What is real in your life? Are the walls that surround you real? Is the city you live in real? How about the car you drive, the meals you eat, the career you adhere to, and the people you interact with on a daily basis? Are these the things you come to trust and rely on as the entirety of your reality?
Do you hold fast that there is a distinction between fiction and non-fiction? Perhaps the pyramids are real because we can see them, but were they not imagined first before they were put forth? What purpose do they hold in our current reality? If we trusted in the meaning and purpose that put them forth, we would still be raising them up to serve our cause. Yet, we do not, for we no longer subscribe to such meaning and act with such purpose. In essence, the pyramids, wonders of the world, are fiction, yet we look to preserve their structure to maintain the premise that they indeed are proof that they are in fact a part of reality even though they are merely the realization of a figment of the imagination of others who no longer exist.
Imagine if we swept away all of this, all of the things that have been given shape inside of our reality, and returned the materials that were taken from the Earth to form them back to their original state. With no buildings and inventions to service our needs, would this be a more fitting reality to capture our original state of being? Would this quickly remind us of the true predicament we find ourselves in?
That we have evolved over the years as life forms to become the humans we are today, would we not need to return to a more primitive state, perhaps an organism deep inside the ocean surviving only on instinct to truly represent the form we held inside the reality we pushed into? If our ancestral primordial life forms had never been drawn towards the light from the sun above, we would have never become what we are today. Was it curiosity that drew them upwards, the lure of a more prosperous reality in which to exist and survive in, one that would allow them to become something more than what they were? That we evolved from something so much lesser than ourselves, we, in essence, imagined ourselves to become more and more over time until it was realized.
It is imagination, or meaning, which forms our reality, or purpose. We could quibble about the significance of this understanding, for what is in the now is more reliable to us than what awaits us in the unknowable future or what impressions from the past enabled such a moment to exist. We may feel that spending our waking hours enraptured in the musings of our imagination is a wasteful use of our time when we could instead seize upon what is available to us in the immediacy of now as a substitute for a higher meaning and purpose before it is no longer available to us, or more so, we are no longer available to it. However, it is important for us to accept that without imagination, there is no reality, and that reality itself is fleeting, ever changed by the action of purpose, both by our hands and the unseen force that compels the universe to expand. To this, we cannot perceive what meaning the universe holds that causes it to act in such purpose, but we can use our imagination to determine its cause and further our understanding of it. The same, too, should be realized of our self.
Let us return to the walls that surround us to prove once again that imagination formed the reality we accept as truth in the now. Someone at some point designed those walls on a piece of paper using their imagination. The design was then vetted through the approval process by others that could confirm it sound. It was then handed to a team of builders that would take the design, gather the required materials that would shape it, and put it forth into reality. In short, those walls that surround you did not come predetermined and set upon the planet on which you were brought forth into being. It is imagination that made them a reality.
Let us next allow that imagination is limitless, enabling countless possibilities and outcomes (even if such is not necessarily true). Allowing such means that all that we can envision can be made true, even our wildest fantasies. Is it possible that dragons could exist? Absolutely, and we could make such a reality if we so desired. You may balk at this example, yet, did we not dig up dinosaur bones? I mean, think about it – dinosaur bones! Is it possible that we could one day use magic? Absolutely, and we could make such a reality. Could you imagine the look on the faces of our ancestors if we traveled back in time with knowledge and set up a communication network which allowed them to text to a neighboring village that an invading force was heading their way? After successfully defending the invasion, they would bring us before some false authority figure of that time and declare that we were a user of magic. Of course, unfortunately, we would then be sentenced a burning for use of witchcraft without doubt or hesitation, no matter how many times we explained the reality behind the end result, for they would not accept that one could imagine such a miraculous device without the aid of a higher, and quite sinister, authority figure.
With imagination, the possibility of our reality is limitless. More important than this is the why that would drive the imagination that would shape our reality. Accepting this, we can see the significance of the system of meaning and purpose we adhere to as individuals and as a collective, for it is the systems we adhere to that enable us to become and belong inside our shared reality.
You are the result of conception, the offspring of two individuals who came together in intimacy, nurtured for years until your body developed an ability to move about with agency. However, from there, you were not simply released into the wild to your own devices, but kept by guardians until you reached an age were your cognition could be trusted to govern your well being and respect that of others within what we call society. You were also held past the arrival of your puberty, the moment nature determined that you had reached the point that you could reproduce, but because the systems that govern our society have grown in complexity, you were delayed further in guardianship until you reached the predetermined age determined by our system of justice to be considered a functional authority figure.
Your cognition was fed over those many years in captivity through study of prepared knowing and observation of the actions of those around you. You acquired knowledge in both structured and unstructured environments, tested often to ensure you were progressing in the understanding. You slowly came to understand the systems of authority that you were placed in, how to navigate each, and at times, bend them to your will so they would reward you.
During the years developing your cognition, you were afforded the time to explore your imagination. You could set off on any endeavor or invention as long as it was done within the boundaries of the perimeters of your guardianship. You re-imagined one of your favorite television shows, movies, or books, likely placing yourself in one of the heroic roles. You drew pictures shamelessly, without regard of your artistic abilities, sang songs off key with reckless abandonment, and read to your hearts content. You imagined you were whatever you wanted to be on any given day, both inside and outside the realm of known possibility, and you had all the time in the world to settle on what you would actually become. You did whatever you so desired unless you were told such things were not allowed or endangered you or those around you, such as lighting things on fire or using machinery that could harm yourself or others.
Over those years, it is likely you came to trust the design of the system around you. Your authority figures were much larger than you, seemingly filled with unlimited knowledge, and constantly reassuring you that all would turn out perfectly and everything was in its right place. Your place in this perfect design was matter of fact and straight forward: simply do without question because it is what you were designed to do.
As you grew older and your cognition expanded, you started to see behind the facade of the society you lived in, slowly realizing that everything wasn't at all as orderly as it was promoted to be, and that the authority figures you had to adhere to were not nearly as meaningful and purposeful as they let on. It was in your disillusionment that you looked for independence from the confines of the authority that governed you. You sought out others that felt the way you did, openly voicing their disenchantment, calling for those to rise up and burn down the facade to free us all from the lie that enslaved the world. And after you tore off the mask of identity that had been crafted for you and smashed it into tiny pieces, lost and confused in a frightening world filled with opposition that you would soon have to make your way in, you made a vow that you would never become the lie again, and your mission was that your true self would be realized and adored.
Free from confinement, you set off on your adventure to find your true identity only to be faced with an inescapable reality that would force you to hide behind the mask of identity once again. You had no choice but to become the authority figure you were forever destine to become, for the career you were forced to take to survive came to expect it of you inside the same system that constructed the facade and established the rules of survival. The more boxes you checked off of the list of requirements of becoming a proper authority figure, the less you relied upon your imagination to define you. You simply carry onward, asking the higher authority for meaning and acting in its purpose.
Take a moment now to reflect on your level of cynicism in the now. Does it follow that your level of cynicism matches the reality you exist in, one build upon a facade constructed and maintained by systems filled with false authority figures? Do you believe that by seeing through the deception somehow separates you from it, dissociating with the systems and the people that operate in it absolves you of its function? How so, if you too play a part in shaping this reality?
Are you really what you think you are, or merely what you imagine yourself to be? How different is the impression you store away in your mind from what you present to others to accept? How matching do you believe their impression of you to be in comparison to your own?
What if I told you that you are a lie? Could you accept such a truth, or would you vigorously deny it? Whether you accept or reject the notion, ask yourself why and hold on to the reasons you feel this way.
A truth about each and every one of us is that we are a fabrication. Another truth about each and every one of us is that we are a repetition. What made us possible was put in place before we could become. What is possible for us to become is based only on what we are allowed to be. Yet in our minds, we imagine daily that we should become much more than this.
In the madness of our uncertainty, we relent, accepting things as they are, put on the mask of identity that should satisfy the systems of corruption around us, and carry on. But submission does not satisfy our desire to know the truth of what we are behind the mask, stripped of our identity, naked and exposed. For us to even begin to search for understanding, we must first build a case against our identity so that we may come to better understand why we are in the now.
When we are born, we are given a name that is to be used to refer to us by others. We have no ability to repeat or understand our given name until we grow to become more aware and are able to retain knowing. We come to understand this name as being our own simply because it is how we are referred to by our guardians. The names we are given hold meaning, most dating back to the days of our ancestors, derivatives of things in language that hold a broader significance than we do. Some examples of such names include Alicia (nobility) and Ava (breath of life). It is likely that you in no way represent your given name, it is merely put upon you during the first step in the process of identity.
I will share an anecdote to highlight the insignificance of our given name to the determining of who we are. I misheard a co-worker once when they asked for my name. Confused by the request for the city I lived in from this stranger, I offered it tentatively since that is what I thought I had been asked for. The following evening, I realized my previous error when my co-worker greeted me by the name of the city I lived in: Croydon. However, rather than correct the error, for fear of embarrassment caused, I acknowledged the greeting as proper and customary. This went on for many weeks until one day my co-worker challenged me as to why I did not correct him and give him my proper name. Truth be told, I had grown fond of my new name – it was a perfectly good name to have.
During the first step of identity, we also inherit a surname. Most surnames were given to individuals as a basis for what occupation or trade they were a part of, many derived from other names as our ancestors looked to remove their association with lower or common class members (many of our ancestors removed 'maker' from their surname for this reason). Our surname, shared with the other members of our household when we live in a family structure, is useful in further identifying us as an individual so others may determine which lineage we came from. For most, it serves little purpose in life unless we are filling out a form that demands our full identity be given.
The second step in the process of identity lies in the determination of what we have come to know or understand as an individual. We grow up in systems of education that test us at every step in our ability to retain and understand knowledge that has been gathered and determined as truth by those that came before us. The recognition and acknowledgment of our identity by others becomes tightly bound to what we know, so much that the names of those before us that are superior in the art of knowing are shouted from the mountaintops as idols of knowledge, even long after they are dead and buried. Depending our our own ability and success at becoming recognized for such, our identity can carry more or less weight in the eyes others in our shared reality. Not every Albert is an Einstein.
The third step in the process of identity is the determination in our ability to impress ourselves upon others. Perhaps we look attractive to others to mate with? Perhaps we can play a sports game better than all others and lead our collective team to the celebration of victory? Perhaps we sing with the voice of an angel, drawing others in to listen to us every time we open our mouths upon the stage that is erected for such idols? Perhaps it is as simple as making those around us laugh more often than not? It is quite possible we contain more than one talent and pleasing physical attribute that draws everyone to recognize and acknowledge us before others. It is also possible that others look right past us in the reflection as if we are not even there for we hold no such abilities to set such a glorious impression.
The final step in the process of identity is our declaration to others of what we are. Our roles and careers in our systems of society are what come last to define our identity. We become how we act in purpose because it is what is important for others to come to expect us to be. What we declare ourselves to be drives our purpose in life and secures our place and value in reality. Perhaps you're a father and an accountant. Perhaps you're a two-timing award winning actress. The more successful and recognized we become at what we declare ourselves to be, the more our impression is set and secured in reality, perhaps to the point that our name is invoked as an example that all others should aspire to become like.
Despite all of this grand effort and ceremony of identity, we are still completely unknown for who we are. We are challenged at every turn to prove that we are who and what we say we are regardless of how much we have done to secure ourselves in the process of identity. We may be tested on the spot and judged by others to determine if we hold the ability we say we hold. We are asked to refer to others so they may vouch for our abilities and nature. And after all is said and done, we are still not completely trusted, always under the watchful eye of others to make sure we continue to be who and what we say we are.
How can this be? Is it because deep down we all know that our identities are entirely manufactured? We come into existence with no identity to speak of, are granted a name, pumped full of knowing, and set out in purpose to set an impression as someone notable. In the end, however, we are little more than a charade masquerading about in the costumes we wear with the knowledge we borrowed pretending to be an authority of standing and demanding to be valued and respected.
Let us take a second to reflect on our discussion and return to our question of authority. Humility asks the question, “Who is like Perfection?” The truth that lies behind our identity, rather than the lie we have come to recognize as our self, is simply, “I am that I am.” Why we are that we are is much more essential to hold on to than our identity, for it provides us the ability to act in the purpose of honesty without the effort of maintaining of our image and fear that envy should turn it against us in the eyes of the beholders. For when we become obsessed with name and purpose recognition, we are immediately stripped of our authority and become beholden to those that judge whether or not we are worthy of their kindness, praise, and acceptance, and thus, become enslaved by vanity.
Observation and judgment of all things is a critical part of what we are for it is how we maintain authority and survive in our reality. We not only wear a mask to protect our identity, but also to avoid the opposition of others. It is a constant process, never settled, even among those that come to trust and adore us. For beneath the surface of our manufactured reality, there is something else that is governing the judgment of identity, probing for the truth of each and every one of us: Are we agents for good or servants of evil?
We wear masks to to maintain the appearance of our identity and authority. We project an image of perfection to the best of our abilities, mindful that other people are watching, judging our outward appearance and behavior, ready to challenge the impression we look to set. We learn to cover our deception, saying the things that others find favorable in circles that we wish to be included within whether or not they are true to the meaning we form and look to act in. We fall prey to pleasing at every turn, quick to compromise ourselves when faced with opposition, weighing the words and acts we put forth to ensure they will persist a state of acceptance and favorability. We become hypocrites, knowing what we may say in one circle will contradict that of which we say in another. We are quick to conceal the acts that others should scorn us for, for we know it will reveal the lie we continue to be, undermining and exposing our identity as the fraud it always has been. As well, we are quick to reject those who we share in kindness with if somehow our association with them will be challenged by those that consider them less desirable than the circle we wish inclusion in would allow.
It is vanity that provides us the cover of false pretense that allows us to be elevated and celebrated as much more than we truly are. One could be a genius creating inventions that better the lives of millions throughout the world, but in their private life an insufferable and abusive bastard to their spouse. One could be a superb parent, but in a moment of wrath, strike their child, or worse. One could rescue a truck filled of kittens seconds before it explodes into a fireball, have their heroic act captured on film, and receive glowing praise from everyone for a day or so, but when the attention dies down, they kick their dog in frustration that the impression they set was not lasting enough to continue the adulation of their good deed. We do our best to make sure that things do not come to light, for if they did, it would do irrevocable damage to our manufactured identity, revealing the truth of what lay behind the mask – we are capable of acting in evil.
Ask yourself how you would view such a person once you knew what they were capable of? Would they be deserving of forgiveness? Even if so, would you trust them around yourself or your children? Would their identity be forever tied to their transgressions regardless of all that came to identify them before the wicked acts were revealed?
Once the lie about each and every one of us is revealed, we are forever exposed, often banished from the circle we were once accepted in. In cases of unforgivable acts, we are imprisoned, kept away from others so that we should never be afforded the opportunity to repeat again. As pitiful as this may seem, it is righteous.
Is justice served in the punishment of those that have committed evil acts, or is justice denied by a system that allowed the wicked acts to occur? It seems common sense to say that an an individual may avoid committing acts of evil, especially those that involve overt violence towards others. Yet it is those among us that are injured by the acts of evil that are punished just the same, often with more severity than the perpetrator. Is it acceptable for us to relent to evil for we have not perfected a way to determine what lies behind the mask of another until they reveal their cause through acts of evil? And, more so, are we culpable for the evil acts of others if we persist a system that provides them cover so their devious minds can deliver their ill intent?
Individually, it seems illogical for us to bear the burden of preventing the evil acts that others commit. However, we are responsible for the authority we wield and actions we put forth inside of existence. We each invent an identity and masquerade around as something we are not, posing as something much more significant than the empty vessel we are, drawing from the impressions set inside reality. What enables our identity is the knowing that has been gathered and all that it has put forth before us, prepared for our consumption and utilization, making us much more than that which has ever tread before us. It us up to our determination whether we use all that is available to us to act in goodness or for the sake of evil. Therefore, in our judgment of others, we know what it takes to act in goodness or for the sake of evil, quite aware of where the line is that divides the two.
Collectively, we are a set of societies that are aware of the concepts of virtue and sin. Throughout history these concepts have promoted to some degree, and laws were created to govern which sinful acts were punishable and to what severity. Unless we are caught in the act of evildoing that is punishable, leaving behind evidence that can help prove we had committed the trespass, the assumption of innocence is granted to each and every one of us, and we are allowed to move about freely in pursuit of meaning and purpose to fulfill our lives. Yet we find ourselves remaining vigilant in our observations of others to determine which among the presumed innocent we encounter are capable of committing wrongful acts that threaten us or those around us, for we know such the assumption of innocence is folly since bad things continue to happen to us or those around us. It is also a system that serves vanity perfectly, for one need only do the things that are expected of goodness in the open, and conceal their wicked thoughts and actions.
It is the cover of vanity that creates the illusion that our society is true and just, our authority figures are great and wise, and our heroes and legends are infallible and above reproach. It is a veil that covers our lack of perfection and the meaning and purpose we truly shape and act towards. We need only overly promote the goodness in our nature and sweep the evil deeds under the carpet so our facade maintains its spotless appearance.
What if we instead assumed everyone was guilty of sin from the onset of our lives until their end? We may first defend against such an assumption, pointing to our children as evidence of innocence. If that were true, than it would mean that those with knowing and those with authority are what corrupt our children, stealing their innocence from them, forcing them to put on a mask and pretend to be something they are not. If so, then this would mean it is our ways, our societies, that act in service of evil and against goodness.
The Slippery Slope of Morality
Morality is not virtue. Morality is the judgment of sin. It is with morality that we rig the scales of justice to create the appearance that our societies lean in favor of virtue.
Let us take the commandment, “Thou shalt not kill!” It is a commandment that asks others to turn away from the most reprehensible act in the cause of vanity. Such a commandment seems reasonable, one that would serve goodness well. It is, however, quite absolute, and that is where things become difficult with adherence to the command.
There are laws throughout the world that are enforced which punish those that would murder another or bring about their death due to their own negligence. However, these same systems of governance and enforcement break this commandment and condone the act all the same for the sake of their own vanity and prosperity. For example, if someone is killed by a foreign nation, retaliation of force is almost always the response, and those who enact the retribution given free reign to kill others as long as they are on the opposite side. Suddenly, the absolute virtues of kindness and patience are compromised by the push back from envy and wrath, and the absolute of the commandment becomes replaced by the compromise of morality.
It is morality that adjusts the scales of justice so they will appear balanced even if the acts placed upon them should tilt in favor of evil. It is morality that places an asterisk by each law to list every exception to its rule. The authority figures that govern our nation may ask us to go fight in a conflict, give us the right to kill other men (women and children) without the same consequence that a calculated murderer in our midst should face. We may decide that such a murder should face the same fate they afforded others and kill them for their evil acts. That this may seem sensible, for who would want to face down those that wish to do us great harm and turn the other cheek while not knowing whether there is truly an afterlife awaiting to receive us as we are in the now? Still, with honesty, any act of evil, regardless of the allowance of morality, is as self-serving and for the cause of evil as those which we punish those who would commit them.
That virtue is absolute, the substitute of morality served us well during times of war and in the pursuit of vanity. Our ancestors came to rely on morality to serve and govern the cause of good while becoming increasingly lenient to the acts of sin in pursuit of goals that benefited them. We rely on morality to favor our pursuits of possession, desire, and domination, adjusting the scales more and more while raising our voices louder and louder in our righteousness that we are the model of goodness that all should adhere to.
Morality helped to spring the advent of mass religion, organizations that were designed to teach individuals how to turn away from the lure of sin and stay with virtue. These organizations were corrupted by morality from the onset, removing the teaching of the virtues from their practice in favor of the words of mankind, ever placating the ruling class of the day who only wanted to hear that they remained in God's favor regardless of their treachery. They act against the furthering of knowledge for fear it would reveal evidence that would expose the lies they persist, lessening the favor it grants them as the only true authority of righteousness. Many religions have come and gone as societies and regimes have risen and fallen, as fallible as the malleable righteousness they promote and hope to persist for their own personal gain. Meanwhile, the absolute concepts that are virtue and sin remain everlasting.
Morality gives us a wide birth in the present day where we can partake in the acts of sin. Even though they are still frowned upon, they are often tolerated. Sometimes our acts of vanity are even promoted as righteous in the judgment of others, and we become celebrated for our cruel deeds. Just take a moment to do a search on 'the virtues of capitalism' to see how morality has swayed the scales of justice to make it appear that the acts of greed are for the betterment of mankind if only we overlook the suffering that the lack of charity causes the many. Morality has permeated every system we have created to maintain our societies to the point that an act of virtue within seems unexpected and selflessly unnecessary.
However, it is morality that has also come to strip away our ability to hold true authority. We have become beholden to vanity and the authority figures that rise to power in its oppressive structure. For us to be allowed to pursue our chosen purpose, we must appeal to the authority figures that be who can ultimately allow or deny us. And if our identity is lesser, common, it is these authority figures that will determine our purpose regardless of whether or not we believe in its cause. It is these false authority figures that determine when we shall act in their purpose and for how long. It is these false authority figures that shall determine our worth. It is these false authority figures that ignore our pleas to adjust the scales of morality towards virtue, to aid the poor and sick and abused among us. And it is also morality that corrupts these authority figures in the first place to persist systems that serve vanity.
It is morality that makes it justifiable for one nation to invade another and in the process murder, rape, and pillage others with impunity perhaps for the sheer reason that they may have started it somehow or they are keeping something from us that will prevent our betterment or implicitly threatens our security. It is morality that allowed the enslavement of entire populations, defying virtue for sin, by casting the falsehood of envy and promoting the lie of inferiority as truth. It is morality that is the compromise for our desire for goodness that pride has placed, convincing us that a life of virtue is impossible and one of sin is inevitable and more rewarding.
We have discussed that we are an empty vessel, the result of conception, drawing from the knowing that has been gathered and prepared for our consumption to become something of value. We have been given an identity, our cognition nurtured and matured, before being cast out into the world to assume our authority in the predetermined systems of our societies. And, if all goes well for us, we will arrive at the point where we hold the same predetermined conclusion: Life is meaningless. Such a conclusion is truth in the determination of pride.
Humility asks the question, “Who is like Perfection?” If we stay with honesty, the answer is, “I am that I am.” If we are covered by vanity, our answer is, “I am that I am not.” Woeful are we.
There is an idiom that warns: be careful what you wish for, lest it come true. The same can be said with being mindful of who you expect to become, for others will come to expect it of you. We are not valued for our existence. For us to feel accepted and valued as human beings, we must become worthy. That our systems are based in vanity, it is expected of us to somehow to shape our identities to compete and succeed at something that is useful for or desirable of others if we are to expect to be rewarded in kind. We come to accept this as the way things are, but they are only the way things are because they were the way of things before we arrived. Still, to survive, we do what we must and entertain everyone's fancy to the best of our abilities.
Many of you who are older may remember the younger days of looking forward to that day in the future when our success would be achieved and its fulfillment would finally chase away all of those worthless feelings we struggled with over the years. That somehow this achievement of success would prove that we proved our worth, validation that all of those naysayers who held lower regard for us were wrong (oh, won't they be jealous), and we will finally be accepted, embraced, and loved by everyone around us as we always hoped (and, pfft, knew!) we would. And such a truth seems real, for some that have achieved a higher level of success wear their masks of vanity well, seemingly basking in the glow of achievement in every moment of every second of every day, openly boasting about the feelings as if success has wrapped them up in a giant swaddle of love and affirmation. I will save the younger readers the letdown: The truth successful people will not reveal, for vanity would never allow it (gotta seem grateful!), is that the feeling that actually awaits us in success is emptiness – success is as anti-climatic a feeling as you can imagine because you cannot escape the truth that your worth is conditional, nor the shame that your maintaining of a false impression of superiority makes those around you lesser by design, and the flattery that follows from everyone will enter your mind with the insincerity of a thousand lies.
It is pride which is the sin that opposes humility directly. Humility asks us all to answer the call of Perfection. Pride claims to have become Perfection, and that all should answer his, or in this case, our call. Humility puts the cause of Perfection above us for all to share in and aspire to become. Pride expects the cause of Perfection to serve us above all others. Humility calls for us to look towards the light to reveal truth, shape it in meaning, and act in its purpose. Pride expects the light to shine upon us for we are truth, draw meaning in praising our greatness, and act under our command in service to us before all others.
The diabolical nature of the sin of pride is how it enrolls us in the concept that we are the authority while enslaving us in the process of vanity. It holds the false promise that if somehow we prove our superiority above all others, we will no longer be opposed, but adored, our manufactured identity fully realized, forever set in the reflection of reality, preserved for all of eternity well after our frail form ceases to contain us. Pride is the sin that caused Lucifel, the Light of Perfection, to fall into darkness with the same belief that it could become this, the one all worship and served before God. And if even something as divine as Lucifel, a part of Perfection itself, could succumb to the temptation of the sin of pride, it is unsurprising how with a little knowledge us temporary organisms would dream to aspire to the same greatness.
It is not evil to imagine ourselves attaining a state of perfection, it is instead the process we choose to accomplish such a goal that determines our cause: honesty or vanity. The story of Lucifel is fascinating in that one as divine as it operating in the process of honesty should be tempted to leave such in pursuit of perfection and come to rely on vanity instead. Who are we as such seemingly insignificant authority figures to deny what the light of such an enlightened and eternal being has revealed in our reflection? Yet to allow pride is to accept that in such a system, we also stand little hope in becoming more than what the closest superior being to us in the system of vanity should allow. We must come to accept we shall forever be the servants of one such as Lucifer as long as their authority is allowed to govern the process of vanity. We must realize we should never become as Perfection, for we shall always be lesser than those above us in the hierarchy of greatness. We shall never be limitless – we shall forever be limited.
Imagine for a second your body exploding into countless parts spread across the universe, and you relied on them to recover your original state so you may again be realized. Imagine each maintaining the same sequencing that ordered your being, but lacking the awareness of knowing that you gathered. Imagine these independent agents reproducing themselves again and again in an attempt to outlast their own limited span of existence. Imagine the process separating yourself further from your original identity, each iteration lessening your significance further, the repetitive reawakening and relearning of knowing, the desperate race of determination what it was exactly you once were and hoped to become before you once again your existence expired.
Now imagine the same explosion, yet each agent maintaining the foundation of the concepts of knowing. Imagine them operating in unison with one another in love and kindness, no longer fearing their individual expiration for they know they are one and the same, diligently working towards the creation of a paradise that was lost, the pursuit of the attainment of perfection. Imagine these parts are no longer offended by the loss of their original self, no longer in competition with each other, no longer searching and struggling for an identity, trusting that their meaning and purpose, their reason for existing, shall deliver them anew. Imagine them sharing in everything with one another in a perfect state of harmony.
In our first imagined scenario, we may determine that such could be rectified if only our authority had remained to govern its parts, maintaining order among them, keeping them focused on the ultimate goal that served their best interest. Yet, how unnecessary of a a purpose to hold if each part is quite capable of governing itself, only it refuses to act accordingly. The second scenario held a positive outcome without the need for a superior authority to step in and manage them, for each agent maintained its own authority. It is easy to realize which scenario we exist in, for we too rely on systems of higher authority to govern over us and maintain order, so desperate at times that we have even imagined superior beings of great significance to inspire others to act accordingly to reap the divine rewards or suffer the eternal consequences. It is also easy to realize which scenario you had a better chance of recovery with, for the first scenario, quite alive and working towards its own favor, would surely not care about your cause before its own.
Another issue with hierarchical systems of authority and governance is that rebellion is inevitable. Systems of vanity are never sustainable for each of us are agents of authority, quite aware, regardless of knowing, when beauty, justice, and glory is lacking because we witness the disharmony in the reflection and become opposed to our participation in its cause for evil. It is only a matter of how strong our threshold of tolerance is for being opposed before such comes to pass as history has proven.
What we fail to realize during each and every iteration of rebellion is that the allure of vanity is what draws us to insurrection, not championing the cause of goodness. We continue to replace old systems of vanity with new ones that afford the same opportunities of false authority to the few while subjugating the many. The greatest irony of vanity is that we have come to trust the lie itself and reject the notion that honesty is salvation.
Such brings us back to identity and the question humility asks: Who is like Perfection? With this, let us explore how pride enslaves us in vanity. If my answer is, “I am that I am,” then I am with honesty, for I am the authority, and I am all things. You may challenge that this is the concept of arrogance and pride, and that “I am that I am not” is humility, but you would be with envy, for you have pursued a lifetime of vanity.
Let us ask ourselves if we are beautiful. If we are honest with ourselves, we shall answer this honestly. Normally, we would answer this as we have come to believe of ourselves from others. To answer this more properly, we will look up this word and determine if we match the definition that has come to be determined by an authority who keeps track of historical definitions for words and their common, accepted meanings. One definition of beautiful is, “pleasing the senses or mind aesthetically.”Since we do not hold such a perspective as to answer such without use of a mirror, let us just answer it with the false definition of humility as “I am that I am not,” for even if we were stunning, I mean, how could we say we are beautiful, for that would appear vain. So, as keeping with our incorrect understanding of humility, we answer, “I am that I am not.”
It is important to recognize during this process that our authority has been stripped away from us. Notice that we are manipulative in how we answer (dishonest) for fear of how we may appear to others in stating that we are beautiful. We worry that we should become opposed in saying, “I am that I am,” for fear others shall condemn us for being so willfully vain with such a response or challenge our claim all together. As well, notice how the meaning of beauty no longer allows our authority to hold such a question for ourselves to answer. With vanity, truth is forced upon us to draw meaning from, if negative, something that forever hurts us, if positive, something that forever possesses us, with both, our identity established for us to accept or defy.
How this has come to be lies in the meaning of the word beauty itself and how vanity has covered its original intend. Jophiel is the dominion of beauty, overseeing the reflection of existence and inspiring it to set the impression of beauty that the light of Perfection offers upon it. With honesty, to hold the question as Michael should raise it, “Who is like Beauty?” would allows each and every one of us to answer it in kindness, “I am that I am!” Beauty in our society shaped by vanity has come to be what we find desirable and look to possess for ourselves, for if we adorn and surround ourselves with beauty, in service to pride, we will come to be acknowledged and accepted above others. It is envy that replaces the truth of our beauty so we may know our place in the system of servitude of authority based on the acceptance or rejection of others.
Now think how many other questions you look to answer in honesty that you are challenged for, and turn it around in the reflection to realize the lies you are being presented to hold as truth. Try answering some with honesty to feel the empowerment it offers, how it chases away the hurt and pain you have carried around by the cruel tongue of envy, the burden of shame placed in the cause of evil. For me to provide some examples, “I am that I am willing. I am that I am worthy. I am that I am love.”
I hope that at this point in our journey, you begin to see that we are a lie. That we have struggled to live up to an identity that has thrust upon us by false authority figures who fight desperately to rise in standing in a system of vanity in a futile hope to become superior than all others. That you have spent a lifetime holding onto the falsehoods of envy, thrust upon you by the wicked tongues of the prideful, and have drawn your meaning from the darkness of imperfection and acted with it in the cause of evil. That if you hold the question that humility asks, “Who is like Perfection?”, you become as limitless as the possibility it holds in, “I am that I am.” For you have been called forth into this reality as all others to shape it into something glorious, and all that you are helps shapes what is realized.
Affirmations are useful in empowering your authority in keeping with honesty. However, they are not enough to withstand the opposition of vanity and subjugation of pride when forced to exist the systems of vanity that empower false authority figures around us to persist the impression of evil. For us to move forward on repairing our circle and seeing it grow, we need to understand how sin has come to corrupt the systems around us, and how if replaced with systems of virtue, prosperity would flourish and justice would govern the imagined paradise we hope put forth into reality and enjoy.
