Tuesday, July 8, 2008

Glossary: Words for Life

I use the words I use in a very specific way usually. I have a very specific concept in mind. Some of my definitions may be different than popular usage. So I am providing this glossary so that you'll know how to talk to me.

world -- a world is a system; the world is the system of how all the living souls relate to one another in terms of agency (i.e. use of the resources of time and space, among other things); the world system is always changing -- maybe a little, maybe a lot; worlds have to be created -- they don't just come into existence; worlds are created from the interactions of the past and present beliefs and actions (both are choices) of all of the individual souls that make up the world; worlds can be full of darkness; worlds can be full of light; you and I are in a world that is in the struggle between the darkness and the light. Although the world is the system of everyone here, we can also speak of subset systems as worlds or a world also. For example, your business or workplace is a world; your home is a world. Even more importantly, each soul that is here -- that's you and me -- is here to create a world, their world. You create your world by your beliefs and your radiation and influence. It's impossible not to create a world; it's impossible not to have influence. You can't not participate. You are participating. It's only a question of how and what. (The fact that you were born here on earth is the sign that you consented to participate in this world.) (You can see that if we are each creating our world that everyone's world overlaps and enmeshes (and the entire world arises). What does your world look like? What is it like for you and others to live in your world? What is it like for others to live within your influence?)

soul -- a soul is an individual being; we are aware of some parts of our being (physical, mental, etc.); there is even more that we are unaware of (?); but all of our being is influencing and being influenced by one another in the world; that entirety (known and unknown) of individual being -- a man or woman -- is a soul. Our soul is vibratory and energetic (including what we call our body) and tangible.

belief -- an instruction (or set of instructions) for a system; a belief is a program. A soul is (you are) a system. A family is a system. A community of souls is a system. The entire world is a system; and so forth. In this definition I will speak of the beliefs of an individual, but what I say is true and can be translated for other systems. What do the instructions or program (= belief) instruct to? Acts or action. We act only upon belief. All actions have a base of belief. This cannot be stressed too much. There is no exception. If I find that I have an action or set of actions that otherwise causes problems in my life, I have a belief that allows me to continue, and I must examine my soul for it. A belief is a complex of structure and energy and time (therefore it cannot be divorced from tangibility). In the individual, each belief is stored, layed down in brain electrical and etc. pathways, cell metabolisms, chemical compositions, and more, in the body and being. The ability of our spirit-ual radiation to enter this world and to reach its full potential of influence is dependent upon the beliefs in the body which will facilitate or hinder that influence and potential. Beliefs have/are a whole body/being condition, but they may have a dominant manifestation (muscular, language, finances, spirit life, etc). Beliefs may be transmitted in the flesh (we would say genetically) or they may be transmitted environmentally (to the flesh). There is no space in your being that is belief-less. It just matters which beliefs there are. As a child you received (recorded) beliefs from your ancestry and parents and other environments (teachers, media). As an adult, hopefully we can proactively create (record) our beliefs, from then which will arise our actions. I have not addressed how to create beliefs, nor is the space herein to do so. Belief can also refer to the net state of our being and all of the programs it is running. One note to this is that in scripture (the Bible) when God asks us to believe, I read into that a call to transformation, not merely a mental commitment to a set of religious "facts" (i.e. God exists).

planet earth -- not interchangeable with when I say "world". Earth is a physical creation that was created by beings in some manner. It is a work of art. It is functional. It is a work of spirit as well. Its bounties and beauties are depthless. It is a physical (and spiritual) stage for the world to play out on. It is our home, it is our house. All souls that are here, we share the earth. The earth has the capacity to continue to generate and maintain the physical life (i.e. feeding, nourishing) that lives on it, including the physical bodies of humans. There is enough for everyone. There is more mystery and miracle in the earth that we can still discover. The earth cares for us, and in return we are responsible to care for it. That life loop is endless. I do believe that the earth is a soul or being (not human nor biological of course, but with program/belief, radiation, and influence, and etc).

life journey -- you'll hear me say this a lot; I think it's self-explanatory. I truly believe that we are on a journey here. You could call it a spiritual journey. But everyone is walking on the road to life. There really is no destination except for who you become. And that becoming is neverending as well. When I meet people who I have a hard time with, and who are hurtful or ignorant (for example), I remember that they are on a journey too. As human beings we are journeying together, or we ought to be. When we encounter one another, it is so we can be a catalyst for each other's next leg of the journey.

path or pathway and/ or destination -- another thing I use a lot. Pathways and destinations go together. Paths lead to a destination. Destinations have to be reached by a pathway. There is nothing in the world that is outside of this path/destination process. What this means is that if we desire a certain destination, we need to take the path that leads to it. It's a tangible thing. You can't just make it up. There are laws embedded in paths and destinations. It also means that whatever path you are on, conscious or unconscious, you are going to end up somewhere. You might like it, you might not, but the connections are immutable. Hence the encouragement to be as informed and enlightened as possible about agency, choices, paths, and destinations.

right and wrong -- I will speak of right and wrong in terms of this mortal earth life. 1) The first premise that I accept is that we are only interns and stewards in this earthly realm. That is, the ownership of this world belongs to God. It is his idea and his creation and has arisen from his actions and beliefs and radiation. The fact that you and I are here and participating in this world means that we consented, at least to some degree, to the system that God set up. Therefore, in a very real sense, what is right is whatever God says is right. 2) Nevertheless, our Father in heaven has a plan and a system that he created, set into motion in this world and on this planet, has explained to us, and that can be trusted to be consistent. The plan has a purpose; it's not arbitrary (see other definitions in this Glossary for the plan and its purpose). Within the structure of our Father's plan, then, there are principles that are right; and when we act outside those principles we are in the wrong. Both the right and the wrong have consequences -- lead to specific results -- within the plan and within the forces of the world. Again, see other definitions to understand the principles, but for the sake of brevity, the principles God has chosen for this world as being right are those principles that will provide for his children love, peace, safety, intimacy, knowledge, godly transformation, and above all, freedom and the preservation of individual agency. 3) As mentioned, our acts are wrong or right. An act may be a deed of the body, or a belief, or a thought, or an emotion, or a creation (etc). All of these are acts, and any act we choose is either wrong or right in terms of God's plan (i.e. in terms of the results of freedom, love, etc). 4) You can also see that a person does need to have knowledge of, or an explanation provided to them, of God's plan; we have to have an understanding of what is right. Otherwise we cannot have the option of choosing it. We can learn the right by just living and gaining experience, and we learn what hurts ourselves and others by our mistakes. But we can learn the right in other ways too, so that we don't have to waste time making some serious mistakes if we would rather not. It is God's responsibility to give the explanation of his plan (see the definition for "purpose of life" below for how this happens), and as individuals we have the responsibility to listen to it and do our best with it and to try to find out what God is really trying to do here with his children on earth. 5) The implication of this is that not everyone in the world is at the same place of knowledge and experience, therefore not everyone understands "right" the same way. This means that, in general, we are not to worry about other people and where they are at (judge them), and only worry about our own understanding and living of godly right. 6) The principles in God's plan have real effects; they are like the laws of a hot fire -- even if you don't know about a hot fire, it will still burn you. This is the same with the laws in God's system. God does not punish his children, and God does not disapprove of his children. He is glad when any of his children choose the best right according to the best knowledge they have. However, neither does God save us (usually) from the consequences and forces of life when we make mistakes, even the really hard ones, because he knows that this is one of the main ways we continue to learn more right. The Adversary is constantly trying to punish and make miserable and laugh at God's children. One of the effects of living the right of God's laws is to protect us from the power the Adversary has. 7) One final thing in regards to wrong and right. Each person must decide for themselves what they want out of life -- a path or destination. If you have decided what you want, then choices you make may be either right or wrong in relation to that destination or that desire. Thus, again, you cannot worry about another person, because they may want something different than you want, so their actions may be right for them and they wouldn't be right for you. There are a couple of implications of this. First, some people are afraid or don't know how to choose what they want, and yet they keep asking "What is right? What should I do?" You can't know what is right unless you choose what you want. If you want what God has to offer, then you can choose his plan. If you want something else, then you can try to figure out what is right for that path. But until you choose your direction, then nothing is right or wrong. 8) The second implication, however, that individuals must take great care with, is to not discard what our Father in heaven has to offer -- the results and path and destination of his plan and principles. While we are each free to accept this plan, or not, we may need to realize that our Father in heaven has more knowledge than any of us and his plan is perfect for peace and all the other good things I listed. It might not be a good idea to re-invent the wheel. You can, but you might want to be very careful in choosing something other than God's plan, because he has already got all the best stuff in his plan. In fact, everything good is in his plan. And everything not good is outside his plan. So there is that. But you'll have to decide. 9) Also, there are so many people and organizations who claim to speak for God and who are providing explanations of what they say God's plan is. So who has the most accurate explanation of God's plan? My only advice at this point is to go straight to your Father in heaven yourself -- pray. Ask him all the questions you have, and see what he says. Your Father in heaven will answer you.

radiate -- I subscribe to the view that the soul is infinite and eternal. Part of what that means to me is that we have a center to our being (or center-like, for I imagine that it is infinite in that direction as well), and that center radiates tangibly outward infinitely throughout the multi-metaverse (at least in those realms for which we have obtained the keys; being here on a physical, mortal, planet earth with a body is precisely a process for obtaining keys for this realm). This idea requires that the physical body -- while possessing boundaries -- nevertheless is simply (or not so simply) an energetic entity as is the soul the body is a portion of. You are always radiating. It is impossible to not radiate. You can only choose what it is you radiate. One can pro-actively create and enlighten (seek enlightenment from the source of light) one's radiation.

influence -- this is similar to radiation except that it adds the concept of the results of radiation; the connection of our radiation upon another soul (volitional) or object (non-volitional). Influence can have forms -- physical influence, spiritual influence and so forth -- although rarely is influence so discrete; usually there is much going on in the connection of two souls that is known and unknown, but generally one form of influence may be thought of as dominant. Of course, all of the influence in the world is a very complex set. Influence (and radiation) also moves through time as well as space. So the set of choices and influences is the world. So rarely is influence a "line" of radiation between two "points" -- it rather is a complex net of influence. On the other hand, each soul is the head of his/her own influence. It is impossible to cede your influence to another; it is impossible for another to remove your influence from you. In other words, you are never responsible for others actions (other than children), and you are always responsible for your own. And that makes things easier to think about too -- you don't have to wrap your mind around the entire influence of the world, just what your influence is, and then you can trust what the consequences of that will be.

manifest/manifestation -- anything and everything manifests. But let's illustrate my meaning by a concrete example. Let's imagine a peach. The peach has manifested into the universe. The peach has manifested into the physical world. If the peach is there, then the peach is a sign or manifestation that holds secrets or mystery (only because we may not know or understand them) of factors and processes of space and time (and more; and not necessarily linear) that resulted in the appearance of the peach in real time and space. Manifestation at basic is "an appearance". The great thing about manifestation, though, is that those mysteries are meant to be unfolded; we are meant to learn the mysteries. A peach is the manifestation of a peach seed, days of sunshine, roots drinking water, and much, much more. A peach is also, for example, a manifestation of the laws of light and color (that give it its orange tone). A peach is actually a simple manifestation compared to, say, a human being. Here is something that I consider to be true: every part of the multi-metaverse is a manifestation (or graph or sign) of the entire multi-metaverse. In other words, the entire multi-metaverse writes itself into each thing that evidently exists, and the entire can be comprehended in the part (with the right instruments and interpretative knowledge). There is a huge access possibility there. In terms of human beings and their life journey, particularly this earthly journey, manifestation is extremely important, because, well, we are each manifesting. Unlike a peach, which does not act, a human acts. And so we choose much, if not all, of our manifestation. I could speak about this for pages and pages and pages. So I'm going to have to give just a few words. If, for example, you are not experiencing a life of peace, then this is a manifestation problem. As a human, you are not manifesting peace. You may be manifesting despair or unmanageableness or whatnot. If you want to change your manifestation, you have to change your access. Like a peach that is manifestating certain laws that allow it to be a peach, a human will manifest whatever laws/ principles/ forces/ processes/ etc in the multi-metaverse that it is accessing. Again for the sake of brevity, the full potential of human beings is termed godliness. We have the opportunity to both access, and therefore manifest, godliness. (The question would be how? See other definitions (perhaps "ascension").)

shape/form -- there is not a huge or clear cut definition here, I just use these words often enough. In the multi-metaverse, there are two principles operating both in opposition to each other as well as synergistically -- what I term dynamism and stability. I consider shapes and forms to be in the "stability" camp. Similar to the idea of manifestation. The physical body is a form to the spirit or to the soul in its entirety. Dynamism must be given form (stability) or it has no effect; form (stability) must have dynamism or it has no effect. One implication of this is that I often hear how this world of matter and flesh is more or less worthless and that to transcend is to leave it behind and become "spiritual" and to become "one" with some ultimate ethereal whatjamacallit. While I do believe that the work we are to do in this earthly plane is to become spiritual and to transcend, and I would use the terms spiritual and transcendence and ascension, I think I would disagree with a lot of people about what that means. In my understanding, we will not be leaving physicality behind, but rather infusing it, incorporating it, raising the level of its cleanliness and powers to the spiritual -- but the material world and our material bodies won't be gone . . . still very much there. The spirit that entered this world of matter is trying to progress to the next level of being-ness by adding a physical body not getting rid of it. I'm tired of people dissing the physical -- the physical, material universe is a miracle and has the potential for godliness and is a creation of God. Physical resurrection, for example, is a reality as far as part of the promise of the eternities. Another great implication of form you will read under the definition of "love" below.

participate -- I just like this word. It captures the sense of one's agency and volition -- that we choose and are not just forced into community dynamics -- as well as capturing the sense of the interconnectedness of influence.

body -- I am speaking of the physical body, or flesh; which is part of the soul. The physical body is the avatar for the spirit to be able to enter this physical universe, and therefore the world that is staged on planet earth. I did want to note something, though, that I consider the mind and the temperament and emotions to be aspects of the body and not the spirit.

being -- interchangeable with soul.

faith -- this has to be one my favorite definitions. I believe that almost no one understands the true definition of faith, and that lack of understanding has serious consequences in how life tends to be conducted. Even people who say they know what faith is and think about it a lot are far off from the actual concept. As always you can take or leave what I say. But I'm not going to make any bones about this from my point of view, because, as I said, there are serious consequences to being mistaken about what faith is.

Faith, then, is a creation principle. No more, no less. It may also be considered a translation principle. That is, faith is the translation or creation of what is spiritual into the material world. That is the basic definition. Faith is not!!!! an opinion or conviction or devotion or mental belief. That is the mistake that people make.

Faith is linked with agency. (You can read about agency below.) Thus, good or evil can be created in the present mortal, material world by faith. You can see that for most people who would understand this would want to, first, be aware of good power or principles in the spiritual world. Then they would want to, secondly, draw the good from the spiritual realm and create/ re-create/ translate it into this material world. This is done by acts based on the agency of good. (You can read about acts above.) As you can see, all acts create something. But some things are transient or wither or are not understood and so on and so forth. So the trick is to become aware and trained or directed or, really, be a director, of the spiritual power and purposefully create in this material world (translate the spiritual possibility across the barrier into this world). You should also re-read about radiating and influence and belief. Faith has to begin at your self and move outwards. You will fail to create a city if you have not first created your soul; or you will create evil. There is an order to faith and creation. You must begin with your own soul. A good fountain will create good. You cannot get good from a corrupted fountain. This parable is for both where you are getting your spiritual power for creation, and also whether or not you have converted your soul before attempted to convert anything else in this world to good and to godly spiritual investment.

I have faith in Jesus Christ, or I am trying to. This means, among other things, that my awareness and my ability to direct spiritual power is within the order that Jesus Christ created (already). He is my source and my guide and everything else when it comes to faith and acting and creation. In fact, I can learn many things about faith within the system Jesus Christ offers, such as the fact that I require the redemption power of Jesus Christ; that is, I actually cannot have faith or create true good without accessing redemption, and partnership with Jesus Christ. And so on -- Jesus Christ taught all about faith, and the principles of faith can be found in the Holy Bible and The Book of Mormon and probably in other good texts and living sources (including the prophet on the earth, who at this time is Thomas S. Monson).

reality -- I am still thinking through this definition, but here is what I have so far. First of all, anything that we experience here in mortality is a far cry from reality. Whatever life our Father in heaven is living -- that is reality. So to the degree that we can approach the conditions of life that our Father in heaven lives, then we will be closer to reality. Secondly, reality is anything created and lived with light and truth and/or manifested from light and truth or that can be comprehended from the point of view of light and truth (which, oddly enough, includes that lies and illusions can be seen for what they are).

create/ creation/ creator -- this is what we are. We are creators. We are children of God; we are creators. We are the offspring of God; we are creators. Our Father, God, is the Creator; we are creators. It is impossible to not create; you are always creating. Before we entered this world, our spirit was a creator, and an advanced one, at that. But not a complete one. We are progressing, advancing, learning, being tested -- and creating. We came from creation; we are in creation; we create and will create; and the result of anything we are, have and do is creation. What do we create? Ultimately, only one thing. We create Life. A Creator creates Life. By the way, a creator is also a destroyer; that is an aspect. But I can't give a whole class about creation here, just a definition or a few ideas. We often speak of the Adversary's power to destroy, but this is actually not accurate. The Adversary has no power over the elements at all except as ceded to him by one who does have power over the elements (you or I). However, Life is created from light (among other things), and the Adversary corrupts, darkens, hides, illuses, makes miserable, and tries to end or deaden (and so forth) light and life, and these things are also spoken of as destruction, and, yes, they are. But in the end, the Adversary will be frustrated because the plan of Life, the creation of Life is endless and ultimately un-frustratable. There are aspects of godliness and life that are spoken of as dark, death and destroying, especially cyclical, but I really think we should have different language for these things that from the activities the Adversary does. The Adversary cannot generate Life. We are actually Creator interns right now here in mortality and cannot generate Life on our own either, without partnership with our Father and our Savior, the Creators.

choice/choose/choosing, etc.

thought

emotion -- I have a very limited definition of an emotion. An emotion is a physical molecule(s) in the body, that moves through the body (hormones and other chemicals, including information from food). The definition might be expanded a bit and speak of the interaction of these chemicals with our cells. As well, electrical impulses from nerves (which work with chemical information as well -- nerves are cells and cells structures) may be included in this definition. But my main point is that emotions are tangible, physical, manipulatable, are not necessarily or even often an indicator of external reality, and need to be cared for carefully which means a physical care. In other words, if an emotion is a molecule, then we have to have resources for molecules to form and operate properly. You can see the implications of that (hint: what you ingest into your body). In other words as well, our external experiences may or may not have anything to do with what is happening emotionally inside our body. We often think of things happening externally (we got a great new job) as causing internal emotions (we feel celebratory). This is actually not the case. The external circumstance and the internal emotion are not connected EXCEPT through structures of belief. In simplest terms, you must have a belief that allows you to generate a celebratory set of chemicals travelling through the body to give information to the cells at the stimulous of getting a new job. Most of us have these types of beliefs from just having lived in the world since we were infants, and so it seems automatic, which is how it should be and is supposed to work. However, sometimes we are missing beliefs or have defective chemicals (emotions). And we can always enlighten our paradigms and beliefs in order to train and engender (and enjoy) emotions consciously instead of unconsciously.

feeling

God -- I actually do not like the word "God". I think that it has been rendered meaningless. It divides and blocks understanding. On the other hand -- what other word are we going to use? So I am required to use it as a handy thing so that I can begin understanding between myself and another individual. I believe one ancient etymology of the word "God" talks about power and might. God has power and might, but he is much more than that as well. So, again, I am struck by how useless the word is. Again, on the other hand, I know that to say "God" is very sacred to many, and indeed, by tradition, to myself. So this is my understanding of God: I am the same species of being as my Father. He birthed me, created me, loved me, taught me, prepared me, called me, endowed me, and then he sent me here to this avatar and this planet and this world system. I work for him here and my work, which is his work, is to find and rescue the souls of his (other) children, and to create peace and joy. My Father has reached the full potential of being. I have not. And the process I am participating in this mortal life is part of my journey to also reaching that full potential of being. My Father, through his Son, Jesus Christ, my Savior, prepared the way for me. It's all there. I access the power of the Atonement of the Sacrificed Lamb, and thus my potential, by climbing Jacob's ladder (which I shall leave undefined and frustrate most of you). My Father knows me. We speak together; he hears me and I hear him. He preserves me. He upholds me. He gives me chastisement and deliverance. He protects me. He guides me. He gives me gifts. He expects things of me. He wants me to stay near him. He wants me to turn to him in my joy and in my despair. He has raised me from the dead. He has stopped the issue of blood. He has cleansed me of leprosy. He has caused me to walk. He has opened my eyes. Notwithstanding that my Father always walks with me in a cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night, notwithstanding, I can hardly wait until he will reveal himself to me when I have finished my work in this world. I will return to my home with him. The really amazing thing about all this is that no matter who I meet in this world and on this planet -- no matter where they are at in their journey -- I am aware that this is their Father as well. I have the opportunity to let them know.

love [the form of love]

time

spirit

church

religion

charity or God's love

unity

prosperity

purity

liberty, freedom

joy

paradigm

universe, multi-metaverse

purpose of life, God's plan (and how we get it explained to us)

purpose, mission, talents, gifts, more

sons and daughters of God

man

woman

heaven

hell, captivity

atonement, redemption

observation

chaos

truth

light

temple/altar

[I will add words and definitions as needed or desired; ask me if you think you need a definition I haven't done yet]

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