What is Really Powerful?

It sure can seem impressive, eh?... Violence... You see it all over the TV and movies and in the news and now it is, as can be expected, becoming more and more prevalent in our day-to-day lives... It makes great copy... Instant gratification! If something bothers you, just whip out a gun, and an attitude, and blast your way to the promised land.... It seems to be the most popular way to accomplish something big, especially if you are in a hurry.

Violence is a whole structure in life. You can see violence in the animals and in the creatures of the sea.. Even on a cellular level the law of the jungle rules.

Survival of the fittest
The great golden axiom that forms the keystone for the whole violence gig.

It makes a lot of sense to most people too. When you have "finally had enough" you "take off the cuffs" and "kick the crap out of everyone"... It is a great satisfaction to feel the triumph of conquest. From a narrow perspective violence seems to leave such a clean win. The opponent lies in defeat, the obstacles are cleared and nothing stands in the way of all objectives being attained... except they never do for long...

HAS ANYONE EVER NOTICED THAT???

Anyway, most people will tell you it is impossible to resist being violent, at least some of the time. Phrases like "I have a temper" and "it is in human nature" make it acceptable to be violent with no excuse whatsoever... Flashes of anger with sudden flares of hatred prove that you are not a "wimp".... uh, right? After all, it seems to be common knowledge that only cowards abhor violence. The majority believe that violence is perfectly natural. Many hold that violence is patriotic. All the world proclaims that violence is justice. In the jungle you rule by terror. Resistance is crushed without mercy. Questioning is punishable by death. The only rule is might.... and with it, you have the right....

If you are an animal...

and if you live in the jungle...

But what about YOUR world? You probably have already considered the limitations of violence... You are not an animal. You are a human being.... No matter if your body is animal... and clamors for a splash of blood on each serving of justice... You are learning that its call, no matter how intense, should be questioned... Right? You see the news and you wonder if the wars and violent crimes are really necessary... but you often overlook the animal in your own heart.. After all, your reasons for hatred and violence are justified... But on the whole, violence tends to be a bit on the icky side... eeewwww, how gross... how disgusting... how painful!!! ...what a pity... What a waste!

It is a terrible cop-out to assume that violence and aggression are the same thing. So much is wasted in that mistake too... Can you see that aggression can be as easily directed towards creativity and "fixing things" as it can to destruction and violence? Just because you feel anger does not mean you are a monster... monsters are made in the mind. They just live in the heart. Your anger can just as easily move you towards setting something right as it can smashing things... But can you distinguish the difference between "setting something right" and smashing things to do it? Here is where true strength is revealed.... Even a dog can kill to get what it wants... Come on, give yourself a little credit... you are a human being. You are supposed to be more original than a dog. You can control the action generated by your anger and use it to make your life better, and the lives better of those around you... if you are strong enough... Any person who has the strength to defeat half a dozen opponents but cannot control and direct their own anger is nothing more than a weakling.

Have you ever considered that it is the violent who are the wimps? Their little world of defense and offence traps them in a dot of selfish justification while the rest of the universe goes by them unnoticed.

Now, this in itself is not wimpy...

it is only shallow.

The wimp is revealed when action is switched from violence to being constructive. The violent ones are too weak of character to even try and accomplish their objectives in a constructive way rather than by force... This takes such strength and determination that the little "bombs" walking around are all spent and crying before the first engagement is ended. You think you are tough? Face your maker and live your life in a spirit of making your world a better place... Then you will discover what power is, and how to use it without making a mess.

Anyone can make war.

All you need is a narrow mind and a gun.

It takes character to make Peace... that is why true followers of Peace only come along once in a while... Peace requires a kind of strength that goes far beyond anything violence can accomplish. Peace heals the divisions we have created among ourselves. Peace reveals our oneness and our source. Peace creates wholeness.

In the making of Peace, all of the battles are within.. with yourself... Here you find your ultimate adversary... Here you finally find the war that ends all wars.. When you have discovered Peace within you, you will see it wherever your eyes rest.

Few people will argue against the idea of Peace... at least in theory. Who can? When Peace is brought to bear on a problem there is an integrated win/win situation that washes away obstacles and leaves growth in its wake... Who can say this is not more desirable than bringing to bear the engines of war? War is win/lose for sure... It also does not overcome obstacles. It only pushes them into the future.... and then there is that wake.... hmmm.

So when you get right down to it, it is not an issue of which path is better, it is an issue of which path you have the strength to follow. It is easy to "go off". Nobody has a corner on the "fly off the handle" skills. The skills all lie in conquering the anger... in doing things that improve rather than degrade your situation.

That is the crucial part in this. The ones who use violence to get what they want, or to force patterns of behavior, think that being tough is determined by how much fear they command and how much destruction they can wield. This is a mistake. Being tough happens BEFORE the battle... in diverting the energies towards a permanent solution that resolves all the issues in a way that can grow... Here you need all the strength you can muster... and here you find greater strength than you have ever known.

Do you have any idea how good a fight you are missing by not coming to battle with your anger???

Here you find an adversary worth your time.

Here you fight a ghost...

Let’s see you have a poke at that one, tough guy....

You can defeat four adversaries?

You can infiltrate and destroy?

You can force anyone to do anything???

Cool... fight your anger... Have a go at standing before your own anger and subduing it to your will completely... Do you know what you will find at the end of that battle? You will find the power that violence obscures... You discover how pitiful your small minded belief in violence was.

Then while you are at it, have a go at your fear... This one is a lot more difficult to handle... It cannot be subdued, it must be completely annihilated... And it will fight you in a full spectrum, multi-front war. Your fears go much deeper than you may care to think.... Stand fast... No fear is greater than your source. No shadow can exist when light shines upon it. Fear has many forms. Its minions are defense and violence... It is a powerful force, for sure... until you see it in the Light of Truth.. Then it melts away. The stronghold of fear is the darkness of ignorance. The Light of Life defeats it completely by only being what it is... A revelation that Life eternally lives.

No physical opponents will fight you as hard as your own fear and anger. These are a very strange opponent too. They cannot be overcome by force. That only feeds them. The urge towards violence which springs from your anger can only be overcome by a willful effort to find its alternative, which is aggressive Peace. This you realize as you learn that the power of your fear comes from your belief that you are a mortal body rather than an eternal Spirit.

You cannot fight these opponents in the usual way. It is like fighting an energy rather than a physical opponent. You could call it "Ghost Fighting" and not be too far from the way it is. It requires a lot more wit and sharp mindedness to subdue a non-physical enemy. The more you hate it the stronger it gets. The more you react to it the stronger it gets. It is impossible to defeat anger or fear with conventional methods of combat.

So... The only way left is to walk away from it. You see, it gets its power from you. You are the one who enlivens your fear and your anger. The battle is not in grabbing it by the neck and thrashing it... The battle is in learning to stop listening to it... Learning to listen and look in the direction of what it hides... This is a long battle... it takes years for some.. but focus and determination win the day.

When you have earned your belt in "ghost fighting" you will truly be a master. Does the idea of fighting a ghost seem strange???

When you square off and engage your anger you will discover exactly what ghost fighting is... When you get there you can call it whatever you want... But it must be named so it can be discussed..

The power that violence and fear obscures truly is better on a vast scale, in every area. This is what you have to become convinced of. This is why you develop your character and make yourself a "deeper" person. The Life you obscure with violent thoughts and fear is really the only thing there is that is worth fighting for anyway.. This is the only battle where you finally find lasting Peace beyond...

This all may seem a little new to you.. Perhaps not.. If so, however, you might want to have a read through "SelfCom"... What you are learning here, if you can see it, is that you are being duped. The whole hatred, anger and fear act is robbing you of so much it is almost unbelievable... and it is doing such a good job of it that most people don’t even notice. Many, in fact, scorn the very idea that there may even be an alternative to violence.

But have a look. No matter if you call the "hate-anger-fear" team demons, or ghosts, or satan or "human nature", it is time to assess them carefully and see if they are worthy of your belief and devotion or not... But before you can do that you have to be able to see them for what they are... Usually people do not analyze these urges. They just react.

When you get enough of a handle on yourself to stop and have a thought before you "go off", you will learn some interesting things about the "uncontrollable urges"..

You may already have done this...

For starters, they each communicate with you in the same way. Fear, the urge to violence and hatred all come to you with scenarios which threaten you and tell you that you are in danger... Can you remember the last time you experienced one of these? Look at fear first, because fear is the major player in this... You may think you have no fear, but if you have a need to defend yourself in any way then you are fooling yourself. The truth is, you are Eternal Life no matter what you believe. Eternal Life requires no defense and only the voice for fear denies this.... Do you even know about its "voice"? Have you bothered to critically observe the scenarios that run through your mind?

The point is, if you pause and weigh violence out against peace, you can find no rational reason to be violent.

Oh, yes, there is the ever ominous "surprise attack"

or "fight to protect your country"...

or your loved ones...

or your self...

You have to take this in steps. Understanding comes over time and application. No one is asking you to start walking on water... At least not yet... All that is important is that you begin to question violence. Complete Peace will require that perpetrators wise up too... But in the mean time, you can at least begin exploring the fringes of Peace as it applies to you, and peaceful solutions as they apply to your life..

Peace has gotten a bad rap because peaceful people, when pushed to the limit, will allow their bodies to be killed rather than fight. This thought is disgusting to violent people. It is like "cowing down" or "wimping out" or being a coward... Violent people, being essentially selfish, rarely even consider how much courage it takes for a person to overcome the animal urges of fight and flight..

You try it sometime...

not dying...

fighting those urges...

You really don’t need them anyway. Just see what kind of hunk you can bring to bear on resisting your fear, your anger and your hateful thoughts... Go ahead, have a go... I dare you... You will need every wit strength and resource you can get.

Oh, it can be done... Lots of kinds of people find themselves in a situation where they have to command their emotions.... Maybe even you... Anyone who has had to do that for long will tell you that it is a lot of work... Here you find the tough guy who has a nervous breakdown..

How tough is that?

How much you can pound someone else is no measure of your strength, your courage, nor your character. You encounter all of those as you begin to subdue the "animal within".... This takes true strength... It takes more than you currently have, actually. But you are not just left hanging. Your Maker will show you the way through as you become attuned to the Voice for Peace within.

The one who has the nervous break down, or anyone who is overwhelmed by the "ghosts" of hatred, violence and fear will have to change their perspective. You cannot "fight" these urges in a standard sense. That is the mistake that causes "burn out" and breakdowns and all kinds of undesirable states of consciousness. You do not fight them with your "brute strength" nor your "will power" nor self abasement... or giving in to it... all of this only makes it worse... You have to use your mind and properly directed will. You cannot use your will to fight these urges directly because this only makes them stronger. You use your will to maintain your resolve to be free of the battle. You use your will to keep you on the track that leads you to an understanding of who you really are and where you come form. It is necessary that you come to an understanding of these urges, how they work, and how you are not obligated to do their bidding.

When you bring your mind to bear on these urges you find that they lie to you. They tell you... by showing, or whatever "gets your goat"... things that never happen. They run in circles, justifying their distorted logic with threats and visions of failure, harm and loss... All of this distraction keeps you from realizing that you are being taken for a ride through hell. You do not need any of that. In fact, you are far better off without it. All you really have to do is relax and see your way past it... use "SelfCom" for this.

Once you discover that you do not need to identify your wellbeing with the circular rational of violent thinking you are free to embrace the alternative. Here you find a frontier extending before you... Your life, as it is given to you eternally, is yours once again... What does this mean? Have a read through OurFoothills. Discover for yourself what awaits you.

The strongest are the ones who mend things... Strength and selfishness are opposites in a way. You are not strong if you are selfish.. you are only violent and/or domineering. You are strong if you have seen that your good lies in the good of all. You are strong when you can live for others as much as for your self. You are strong when you can love others without conditions. You are strong when you can shun your urges to destroy and command, and divert your will to "mending" and cooperation with others. Here you find the true "higher path"... the "art of Skillcraft"... here you master yourself, and all mastership. Here you find yourself in your Source, and discover the place you have missed so deeply for all this time.