This new apprehension of reality generally appears to the Illuminated Self as final and complete. As the true lover is always convinced that he has found in his bride the one Rose of the World, so the mystic, in the first glow of his initiation, is sure that his quest is now fulfilled. … He has yet to pass through that night of senses in which he learns to distinguish the substance of Reality from the accidents under which it is perceived; to discover that the heavenly food here given cannot satisfy the ‘hunger for the absolute.’ His true goal lies far beyond this joyful basking in the sunbeams of the Uncreated Light. Only the greatest souls learn this lesson, and tread the whole of that ‘King’s Highway’ which leads man back to his Source. ‘For the many that come to Bethlehem, there be few that will go on to Calvary.’ The rest stay here, in this Earthly Paradise, these flowery fields; where the liberated self wanders at will, describing to us as well as it can now this corner, now that of the Country of the Soul.

“It is in these descriptions of the joy of illumination—in the outpourings of love and rapture belonging to this state—that we find the most lyrical passages of mystical literature. Here poet, mystic, and musician are on common ground: for it is only by the oblique methods of the artist … that the wonder of the vision can be expressed.” ~Evelyn Underhill

Illuminated Self

I think what Ms. Underhill is saying really applies to those who are only partially illuminated. That, of course, is all of us. No one living in a physical body is fully illuminated, so all of us fall into the category she is discussing.

If you have been studying some form of spirituality for a while, you know that there are many who insist that there school, or their guru, or their beliefs that they picked up from various books, is the only true spiritual teaching and is the ultimate and complete teaching. Therefore, once they have learned what is required, they have nothing else to learn, they are complete. They only need to continue to practice whatever it is that they have learned to date. Unfortunately, no matter what school or teaching you follow, that simply isn’t true. As Underhill note, your “bride” is not the only rose in the world, though you might think she is. She is, of course, using this as an allegory for our relationship with spiritual development and enlightenment.

Read the entire article online at spiritsun.net.

Original article posted by HAROLD BOULETTE on MAY 16, 2020

“Wisdom shall praise herself, and shall glory in the midst of her people. In the congregation of the most High shall she open her mouth, and triumph before his power. I came out of the mouth of the most High, and covered the earth as a cloud. I dwelt in high places, and my throne is in a cloudy pillar. I alone compassed the circuit of heaven, and walked in the bottom of the deep. In the waves of the sea and in all the earth, and in every people and nation, I got a possession. … Likewise in the beloved city he gave me rest, and in Jerusalem was my power. And I took root in an honorable people, even in the portion of the Lord’s inheritance. I was exalted like a cedar in Libanus, and as a cypress tree upon the mountains of Hermon. I was exalted like a palm tree in En-gaddi, and as a rose plant in Jericho. … I gave a sweet smell like cinnamon and aspalathus, and I yielded a pleasant odor like the best myrrh, … and as the fumes of frankincense in the tabernacle. As the turpentine tree I stretched out my branches, and my branches are the branches of honor and grace. … I am the mother of fair love, and fear, and knowledge, and holy hope: I therefore, being eternal, am given to all my children which are named of him. Come unto me, all ye that be desirous of me, and fill yourselves with my fruits. For my memorial is sweeter than honey, and mine inheritance than the honeycomb. They that eat me shall yet be hungry, and they that drink me shall yet be thirsty.” ~Ecclesiasticus

Praise Wisdom

I’m not sure Ecclesiasticus is correct in saying that Wisdom “shall praise herself,” but we certainly have good reason to praise Wisdom. Unfortunately, few of us do, probably because we confuse Wisdom and intelligence. The Gnostics and Mystics know that they are not the same. Wisdom is also not using intelligence to make good decisions and sound judgment, as it is commonly defined. Wisdom, as the Gnostics and Mystics know it, is a Divine Knowledge that is made up only of absolute and universal truth. There is no room in wisdom for opinions. It is also not limited to the material world. Spiritual knowledge combined with material intellect produces real Wisdom as nothing else can. Those who have this Wisdom make good choices always, not just occasionally. So yes, we should praise Wisdom.

Read the entire article online at spiritsun.net.

Original article posted by HAROLD BOULETTE on MAY 22, 2020

“Honor a physician with the honor due unto him for the uses which ye may have of him: for the Lord hath created him. For of the most High cometh healing, and he shall receive honour of the king. The skill of the physician shall lift up his head: and in the sight of great men he shall be in admiration. The Lord hath created medicines out of the earth; and he that is wise will not abhor them. Was not the water made sweet with wood, that the virtue thereof might be known? And he hath given men skill, that he might be honored in his marvelous works. With such doth he heal men, and taketh away their pains. Of such doth the apothecary make a confection; and of his works there is no end; and from him is peace over all the earth, My son, in thy sickness be not negligent: but pray unto the Lord, and he will make thee whole. Leave off from sin, and order thine hands aright, and cleanse thy heart from all wickedness. Give a sweet savour, and a memorial of fine flour; and make a fat offering, as not being. Then give place to the physician, for the Lord hath created him: let him not go from thee, for thou hast need of him. There is a time when in their hands there is good success. For they shall also pray unto the Lord, that he would prosper that, which they give for ease and remedy to prolong life. He that sinneth before his Maker, let him fall into the hand of the physician.” ~Ecclesiasticus

Honor The Physician

This idea may not sound too appealing these days. It was written in a time when a physician was a healer, not a vendor of drugs and surgical procedures. These ancient physicians were only interested in keeping their patients as healthy as possible, rather than keeping them chronically sick and addicted to prescription drugs. As we are currently dealing with a pandemic, and not doing a very good job of it, I thought this would be a good subject to blog about.

Read the entire article online at spiritsun.net.

Original article posted by HAROLD BOULETTE on MAY 27, 2020

Paul V Young’s latest Blog is now available at www.SouthernSunlight.com.

Spheres are central to your very existence and, in case this has not occurred to you before, we can look at some examples of their significance.

From the stars, moon and planets of the macrocosm down to atoms, photons and cells, the predominant shape that occurs in the natural universe is the sphere.

Leonardo Da Vinci is accepted as having been ahead of his time with his inventions and widely regarded as having possessed special insights into ancient truths.

Since he was a scientist as well as architect and master of painting technique, how did he fail to depict the refraction of the glass sphere in the Salvator Mundi?

What Did Leonardo Know?

PLEASE VIEW THE LATEST BLOG HERE

“ Wisdom lifts up the head of him that is of low degree, and maketh him to sit among great men. Commend not a man for his beauty; neither abhor a man for his outward appearance. The bee is little among such as fly; but her fruit is the chief of sweet things. Boast not of thy clothing and raiment, and exalt not thyself in the day of honor: for the works of the Lord are wonderful, and his works among men are hidden.

“Many kings have sat down upon the ground; and one that was never thought of hath worn the crown. Many mighty men have been greatly disgraced; and the honorable delivered into other men’s hands. “Blame not before thou hast examined the truth: understand first, and then rebuke. Answer not before thou hast heard the cause: neither interrupt men in the midst of their talk. Strive not in a matter that concerneth thee not; and sit not in judgment with sinners. My son, meddle not with many matters: for if thou meddle much, thou shalt not be innocent; and if thou follow after, thou shalt not obtain, neither shalt thou escape by fleeing.

“There is one that laboureth, and taketh pains, and maketh haste, and is so much the more behind. Again, there is another that is slow, and hath need of help, wanting ability, and full of poverty; yet the eye of the Lord looked upon him for good, and set him up from his low estate, and lifted up his head from misery; so that many that saw it marveled at him. Prosperity and adversity, life and death, poverty and riches, come of the Lord. Wisdom, knowledge, and understanding of the law, are of the Lord: love, and the way of good works, are from him.” ~Ecclesiasticus

Wisdom Lifts

Wisdom does lift us up when we are feeling down or lost. When things get complicated and we don’t know where to turn, Wisdom knows the answer. First, though, we have to awaken our spirit and soul so that the soul can link to the source of Wisdom and Truth. Until then, we have only Earthy wisdom, which isn’t the best Wisdom, and may, in fact, not be wisdom at all.

Read the entire article online at spiritsun.net.

Original article posted by HAROLD BOULETTE on MARCH 20, 2020

“The Mysteries of Adonis, or Adoni, were celebrated annually in many parts of Egypt, Phoenicia, and Biblos. The name Adonis, or Adoni, means ‘Lord’ and was a designation applied to the sun and later borrowed by the Jews as the exoteric name of their God. Smyrna, mother of Adonis, was turned into a tree by by the gods and after a time the bark burst open and the infant savior came forth. According to one account, he was liberated by a wild boar which split the wood of the maternal tree with its tusks. Adonis was born at midnight of the 24^th of December, and through his unhappy death a Mystery rite was established that wrought the salvation of his people. In the Jewish month of Tammuz (another name for this deity) he was gored to death by a wild boar sent by the god Ars (Mars). The Adoniasmos was the cerimony of lamenting the premature death of the murdered god. …

“Adonis was originally an androgynous deity who represented the solar power which in the winter was destroyed by the evil principle of cold – the boar. After three days (months) in the tomb, Adonis rose triumphant on the 25^th day of March, amidst the acclimation of his priests and followers. …

“In the Mysterie of Adonis trhe neophyte passed through the symbolic death of the god and, ‘raised’ by the priests, entered into the blessed state of redemption.” ~Manly P. Hall

Birth of Adonis

I have known for some time that the Greek god Adonis represented the Spiritual Sun, but this story of his being born from Smyrna after she had been turned into a tree is new to me. It is a strange tale that is undoubtedly symbolic rather than literal. So let’s look at some of the symbols involved in the tale.

Read the entire article online at spiritsun.net.

Original article posted by HAROLD BOULETTE on MARCH 23, 2020

Huginn and Muninn sit on Odin’s shoulders in this illustration from
an 18th-century Icelandic manuscript.

Every night about six o’clock
Birds come back to the pond to talk
They talk to me, birds to talk to me
If I go down on my knees
– Private Universe lyrics (by Neil Finn / Crowded House)

Last week, a flock of birds demanded my attention in a way I could not ignore. Have you ever received messages from birds? It is more common than you might expect and, if your first reaction was to say ‘no,’ it could be more due to a simple failure of recognition.

Commonly, birds bring omens of impending loss or disaster, sometimes several days before the event. There have been times I’ve found a bird perched outside my front door, or even tapping with their beak on the window above my desk, and it is only a few days later when I learn of the passing of a friend that I make the connection. There are several theories as to how and why the phenomenon occurs… but first, allow me to describe my latest incident.

Read the entire blog article by Paul Young posted online June 15, 2020 at SouthernSunlight.com.

“As students, you have to have one thing: You have to have respect and honor for one another. Because when you respect others, you respect yourself. When you love others, you love yourself. Always direct your mind to Gd and say, ‘Lord, teach me to love people as you love them, teach me to know people as you know them, and teach me to act as you act.’

“The basic reason for all things is the spirit. The first result of the spirit in the world, the first result in the world with which life begins, that is love. The result of love is the life on Earth. The life that we have is a result.

“In order to love somebody, you have to be ready to get in his situation and he has to be ready to get in your situation too. A king must get in the situation of his citizens and vice versa.

“Love is not the easiest science. You, when you enter love, will be absolutely free. You will enter one completely new world. … You will look at all of your life, and you will see that in everything is hidden something nice.” ~Biensa Douno

Respect Fellow Students

Some people seem to have the idea that as students, they are in competition with the other students in the class. They act as if they were in a race and there can be only one winner. Not only is that not true with a class of students, but it is the opposite of the truth. Students will actually advance better if they work together rather then competing with each other.

The idea that we should be in competition with each other is understandable. It is an idea promoted by the manipulators who control the masses as much as possible. Competition, much like fear, is a great way to manipulate and control people. But now that we are at the dawn of a New Golden age of Spirit, many are realizing the foolishness of operating in fear and in competition with everyone. Unfortunately, others are embracing fear and competition as if they were great treasures, but that will soon end. In the business world, people working together to accomplish a goal is called synergy, and it is considered a good thing. Yet, at the same time they promote teamwork, the corporations also encourage competition with ideas like promoting only the top ten percent of performers.

Respect does not need to be limited to our fellow students. We should, in fact, respect all people, even those we strongly disagree with. But again, turning the people against each other is how the powers that control the material world keep us under their thumbs.

Read the entire article online at spiritsun.net.

Original article posted by HAROLD BOULETTE on MARCH 16, 2020

Corresponding Consociate Zatiti Ema sent us a link to her vegan recipe videos on YouTube. So we are sharing them with you.

You can find them on her YouTube station (https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC84AC3BRfoQzWvHPuQWVsGQ)

or on her web site (https://www.redblackgreenandvegan.com/).

Watch the interview Zatiti did in 2018 on the “Sisters4Fitness Wellness Show.”

Sisters4Fitness is a 501(c) nonprofit organization dedicated to fighting the obesity epidemic among women, especially African American women, through exercise and nutrition.

Link submitted by Zatiti Ema

“Nothing truly but your own willing, hearing, and seeing do keep you back from God, and hinders you from coming to this Supersensual State or the Life which is above Sense. And it is because you strive so against that, out of which you yourself are descended and derived, that you thus break yourself off, with your own Willing, from God’s Willing, and with your own seeing from God’s Seeing. In as much as as in your own seeing you see in your own Willing only, and with your own understanding you understand but in and according to this thy own Willing, as the same stands divided from the Divine Will. This thy Willing moreover stops thy hearing and makes you deaf towards God, through your own thinking upon terrestrial things, and your attending to that which is without you, and so it brings you into a Ground, where your are laid hold on and captivated in Nature. And having brought you here, it overshadows you with thine own chains, and it keeps you in your own dark prison which you make for yourself; so you can not go out thence, or come to the state which is above Nature and above Sense. ~Jacob Boehme

Our Own Willing

There is no doubt that it is our own will and our own beliefs that keep us from truth, wisdom, and God. It is true that we get much of this from others, but it is still our will, beliefs, and subconscious mind that is blocking our spiritual vision and growth.

We are a product of the world and society we live in. Our parents, teachers, friends, and even total strangers teach us things when we are young and we retain them and believe them. The problem with this is that very often the one teaching us doesn’t know that those teachings are true any more than you do. They only know that it is what is accepted as true by the majority of the society, or the church they belong to. And since modern science behaves much like a dogmatic church, they are as much a contributor to false beliefs as the churches are. So by the time we reach an age where we can make decisions on our own, we have already been filled with false and speculative beliefs and ideas that hold us down like a bunch of sandbags attached to a hot air balloon. But the responsibility for clearing out the subconscious so we can gain access to the truth is ours, not theirs.

Read the entire article online at spiritsun.net.

Original article posted by HAROLD BOULETTE on MARCH 21, 2020