettes Douglas
It is wonderful to at last begin to taste more deeply this realization that the recurrence does not mean the mechanics have to clunk into action ...and that the soul now has actual being from so many rounds, so to speak, to stretch and reach into the spirit and ask for higher help..
It is wonderful to at last begin to taste more deeply this realization that the recurrence does not mean the mechanics have to clunk into action ...and that the soul now has actual being from so many rounds, so to speak, to stretch and reach into the spirit and ask for higher help..
...it seems we are asked to go even further in this journey,
into Divine love and be tested by fire, too, the idea of alchemy feels so clear.
The fire of Love being the greatest purifier.
Monday, March 11, 2013
Shocks
by Rembrandt
Throughout our lives we experience shocks to our play, shocks that often (if we are lucky) make us look inward to question our values.
Throughout our lives we experience shocks to our play, shocks that often (if we are lucky) make us look inward to question our values.
In the Academy we understand that the shocks we receive are often as a result of the intervention of C influence. At the moment that we receive these shocks, it is important that we remain or achieve presence in order that the machine does not grab hold of this precious lesson and buffer it from our inner worlds. Buffering of shocks prevents us from being pierced, and it is this piercing process that in one sweep, breaks crystallisation, allows inner movement and growth of our being.
There is something...
There is something that comes to one now and always,
it is not what is printed, preached,
It eludes discussion and print.It is not to be put in a book, it is not in this book.
It is for you, whoever you are.
It is no further from you than your hearing and eyes.
It is hinted at by nearest, commonest, readiest.. .
it is ever provoked by them.
It is hinted at by nearest, commonest, readiest..
it is ever provoked by them.
Saturday, March 9, 2013
The Heart of the Rose
I experienced an instantaneous moment of recognition and emotion the first time I saw this painting by Pre-Raphaelite artist Edward Burne-Jones. There are so many interpretations and angles that can be shared when we observe art together. Some profound moments have been created for me by artists like Burne-Jones. I know that a Real moment has been gifted to me by an artist when I have a first contact with a painting and my heart opens and is filled with Love. It is an instantaneous, almost indescribable feeling that keeps bringing me back to paintings as a source of nourishment for my Soul. This is what I experienced upon first meeting with Jones' The Heart of the Rose.
There are three figures shown yet I feel that they do not represent separate people. Together they could be symbolic of what can be achieved through Work in a School.
The Lady represents a state of Presence. Through Self-Remembering, she is experiencing the first moment of balance and Union between her machine (the cloaked beggar) and her Soul (the Angel). The story of what is happening in this Woman's Inner World is represented by the actions of the two figures in the foreground.
The cloaked beggar (the machine) looks at the Lady with some hesitation as he walks through an open archway. He is accompanied by birds, symbolizing the messengers who have come to tell him that there is a Higher Way. The machine enters the garden and slowly takes the hand of his Angel (his Soul). The Angel's expression is one of Knowing that this is an important moment; The Angel's gaze is fixed on the face of the Lady in Presence. The Woman's machine is finally coming forth into the Garden as a willing participant in Mervyn's "great experiment", of which we in the Academy are all a part. The machine has finally taken the hand of the Soul.
The Angel's right hand holds a bow and arrow, which I see as a symbol of the need to be protective of the Inner World. To his right He is flanked by white lillies. White lillies are a symbol of the Soul that appear in many examples of Conscious Art. His left wing is raised, revealing to us the Lady's face as if to say, "this is what Presence looks like." That same wing is ready to envelope the machine in an embrace of Love.
Friday, March 8, 2013
Thy Will
John Everett Millais
What we do is simple, we let 'thy will be done'. We give
unconditional, simple, beautiful Love from our highest parts to
others. At the very least we become passive so it flows through us.
Like perfume, invisible but noticeable to all in the immediate
vicinity. People change when they experience this state, literally,
they actually 'arrive' to what they truly are and they are Love too.
Because the Soul in man, no matter how underdeveloped, recognizes its
'own' and immediately growth starts.
What we do is simple, we let 'thy will be done'. We give
unconditional, simple, beautiful Love from our highest parts to
others. At the very least we become passive so it flows through us.
Like perfume, invisible but noticeable to all in the immediate
vicinity. People change when they experience this state, literally,
they actually 'arrive' to what they truly are and they are Love too.
Because the Soul in man, no matter how underdeveloped, recognizes its
'own' and immediately growth starts.
Thursday, March 7, 2013
Effort & Attention - Chicago, IL Monday, March 11, 2013
The Academy of European Arts and Culture - Chicago
Invites you to attend an
Open Discussion
Effort and Attention
Monday, March 11, 2013 - 7:30pm2333 West North Avenue, Chicago, IL
When we are not aware of where our attention is directed,
we drift...we lose myself. Life draws us in
and uses up the energies needed to connect
with something Higher.
An effort is needed, a subtle shift within
that keeps one centered and focused. We can feel ourself being attentive,
opening up the space for the Higher (God) to enter.
To RSVP
866-312-7922
we drift...we lose myself. Life draws us in
and uses up the energies needed to connect
with something Higher.
An effort is needed, a subtle shift within
that keeps one centered and focused. We can feel ourself being attentive,
opening up the space for the Higher (God) to enter.
To RSVP
866-312-7922
The Spark
We can become the catalysts of desire for each other, we can become the spark that sets another soul alight. That is what makes being in a school important, keeping the flame alive for others. Doing this alone takes enormous effort, that is why the gods made sure we have each other. When one flame is diminished, another comes along and sets the other flames on fire once again. That is what we do for each other, that is how we can all serve desire, just to BE in the throws of our own inner passions, visions and understanding while sharing it with others.
Wednesday, March 6, 2013
The Ides of March
Jean-Léon Gérôme
Crime can enter your work, or you might say it is a time when "the
Devil" is active. Real Schools know this and warn their Students to
be very careful with the I's during these times.
be very careful with the I's during these times.
All higher parts of you will be tested. This also means your Love
Life. Crime can enter into all relationships, Lovers Parents and
Children, Teachers and Students.
So my Dearest Friends....be cautious. Be vigilant and watch each
other for the I's turning into a Fury. Support each other, and most
other for the I's turning into a Fury. Support each other, and most
important, please verify that your I's become a little crazy.
Please don't allow your work or relationships fail, no matter how
strong the urge will be to do it. This is your opportunity to
experience a Month of Madness, and watch it consciously.
Verify it this year, because it will arrive every year of your life...
for the rest of it.
Call it your annual test by the Devil.
Tuesday, March 5, 2013
The Soul
John Everett Millais
First the Gods enter us and the Soul "Quietly and Invisibly" begins its gestation in the Body.
Like all gestations it may or not may not result in a birth.
What is this birth? How does it manifest?
It is the moment when Soul Remembering happens. That first moment when we experience our Inner World.
The Soul is reborn into the Body.
But it is like being reborn into a prison.
The Body tries to block it.
The Work is for the Soul to gain ground.
This is a man number 4 in our work.
He can be present but not manifest.
He is a different species almost..He can Soul remember.
Man number 1, 2 & 3 can only dream of it as a distant memory.
It means there is now a Soul there, But it can do nothing except grow or sleep.
It begins to influence the Body.
Then if it reaches a certain point a second Conception can take place.
This gestation and Birth means the Birth of the Soul into this World It means the Soul can now manifest in the World of Man.
The signs of this gestation are Higher states which occur to the student when alone.
They become like "Birth Pains" and then the Soul is born into this world.
~Mervyn Brady
Monday, March 4, 2013
The System
One of the insightful comments Mervyn made to me regarding the Work was that he said that he was not an expert at the System but rather that he knew how to use it to help his evolution. This was helpful because it showed me how the intellectual center can get a hold of the ideas and run with them...when it is in fact our Being that needs to be able to make use of the system as is needed in the moment.
Saturday, March 2, 2013
Madonna and Child
by Filippo Lippi
One morning I woke up and looked at this painting, and the light
was shining through a crack in the curtains and was going in
a line from the sky part of painting down the Virgin's forehead
and through her heart. It made me realize in that moment that
this work is coming from above...all inspiration comes from
above and if we are open it can change our minds and our
hearts by "aligning" them. The Virgin's hands reconcile the
left and the right and rest in front of the temple of the heart
where our mirror within can keep pointing up and continually
ask for guidance and inspiration.
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