JOHN MCINTOSH
Imagine a giant pyramid constructed of giant blocks that ‘cannot’ be climbed without ‘assistance’. At the summit resides a single block that many point to and call ‘God’ [by any name]. Most surround the base of the pyramid and [in some manner] ‘worship’ this God saying it is unattainable. Some join organized groups called religions and other belief systems and follow endless formulas, rituals and disguises [costumes] in the attempt to climb as close as possible to the God-head.
Assistance comes in many ways for this climb. For example: guilt, shame and remorse can be used as ladders to ascend to higher blocks. Initially, they are a useless self-criticism that keep one feeling ‘unworthy’ … but when used as a magnifying glass to look within and eliminate ‘who you are NOT’, they become a ‘ladder’ to blocks ‘above’ to climb to. It is critical however that when those blocks are climbed from that ‘those’ ladders are left behind.
Other more spectacular assistance can come for instance, from a NDE [Near Death Experiences] that can reveal a level of ‘Awareness’ far loftier than the limited landscape of the mind can imagine. Again, when such a dramatic event ‘does’ occur, it is important that it is not ‘worn as a badge of merit’ that suggests you have somehow ‘arrived’. That subtle arrogance can keep one stuck on the block just arrived at.
Another powerful assistant is the AHA, sometimes referred to as a satori or epiphany. It is a sudden all-encompassing Awareness like a shaft of Light illuminating what has been hidden for eons. Again, these can become anchors that hold one back from further climbing, used as they are as some kind of ‘special’ merit ‘dividing’ one from so-called ‘others’.
Eventually, one arrives at Self Inquiry/Surrender where the illusions of who you once believed you were ‘dissolves’ exposing the pyramid as a symbol for a Grand Dream that seemed to separate you from the summit, the God-head. As this direct route Home becomes an all-encompassing passion, the delusion of separation fades. The pyramid and the climb up its steep slope also fade as an aspect of this same dream, along with the climber’s unique identity as something separate called ‘me’.
All that remains is HOME, another word for the ONE SELF You Really Are.
-image by Solveig Larsen
SELF DISCOVERY books by John McIntosh
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