Just got done responding to an email to my Ex-Twelve Tribes mailing list, and since I was on fire while writing it, I figured it might be helpful to post here. It addresses a couple of common problems that christians face when coming up against the Truth. In this email, God means Ø, of course.
Brett, that's a well thought-out response, and i am going to do my best to communicate some right-brain ideas with mere left-brain tools. (words)
Here goes...
From: Brett <keapinitreal33@yahoo.com>
To: ex-ttThreshingFloor@yahoogroups.com
Sent: Sat, February 27, 2010 1:06:31 PM
Subject: [ex-ttThreshingFloor] Re: A note to me from Anonymous...
Jim, the two main components, our natural/spiritual existence is the Self, and to have His Spirit, and we are given his Spirit to a degree, at birth, it creates our existence, our Life-force. my opinion is that, coming into the Community, we are making a claim to abolish the Self, and come into 100% compliance and cohesiveness, with His Spirit, where we are no longer living for ourselves(the Self), but for Him.
That's a bit of a run-on, but i think i get your point. The idea that the Self (the secret is that there is only one self for all human beings) is the enemy is a ploy on the part of the false self in order to remain in control by giving you an unattainable goal, the effort to attain which comes solely from the false self, itself! The unattainable goal is to abolish the "self". The Self is the Holy Spirit. The false Self is commonly termed the Ego, and is the source of all pain and suffering in this world. That does not make it "evil". That makes it a very effective tool in God's plan of teaching his sons and daughters how to come home. Painful lessons are those best learned. How many times do you touch a hot stove? And incidentally, reincarnation is an integral part of this learning that we are taking part in. It was assumed by the early disciples and even by the Jews of Jesus' time. (Who do people say I am? Some say Elijah or one of the prophets, or one of the saints of old come back to us.) This truth was removed from religion by the power establishment in order to tighten their grip on humanity (but also serves as an increasing challenge in this game, thus God allowed it).
Compliance does not come with effort to stamp out the self, but with unconditional love and trust towards the Creator. Cohesiveness is a natural consequence of compliance with the Creator's will, but ONLY POSSIBLE with others who also love and trust the Creator without condition. And, without condition means exactly that. One of the ego's favorite tricks is to show you horrifying visions of what would happen in the instant you actually let your guard down and give in 100% to God. If you are not ready to hear these truths, they will seem utter nonsense to you. If you are ready, they will seem not like something new, but like you are remembering something you forgot.
Here is an example of how I trust the Creator: I get up in the morning, and make a pot of coffee for my father and me. We do what needs doing during the day. While we are doing that, I keep my ears and eyes open, watching for the leading of the Spirit. I don't worry about 'trying' to do the things that "a believer ought to be doing". But rather, opportunities present themselves to me in the NATURAL course of the day. Trying comes purely from the Ego. Doing comes from God. Today, my father and I were blessed to host a neighbor for breakfast who recently lost his wife. I made him a grilled ham, egg, and cheese sandwich. It was a blessing to him, and he remarked at the end of the meal that he thought he had never had such a delicious sandwich. Was it because I put something special in the sandwich? No. It was because God made that sandwich for him, and my body merely cooperated with the flow of love from God to this dear man, whose religious beliefs I happen to completely disagree with. Does it matter that his religion is anathema to me? Not in the least. What matters is that I was a willing conduit for God's love. I did nothing. God did it through me. As Yoneq used to be fond of saying, "I was just like Yahshua at that moment".
So when the ego tricks you into trying to get rid of the Self, you are stuck in a loop of always trying to go against the proper order of things, and God will not cooperate or empower your efforts. It becomes the ultimate in ego-pride effort. Those who manage to suppress "selfishness" (the external manifestation of the false self) the best thus become the most proud, leaving them worse off at the end than when they began.
The real way of dealing with all the pride, arrogance, sloth, lust, wrath, etc. is by placing the false self back in its proper place. It was never meant to guide our experience. That job belongs to the Universal Self, the Holy Spirit. The ego was only meant to provide for the illusion of individuation. It's just a mask we wear, and at the end of this life, we take it off.
When we live a selfless life we have to have a spiritual place to give our energy, which is in turn His Holy Spirit, as a cohesive group, if we give that energy to people with the Self, it will be swallowed up to no end, as the Self is a black hole, not so much greedy, but not possible to fulfill this selfish nature mankind has acquired by being disconnected form His Will, and at certain degrees His Spirit, from the beginning of man.
Being disconnected from the will of God comes from thinking you are in charge of your life, even if you only think you are in charge a little tiny bit. A little bit of poison is enough to kill you. God is in control, and has it all well in hand, sunshine
Community makes so much sense in this way, that all who have given up their Selves, and giving their energy to His Will, would be in a cohesive social order, together..Imnot saying this is how it is in the TT, maybe ideally how it should be, these are just some of my thoughts, Im not preaching here, and this is the shorter version of what im trying to say, just puttin it out there for conversation, thanks. brett
Those are well-intentioned thoughts, and you are to be commended for seeing a better way than what is offered today. However, you are still in confusion, because you think that the little effort-producer in your head is the real you. The real you is a whole lot more laid-back, easygoing, carefree, trusting and ultimately, nicer than him.
I'll just leave it intact like that. I'd be pleased as punch if it helps anyone.
