The Power of Words

We have talked about "Words" before and the power that they possess.  But one thing that I was unclear on was something that I discovered while reading a novel.  One of the writers in the Anthology I am reading stated that she didn't think that Words had power.  She believes that the true power lies in our ability to believe them.  She states that it boils down to three simple concepts: belief, trust and faith.  Simply stated she asks herself Do I believe the other person? Do I trust the other person? Do I have faith in them.  To her mind words are meaningless without these conditions.

But here is how I see it.  Words either spoken or written have power of their own.  In my mind it is the way in which the words are used which gives them the power over us.  Not our belief in them.  Humans use words in various ways most people in anger use words as weapons, to wound, tear down, and belittle others. But the opposite is also true we can use words to build up, encourage, strengthen and help others.  Sometimes words spoken in anger, where very little thought is given to the barrage that we launch at another person in the form of insults or defense or just plain to hurt can cause a lot of damage.  They can even create wounds that even time can't heal. These are the types of words that I am talking about.

The written word is even more powerful because it is open to the readers interpretation and can have various meanings and can be construed in multiple different ways.  Some people can twist and malign words to fit any need they have.  So be extremely careful when dealing with words.  Positive motivation can be use by using Words of Power, these are written statements that are memorized and repeated daily to engage the higher mind elevations.  We call these as mantras, words of power, or chants.  These types of words are used to align the mind, body, emotions and soul.  These are the components that allow us to visualize and manifest change upon the etheric plane.  Which once something is manifested on the etheric plane, it triggers the manifestation here on the physical plane.  Many mystics, seers, or students of metaphysics use creative visualization daily to manifest change into their daily lives.  Words when memorized and repeated daily can set up the mind to reach through the barriers between the planes of existence and cause manifestations to occur. 

So what is the lesson that I am trying to get you to take away from this post?  I am trying to teach you that you must be very careful with your words, they have more power and influence than you can imagine.  When you take our writers beliefs into account you can influence a person just by speaking to them.  Because they trust you, they have faith in you and they believe you.  You can cause damage without seemly meaning too.  The inverse is also very true.  When you speak out in anger without thought to your words you can wound, injure or even destroy a persons spirit and belief in you.  Your words can cause permanent damage that even time cannot change.  I urge each of you to use your words wisely, thoughtfully and with purpose. Be positive in their usage, use them to enhance, build up, uplift and strengthen others.  Use them as positive motivation to encourage yourself and open yourself up to positive influences in your life. Words or Power can draw and manifest things into your daily life that are extremely positive.

Take a mantra for manifesting positive abundance and prosperity and paste it somewhere that you will see it daily and repeat it every morning to yourself and you will be surprised at just how different your life becomes.  Here is an example try reading it every morning for a month and see if you don't manifest the positive benefits into your own life:

Words of power for material abundance
There is one power which is the perfect abundance and fulfillment.
And I _________________, and the perfect manifestation of this power.
The power working for me and through me, provides me with all the abundance and fulfillment which is rightfully mine.
I draw to me and create in my life all that I need in the world a form to fill my needs, This may come specifically in the form of money or material possessions or wealth and abundance.
I hereby release all cause effect manifestation form and essence and any channel within me which may have been preventing the appropriate flow of abundance in my life.
I draw upon the balance of the resources in the universe
for the good of all,
according to the free will of all,
And I am firm my own wisdom and understanding my needs, and how to fill them. I call to me just enough resources,
knowing I deprive none,
And I am not deprive myself,
I have just enough.
And so it must be.

Please try this and see if it doesn't work for you like it has for some of my friends.

As always my hopes and dreams are with you,

Uncle B

Positive Affirmations

I know that last summer we talked a great deal about positive thinking, positive energy, and positive living.  We also talked about words and how they have power, they can either build or destroy depending on their usage.  But, as I have found out over this year, these same words of power can have meaning all to themselves and can benefit you in your daily life.  I call these affirmations, these are sayings that you tell yourself over and over again.  You can post them on your mirror, or somewhere where you will see them often, and everytime you do say them aloud.  These are positive tips that will help you, they will also help you maintain and keep your positive mental attitude for the day.

Remember that the more positive you put out in the world the more positive you get back.  Just like everything else in life if you live what you say you are going to go far.  Trust me when I tell you this.  Many self-help teachers and authors will tell you that if you want to be successful you must live and breathe the part, the same is true with keeping a positive mental outlook.  If you want to be positive you must live and be positive, there is no other way.

I have read books that tell you if you want to be a vice president of a company you must dress and act the part.  This is important, the image that you create for yourself is in effect a construct of creative visualization.  If you can imagine yourself in the part, you can manifest it in your life.  The same thing is true by you using affirmations.  If you tell yourself every morning that you are perfect and love yourself, eventually you will.  I have told my friend who has major self-esteem problems that maybe he should get a tatoo around his collarbone that says LOVE THYSELF, but backwards so that each time he looks at himself in the mirror or takes a picture of himself he sees it.  The more you see it and repeat it, the more energy you put into it and before you know it you are manifesting it in your life.

As I have told you before, one way that I prepare myself for the day is I get up every morning and I count my blessings one by one, and then I give thanks that I am able to live another day.  My same friend that I mentioned above does something very similar except he says a prayer.  Basically he thanks God for granting him another day and he says it seven times.  I am not sure what the significance of 7 is to him, but I know that it brings him that much closer to God each and every time he says it.

Affirmations are simple little phrases or sayings that you can post on your walls at work, mirror, monitor or other places that your eyes look every day.  They can be little things like "Smile You are Loved" or "Love thyself" or "Be Happy" or even "Today is a brand new beginning with no mistakes".  Remember the more you say them, the more you begin to believe them and that gives them power.

No one should be able to make your feelings about yourself change. Others shouldn't be able to make you feel any certain way.  Have confidence and self assurance that you know what you are doing and trust me it will show in everything you do.  People respect and appreciate those that are confident and strong.  When you make a decision stick with it.  These are things that will help you grow and mature.

When someone else changes your mood or makes you feel inferior or self conscious you have given them way too much power over you and I beg you to take it back from them.  Because they aren't doing you any good and adding much more stress to your day and your life.  March to your own drum and keep your own goals and desires in the forefront of your mind.  It is the only way to actually live.

As always my hopes and dreams are with you,

Uncle B

It is never to late to learn something new about ourselves

A good friend of mine posted on his Facebook page this today:

 "If I could change one thing from my past I would live life to the fullest and be reborn. Meaning I would give my all. I would snatched the shirt off my back to give to a homeless person in need . I would refrain from being selfish ( as I once was). And furthermore I would rewrite many misconceptions that others had about the true ME!

THEY WILL NEVER KNOW THE REAL ME !!!!!"

I will be honest this got me to really think about life and living and the past from the present.  I love it when I can find inspiration from something someone else has learned or discovered about themselves.  I am sure by now you are all familiar with my poem called "Frienemies" and if your aren't then I suggest you go read it.  Because it talks all about those that are close to you and claim to be your friend but are talking shit about you behind your back and doing everything they can to undermine you and your life.  Now, as I have said the person who wrote this is a very good friend of mine and someone I have known for the past two years, and I can tell you that the person he is today is not the person that he was when I met him.  He is kind and considerate now, where before the world revolved around him, and he was all about what you could do for him.  Now, as you can imagine we are the polar opposites, I am the one who had the kind heart, the giving nature, and struggled to get past those misconceptions he talks about in his post.  Because, unlike most people I am not the type that is going to be scared away easily, I look at a person and I see their soul, I see their potential and if there is something there that I like I stick it out.  Now, I can tell you that we weren't always close, that his way of dealing with things was not mine, and vice versa.  But I can tell you this, that as this post shows it is never too late to learn something about yourself and make a change.

My blog has been from the very beginning about the inward journey one must take to reach enlightenment, it addresses the daily concerns of living and gives real world examples on how to overcome and avoid life's little obstacles that fall in our way.  I applaud my friend for his self realization that he was self-centered, egotistical, and selfish, however I can say that my experience with him has always been a different kind.  He didn't treat me like he did others, and maybe it was because I was as different from him as he was from me, but it seemed that our friendship grew very quickly to becoming very close.  I learned a lot from him, how to spot when people are taking advantage of me, and how to handle myself in just about any situation, that I didn't have to avoid confrontation.  I am not sure if he learned anything from me yet, but that is okay.  Because like I said in a couple of my earlier blogs, that each and every person comes into our lives for a reason, a specific purpose.  I also believe that there are 3 types of people that are constantly in our lives.  These are Teachers, Students, and Confidants, depending on the situation and need you find yourself in, is where you find which role you are playing at any given point.  I know from first hand experience that at times I have been the teacher, and have helped lots of people in my life and taught them how to take care of themselves and love themselves and how to be a better person.  But I have also been a student and have learned from others. As for the confidant role you can be that for anyone, I know that they are rare and when you have found yours hang on to them.  

A confidant is someone you consider to be your best friend, it is who you talk to the most, confide in, you talk all the time, they are there for you and you are there for them no matter what the circumstance.  They are there to help you pick up the pieces of your shattered heart when your relationships go south, they are who you lean on when the world has turned upside and you are lost and don't know where to turn.  You do the same for them.  I have a best friend that I have known since High School, we talk every day, and it is neat!  Now, there have been times when we didn't talk, when we had issues with each other and gone our separate ways, but somehow, we manage to always get past those times and come back together.  A confidant is someone that you need to have in your life, they are the holders of your secrets and you theirs.

The reason why I re-posted my friends Facebook post here is because I wanted to use it to bring home a point.  The point is this, we are never to old to learn something new about ourselves.  It is never too late to make a conscious change and better ourselves.  Inner reflection is the key to changing the way you view yourself, and when your perspective changes, so does your outlook on life and everything that happens around you.  His post strikes a cord in my heart, and makes me excited that his view and perception of himself is changing and that he has the desire to become a different and better Him than he was.  But as in all things if you look hard enough there is a lesson here to be found as well.  This being that of rewriting the misconceptions about the real person.  What I know and he will learn is that there is nothing we can do with how a person perceives us, the only true way to dispel misconceptions about who we are or were is by fighting through them and getting to know the real person behind them.  However, I know exactly how difficult that can be.  Yet, no matter what you do people are still going to have preconceived notions about who your are and what you represent.  They are going to feed off of the misconceptions that have been presented them, and before you know it your are built up to be something you totally aren't.

As in my friends case here wishing he could go back and re-write them is a noble sentiment, but that is just that! He has changed his focus, realized where he needed to change and has done so.  That alone is what is going to make the difference going forward.  What has happened in the past is in the past and cannot be undone or changed. All we have is what is before us, and if you truly want to make yourself a better more likeable person, you are just going to have to do it.  Remember that actions speak louder than words, and deeds that prove will last a lifetime and be a testament to your change.

What I want you to take away from here tonight is this.  We are all on a journey, it is a spiritual journey, a journey of awakening, a journey of self-discovery and learning.  We need to take each encounter that we have and find the lesson within it.  Because, there is a lesson to be learned around every corner.  As we travel forward on this road change your focus from outward gratification and pleasure and turn it inward toward understanding and self-awareness.  Once you have changed the perspective at which you view life and your journey you are going to see things you never even thought existed, more blessing are going to come your way, but as we change our focus, we must also release the past.  The past is a guide, a learning tool, something to look back on to correct our footing on the path, but nothing more.  You must keep in mind that the past is immutable, unchangeable, and can keep you prisoner.  Because how can you move forward if you are looking to the past, clinging to the baggage that needs to be surrendered and released?  And as you move along your journey there are going to be those that you have to leave behind because they aren't doing you any good, they are holding you back and trying to shift your focus in their direction.  Once you have cut them free and let them go new people will enter your life that will help you on your way.  Open your heart be in awe of the world and life around you. Revel in the majesty, mystery and beauty of God and the world.  Know in your heart that everything you do is for a reason, and is something to learn and grow by.  We are the sum of all the decisions and actions we choose.  Choose to live, choose to follow me and take the road less traveled.  Look deep within your self, you will find the answers are there waiting for you.  Don't worry what others think because in the long run their opinions aren't going to matter at all.  The life you lead is yours.  Embrace it openly and lovingly savor every single moment. Rejoice in the here and now, and as you move forward and better yourself, don't be surprised that everyone else is going to see and notice those changes.

Live well, love hard, be open, be safe, and walk with eyes of awe and wonder, enjoy everything around you to the fullest. Because as you know time is fleeting and if we don't take the opportunity to enjoy it before you know it life has already passed you by.

As always my hopes and dreams are with you,

Uncle B

Do you know what the difference is between knowledge and wisdom?

You know I wrote about how Plato theorized that knowledge and learning had to be appended by the student, the instructor was to point them in the right direction and that is how knowledge was transferred.  To Plato knowledge was universal, could be gleaned and appended (learned) by experience, thinking and rationalization.  To him philosophical thought would allow a student to tap into thought-forms or the idea of things.

Other philosophers believe in a universal repository of knowledge called the "Akashic Record".  Basically it is a huge database of all knowledge and understanding that can be tapped into via a trance like state, astral projection, or deep guided meditation. In either case I believe both schools of thought are extremely close to the truth.  If you don't believe me let me fill you in on a few thoughts on this of my own.

Science has long held debate over Nature vs. Nurture, the debate stems from innate or born instinctual level traits passed along during birth.  Some scientist contend that there is some knowledge passed from mother to child during the gestation period, or pregnancy. Other scientist's believe that we are taught everything after birth, that the mind of a new born is a clean slate.  This second group believes that an infant, mammal or otherwise, learn through patterns and repetition.  But what about survival instincts, the born knowledge that we must eat to live and other traits.

Coming at this from a Christian viewpoint, or Creationist view if you prefer the term, you need to take into consideration the story of the "Garden of Eden".  It is said that the reason for the expulsion of Adam and Eve was because of disobedience to the only rule God had given them, which was not to eat of the fruit of the "Tree of Knowledge".  This is pivotal in my discussion on this topic with you.  Because you see here is where original sin comes from.  Man's disobedience to the command of God.  It also opened man's eyes to all knowledge of good and evil. Hence the hiding from God because of fear, because until that time they had no knowledge of fear.

In that one fateful incident all knowledge was instantly opened up to the mind of man.  The knowledge was absorbed by the human mind, and I believe that it has remained with us today inside of each of us.  It has been passed down through time, just like the burden of original sin.

Science has theorized for years that the average person only uses a tenth of their brain during their lifetime.  I am sure you are aware that these are exceptions to this.  Notably Albert Einstein, Beethoven, Newton, Bobby Fischer, Thomas Edison and countless others.  We call them miracle children or prodigies and every generation produces one or two of them.  If my memory serves me right the Dali Lama is born with the knowledge of his past incarnations, has access to all the understanding and memories of all his previous lives.

It is my belief that each of us has inside of us the knowledge of all things, as was gifted by that one bite of the forbidden fruit.  With this thought in mind, I contend that the philosophers journey is the unlocking of that knowledge within ourselves to reach a higher level of consciousness.  This means that the path of enlightenment, is the journey toward total knowledge and understanding. That the more we are exposed to this knowledge the further along the path we find ourselves toward enlightenment.  But I also believe that with knowledge must come or be tempered with wisdom. See knowledge for the sake of knowledge is one thing but I think if you don't understand how to apply this knowledge to life you can never truly reach full enlightenment.

It is important to understand and comprehend as well as process the knowledge and apply it to your philosophical journey. You can have a person who is truly book smart. Knows everything but lacks street smarts, or the ability to survive in the real world or on the streets, it is the knowledge on how to survive the bumps in the road of life. The inverse is also true you can have someone who is street smart, a hustler so to speak, who can survive anywhere and knows how to handle themselves in any situation life throws at them. But cannot read or write, can't hold a job, etc.

Here is the key to understanding all of this. It is all inside of us. We were born with everything we need to know. We just have to look deep within ourselves and follow our thoughts to their inevitable conclusion. We all have the capacity to learn. We can internalize and reach logical conclusions about everything in this world.  I also contend those of you who have been told you have a learning disorder or some other such nonsense, that the reason you find yourself struggling to comprehend something is because your natural affinity lies in a different direction.

Example of this, both my friend John and I have problems with higher math such as calculus. A couple of years ago John was classified as having a learning disorder that prevented him from excelling at math. I on the other hand struggled through it, eventually grasped it and can still do the math functions today.  Now, I have to admit here I probably couldn't do it from memory now without a refresher and a formula sheet. But, the point I want to make is pretty simple really. Basically it comes down to Left Brain versus Right Brain.  Psychologist have realized that the artistic and the logical are managed by the active side of your brain or the dominant side. If memory serves left brained or left-handed people are more artistically inclined where the right brained or right-handed are more logic and technically oriented.

But, this is our predisposition, the way that we are born, our so called innate tendency, our natural affinity, or in a broader sense our talents.  Now, I am not saying that a right handed person is less talented than a left handed person, what I am saying is that art, music and other artistic endeavors come more easily and naturally to a left brain person.  Whereas, a right brained person can learn and become artistic, they are more inclined to comprehend and understand complex logic and functions. A right brained person must struggle and put effort into their artistic work, which usually shows in their work and makes it so appealing. Conversely, the same is true to a left brained person, art comes easily for them, they struggle through math and sciences. Yet, that is what makes their discoveries so ground breaking.

The point I am trying to make is this, that which we struggle through and give life too is an actual process on the philosophers journey.  Wisdom is gained by the practical application of the knowledge we have and perceive.  Trust me when I tell you after you struggle through something, learn the concepts behind them and finally master it, you will never forget it.  It is the journey, the work, the pressure you put into it that makes it memorable.

So what is knowledge? It is the comprehension and the understanding of a complex thought or information. According to Websters it is "to perceive directly as fact or truth, to believe to be true; to be certain of; to be familiar with or have experience of."  So knowledge boiled down is facts, figures, laws, information pas on as fact.  Whereas, wisdom is the applied usage of knowledge in the appropriate place or time.  Webster's defines wisdom as "the ability to understand what is right, true or enduring; good judgement, knowledge."

Can you see the point I am trying to make? Can you understand and comprehend what I am laying out?  That wisdom and knowledge are milestones and landmarks of the philosophers journey.  They are not mutually exclusive of each other yet they aren't mutually inclusive of each other either.  I believe King Solomon, the wisest man in the world was given the ability by God to have access to all knowledge of the ages and the wisdom to comprehend it all and to apply it to life.  Further, if you are like me and believe that God created us. That He truly breathed the spark of life into us, then you should also believe that the Divine resides or dwells within us.  It is what gives some people premonitions, ESP, do miraculous things.  It also gives us the ability to access the knowledge that was granted in that one act of disobedience the "Knowledge of Good and Evil".  That everything and anything is possible and that it is all within us. It is a gift as much as a curse, it can be used to benefit all of mankind or can be used to subjugate and destroy like Hitler tried to do.

I encourage you to take the spiritual and philosophical journey with me.  To pray and meditate on all things.  Because the knowledge and wisdom is within us, reachable and usable.  Wrap the knowledge you have with wisdom, explore all thins, remember what Mr. Webster said, "Wisdom is the ability to understand what is right, true or enduring." Learn all you can and use good judgement.

The road of life is filled with many mysteries, we have the ability to solve them, understand them, comprehend them and use them to better ourselves and society as a whole.

As always y hopes and dreams are with you,

Uncle B

Thank you for helping me realize my dream. I published entries 100 and 101 today.  It is all because of your encouragement and support.  God bless you and keep you safe.  I hope you will continue to read.

Thanks a million!
Bryan :-)

The August 1st Full Moon

Tonight I looked up in the sky and I saw that the moon had risen full and bright
so I sat down under it's light to write a poem that would delight.
Here is my poem I hope you enjoy
Like a kid with a new toy:

Moon Light This August Night:
by Bryan Zepp II

Bright and shiny moon
In the starry sky you loom
above the breeze I can hear the ocean boom
as your light fills my room.

On this first August night
I wonder at your light so bright
and stand in awe of your might
I wish your face could quell my fright.

On the breeze I feel the change
coming from a distant range
my future to rearrange
how I wish I alone would change.

Sitting here beneath your glow
I wish my future you would show
grant me peace and let me know
the path or road on which to go.

My pain is finally near and end
I long to hear your voice my friend
to guide my journey around each bend,
to make it through and cause my heart to mend.

I miss your smile and warm embrace
how I long to see your face
to hold you tight and feel your loving grace,
But thank God your aren't in this place.

Because I feel so alone
and I am weary to the bone,
I couldn't bear to hear you moan.
Oh, I wish your strength you could loan.

For I am lost under the moon
trapped in my lonely room
how bright the light that filters down
that makes the day to night as the world goes round

Oh beautiful and bright moon light
Hear my plea this very night,
to help me find my way and keep my path alright?
So I can face my fright
and keep my head upright!

As always my hopes and dreams are with you,

Uncle B

Coming out a tale of fear...

Something has been telling me that this is a topic I need to talk about.  One of the things I pride myself on is the ability to take complex concepts and write about them in such a way that anyone who reads about it can understand the topics.  I try hard to break down these topics to make sure that the most people can benefit by what I write about.  For the LGBT community the largest fear is often the fear of being found out about their sexual preference by friends and family.  Coming out is probably a young gay persons biggest nightmare and fear that they have to face. The art of deception is practiced and they become experts at hiding their true selves from family, friends, co-workers and peers.

In most cases these young men and women perfect their ruse so convincingly that they often times can start to believe if for themselves, most develop the idea that they are bisexual and often have sex with anyone and everyone.  In all honesty this is probably not a bad thing.  It helps them to figure out which group they feel more comfortable around and identify with.  Generally through this period of experimentation they figure out which group they develop stronger attachments too and where their attractions really gravitate towards. Unfortunately, because of their upbringing and feelings of difference as well as guilt drive these young individuals to hide who they are and fear discovery of their inclinations so they do everything they can to hide what they are feeling.

It seems that feelings of guilt as well as fear of discovery paralyzes young people and keeps them from truly feeling comfortable with themselves.  Another fear is that of letting parents down and living up to expectations that have been thrust upon them.  They feel miserable about having to live a dual life and some cannot seem to get past these feelings.  Young men and women of color have more concerns to deal with because they have different concepts about masculinity and have a belief within their culture that being gay or different automatically makes then effeminate. This is not necessarily true, but within their culture a different divide exist from that of caucasians.  It seems that culture and society paints the picture of gay men to be girlish, effeminate, and gives the impression that a gay person cannot be masculine what I term unclockable, which just means that other people would never suspect them of being gay.  As someone who has dated a lot of men of color I can tell you that most of them don't consider themselves to be totally gay at all, they would rather label themselves as bisexual.  Though in most cases they refer to themselves as heterosexual even though they are fooling around with a gay or bisexual.  Hence the evolution of the Down Low phenomena.


Hell to almost everyone I have ever encountered the tale of coming out has always been one of great fear and dread.  Everyone fears the reprisal of those they know and how they will react to the knowledge of their true sexual preference. Often times this fear is a motivator for a person to keep potential partners at an arms length and give others the impression that they don't know what they want and that they are searching for something.  At one point I used to call this phase a persons slut phase.  Where experimentation and the changing of partners seems almost like a weekly event.  When I was growing up we jokingly referred to those we were dating as the flavor of the week.  At some points in my life I changed my boyfriends almost as fast as I changed my hair color and I can tell you that was often, because I grew up in the 80's and was very much into the club and bar scene even though I was often underage. 


I am here to tell you that every gay man and women goes through the terror of coming out.  There is nothing that I know of that is going to alleviate the feeling of exposure and the terror you are not going to be accepted and that you are going to be rejected by family and friends.  The fear is so powerful and gripping that you will do anything to keep from being exposed. But I can tell you that no matter what you think, it is much easier than you imagine, and another thing is this no matter what you think after the initial reaction people are going to come around.  You are going to find that once you have come out the stress of living a double life and keeping all those lies in place that a sense of completion and wholeness will envelope over you.  You are going to find others that know what you are going through and can and will sympathize with you.  Remember, we have all been through it and we have survived.  I am not saying that it is going to be easy, but trust me you are going to find that you want to out yourself before someone else inadvertently does it for you.  I also have to tell you that your mother knows already, and though she may be hurt, angry and react badly at first, she is going to be the first to come around and accept you for who you are.  There is a biological connection with your mother, that you don't readily have with your father, and trust me telling your father is probably the hardest thing you will do.

Here is the reason for the reaction you experience, I can tell you that any type of bad news, injury, illness triggers the same response in everyone.  These are the 4 stages of grief and as with everything else in life people have to deal with them in their time and way.  But trust me everyone goes through them and guess what it doesn't matter what age or what the situation turns out to be.  The first response is going to be denial.  For some reason they cannot believe that it is true, and they will not talk  about it or address the situation, in the hopes that it will go away. Further, they may even suggest that there is something wrong with you, that you are going through a phase and that it will pass. But, for them it is actually a form of wishful thinking and away to avoid the feeling of guilt.  The second phase is Anger,  now this anger may seem directed at you, but in truth it is turned inward.  Parents automatically assume that they are responsible, that they did something wrong, or that something forced you to this situation.  Trust me this is probably the hardest stage of the process you are going to have to endure.  The third stage is depression, and guess what both of you are going to experience this.  Unfortunately, the guilt of their anger and denial are going to force you to second guess yourself and try to once again hide who you really are. This of course is a natural response, yet it is difficult to endure and sometimes climb out of.  But, you know who you are and what makes you happy, and you need to remain true to yourself and not let their concerns weigh you down.   The final stages are acceptance and hope. Now, I am going to tell you that even when you get to these stages there are so many thoughts and concerns that are running through your parents and friends heads, and there is going to be a fair amount of worry that goes along with it.  But you will see that everyone that loves you and cares about you is going to come around, it takes time and patience on your part and understanding of what a person goes through.  Remember even as others are going through these phases you yourself are going to experience them as well.

You might wonder if it is worth all the pain and hurt that you are going to go through, but believe me it definitely is.  Because once you have come out, you are going to feel a heavy weight lifted from you, you are going to feel complete, you are going to feel relief that you no longer have to hide who you are.  Now, when most people get to this stage they really let their hair down and go wild and crazy.  I guess it is part of the process itself because you act outrageous, get bold and daring and try things you have never done before because you are released from the fear that has been griping you.  Again, as I have pointed out this is a natural thing to do. But, a word of caution here, your parents and friends have every right to be concerned for you, and your safety.  Even though times have changed quite a bit since the time I came out, the world is still a violent place, and there are still bigots and haters in the world that are going to try and steal your joy and hurt you.  Plus, relationships all end in pain of some kind no matter how long they last.  Further, there are terrible illnesses out there that you can be exposed to.  When I came out there was no real knowledge or understanding about AIDS and HIV, and I lost a lot of good friends to the disease in the 80's and early 90's.  Now, I don't want this to frighten you and discourage you from being yourself and discovering who you are and what you can be in the world.  Today, HIV is no longer a death sentence like it used to be, with proper care and treatment you can live 30 to 40 years of a normal life, and new treatments are being developed every day.  I believe that in your lifetime a cure might actually be found and the disease eradicated once and for all.

I want you to be courageous and adventurous, explore your sexuality and have fun doing it.  Find others like yourself that have similar interests and be yourself and honest about what you are feeling.  Take the time to really explore your feelings and be sure that you express them often.  Make sure that you don't hold them in and hide them, because you are going to have problems later on in life if you don't figure out how to express yourself and communicate how you feel to others as well as yourself. I am not going to tell you that being in the LGBT community and lifestyle is going to be easy, or that you aren't going to experience hardships. Because let me be totally honest, same sex relationships are much more difficult then other relationships. The reason for this is because you have all the normal problems and pressures of relationships you also have the sensor of societal norms, which is just a way of saying that everyone expects you to be "straight".  As I have said there have been great strides since I came out in the early 80's till now, but there are still the religious bigots and others that are going to tell you that you are wrong, that what you feel is wrong, there are going to be others that criticize you and tell you that you are sick.  Then on top of those you have other considerations and persecutions to rise above.  Especially if you are like me and get involved in a interracial relationship.

I will talk more about relationships and interracial relationship in greater detail in another blog entry.  This one entry is an attempt to expose the fears and lies that are keeping you in hiding, denying yourself the way you truly feel. It is my hope that those who read this can understand what is going to happen when they come out and that it will make it easier for them to make the transition.  I mentioned earlier the topic of bisexuality, and that is another blog topic that I am going to explore in the future.  It is important for you to come to terms with your own feelings and desires, and to be honest to yourself and those that care about you and you them.  I am not saying that it is going to be easy, that you are not going to feel pain making this transition, or that you aren't going to run into opposition.  What I want you to understand in the long run, when all is said and done, you are going to feel so much better, and feel a sense of relief that is so profound and comforting.

Please keep in mind that at first you may lose some friends, there are going to be a few that will never be able to wrap their mind around your sexuality, they are going to think that you made a choice, or that something outside of your life cause you to act that way.  In most cases the ones that are truly your friend are going to come to terms with it and come back into your life.  The ones that don't and ridicule and make fun of you, cut them loose, they are not truly friends and they honestly aren't looking out for you or even really care about you, they are around you for some other type of reason or hidden agenda.  So if they leave you haven't lost much at all anyway.  Once you have come out a whole new world opens up for you, and you are going to learn and experience things you never dreamed of.  Trust me you are going to develop an extended family, there are going to people you are going to grow to call your Gay Dad, Gay Mom, you are going to have gay brothers and sisters, even nephews and so forth.  Your life is going to become very interesting and rewarding.

I need to warn you though about drama, it is very prevalent in the gay community and at times you are going to run into those that live for drama and love to stir it up.  These end up being trouble makers and usually are very unhappy and lonely, the strive to make everyone around them as unhappy as they are.  They hate to see you having fun and enjoying yourself, they try and sabotage every friendship and relationship that might threaten what they perceive as their place and standing in your life.  Trust me when I tell you are going to get to a point in your life when you are not going to want to have these types of people in your life and the stress that they bring and keep fluent in your life. Eventually, you are going to want to live in a drama free zone.  But when and how that comes about is as different as the individuals that are involved.  Trust me it may be fun and entertaining at first, but it quickly will become a drain and full of stress, that you can avoid and do without in your daily life.

Let me fill you in on my story, give you some idea of how things could go and how it all turned out.  It is amazing how perceptive some people can be, and the ones that love and care about you the most are most likely the first to know your secret.  I know this to be true because honestly my dad's mom knew before everyone else.  Now, I was very open about my sexuality my senior year in high school to everyone except my parents.  Like I described above I was totally terrified about coming out to my parents.  Now, I will be honest my parents had to know, but they were deep in denial, my parents were going through a lot of their own issues and fighting and if you ask my family were really abusive to me and my brother.  However, in my sophomore year me and a couple of neighbor kids were caught by one of their fathers and my parents were told, of course trying to preserve my secret I lied about everything and I assumed that they bought the lie.  I know for a fact that the other two lied to their parents as well.  How I know this one of them became my boyfriend and we were together off and on through high school and six years of my navy life.  I guess to be really honest we fooled around for several years after I got out of the Navy.

For a year I was stationed at the Naval shipyard in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and I would spend as much time with my grandmother's as I could.  Shortly before my dad's mother died she told me that I was a special and loving person and that I needed to live my life to the fullest and make myself happy, that she knew how special I was and that she loved me all the more for it.  Never to let anyone tell me that my feelings were not normal or that I was different because I wasn't and that above all things she loved me and accepted me for the person I was and who I would become.  Now, this was very emotional and moving for me because I had never confided in her or told her about my preferences before this.  I am so thankful that I had a couple more months to spend with her before she died.  It was her wisdom and insight that kept me going when things turned bad, and when I finally told my parents and how their reaction went.  My mother screamed at me, pulled an earring out of my ear, and told me that her father told her but she never believed him.  My father, wouldn't talk to me and for the entire time I was home on leave, which thank God was only two weeks, life at home was unbearable. Every time my mother would get mad at me she would swear and through stuff up in my face, at one point she even told me "How can you defend that person against me I am your family and the only relation to you is your blood on their dick."  Now this was vile and offensive too me because I wasn't actually taking anyone's side in the fight, but this is how my mother lashed out at me, she used words and guilt as weapons and waged war pretty unfairly.  She has since come around and believe it or not is my best friend and number 1 fan.

Honestly gay life is not for the faint of heart, or someone who is not strong. You are going to face challenges and situations that are going to test you, but like the old saying goes "that which doesn't kill you makes you stronger", believe me it is true.  Some of us are not cut out for the gay life and they live in denial and fear, they even get married to hide their attraction to same sex partners, some can live with it, others can't and step out on the sly behind their families back.  Some get the courage later in life to come clean and end up hurting others, mainly their wives and children.  My first serious relationship that I had was in the Navy.  Beside the guy that I was fooling around off and on through high school because in his mind he wasn't like me and couldn't love me and be with me in the open. However when I was in the navy, I met someone shortly after I graduated boot camp, he was in the same barracks and A school that I was in in Great Lakes.  His name was Karl Kevala, and I fell hard for him, we dated for quite a while when we were in the Chicago area. He took me home to Maryland and I met his family, including his sister who I stayed friends with for years.  He graduated from school before I did and was sent to his ship and we lost touch for a little while, but he stumbled back into my life a couple of years later and though at first he was with someone else, we eventually got back together, and because of this I applied to go to the same C school as him.  We dated the entire time he was there and we even went back to visit with his family.  But once again he was sent to the fleet, unfortunately when that happened my dad's mother died and I was devastated and before I knew it I was diagnosed with cancer and discharged.  Now the plan was that Karl and I were going to go to Italy together and be stationed with one another this never happened. We lost touch, and I believe it wasn't till February of 2007 that I was able to get in touch with him again.

I am a little fuzzy on the year but I remember that he called me back on February 14th, which was Valentine's day, only to tell me that he had gotten married two years before to a woman, that knew his past and accepted him.  He then asked me if I was sure I was gay, that he never really felt comfortable being identified as gay.  He did clarify and tell me that he did not regret the time we were together and that he cared for me, but his wife wouldn't understand if he stayed in contact with someone he was involved with in the past.  He asked me not to contact him anymore and for the most part I have respected those wishes and have left him alone.  To the point when I was letting everyone one know about my health condition and was preparing for the major surgeries that were so dangerous and there was a great chance that I wasn't going to make it, I didn't call him and let him know what was going on. I figured he had his life now and he didn't care if I was going to die, so I left him in peace. I am sure if something would have happened to me, my mother would have contacted him to let him know. Because he was a big part of my life, and my first true love.   When I got out of the Navy in 1992 I met a man named Michael and we were together till he died in 1996, he accepted me and gave me the moral support that I needed till my parents came around.  It didn't hurt that he was rich and owned one of the biggest gay bars in Orlando, and he loved me.


Fear is a powerful motivator, and it can paralyze you and keep you from acting.  But it can drive you to  be secretive, deceitful and lie to yourself and everyone around you. Coming out is never easy, but honestly it isn't as hard as you might think, and you can do it.  When you finally do you are going to be amazed at how scared you were for absolutely no reason whatsoever.  As I am fond of telling you time and distance heals all wounds, and perceived hurts.  I am not a big fan of the DL culture, I have met so many young black men that are fooling themselves, claiming to be straight and yet are what I call gay for pay. Trust me if you have an act of same sex sex, you are either bisexual or gay.  Time will help you decide, and you need to be absolutely honest with yourself and your partners.  Talk to them, tell them what you like and what you don't.  If you prefer not to label yourself till you know exactly what your feelings and emotions are telling you is absolutely acceptable, however it is important that you search inside of you and be honest about what attracts you, what you like and go from there.


No matter where you are at in the process remember everyone of us, your friends and peers has come through the same situation as you are going through. Find someone you are comfortable with and talk to them, listen to their experiences and what happened when they came out.  Surround yourself with people that you are comfortable with and build a support network, confide in them your fears and your thoughts, you will be surprised to find that many of the fears you have they have had in the past and have confronted them, and have won.  


It is important to confront your fears head on and do what you feel in your heart is right and feels good to you.  Remember no one can tell you if what you are doing, feeling or thinking is right or wrong, because every situation is as unique as the individuals involved.  But lean on your network and draw the strength you need to make the right move.  Nothing is ever really set in stone and if you like Karl change your mind years later so be it.  There is someone out there for everyone. A person that completes you and makes you whole. If you let fear keep you from exploring and finding that person you are going to miss so much, and probably end up making yourself feel very miserable in the process.  Coming out is a liberating process which can only serve to help you grow and mature, and feel more comfortable with yourself.


As always my hopes and dreams are with you,


Uncle B

Education, learning and Teaching

This is the third and last entry in this little series on reality that I have been talking about.  Yesterday I spoke to you about the 2 fold reality system, that I think are body and mind reside in while we are alive on earth.  As I told you yesterday I wanted to talk to you about education, learning and teaching. I want to come at if from Plato's viewpoint.  Again this is a topic that I hope will inspire discussion, feedback and comment on this topic.

Yesterday, I was talking about Plato's Allegory of the Cave, and his postulations about reality, salvation, spiritual journeys and teaching.  I want to round out what I have been talking about with education, learning and teaching. According to Plato, he thought that the imparting of knowledge between a teacher and a student was impossible, that education is only possible by point the students mind to what is real and important, and letting them apprehend it for themselves.  Now, what Plato thought was that all knowledge and information that will ever be was recorded and housed in a great library in the spiritual or real "reality" that can only be discovered through the mind.  What I am talking about is the Akashic Record, which a little more information can be found at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Akashic_records.

In metaphysical terms the Akashic record is a library of all knowledge and thought forms that are or will ever be, some postulate that an individual can read, observe and touch these records through astral travel, meditation, and deep hypnosis.  I think that these are just some of the ways that a person or individual can touch this information.  But, I also think that at times this information flows through the spiritual plane, and into our subconscious while we sleep or rest.  I also think that the further you progress on your journey of enlightenment that our minds open up to more and more of the information  contained in the records.  I also think that as our eyes are open to more of the mysteries of the divine, God grants us more and more clarity on the things of nature that we have to deal with.

It is also my belief that as you embark on your own spiritual journey and quest for enlightenment.  God, the Divine, or Light, or however you define your own deity, puts others into our life to help us along our road and journey.  I believe that there are 3 different kinds of people that come in and out of our lives, they stay for a time and move on once they have accomplished what they have been place for.  You will find if you are observant, that you are never alone on your journey,  there are always 2 others that are with you.  You and these other two may switch roles from time to time, but if you really look you will see that they are there.  On your journey you may find someone that can mentor and teach you, the fill the role of teacher, and you would be the student, and the other person is your confidant a friend or person you can discuss things with and confide in.  As I have told you these roles are interchangeable and you may find yourself at times the teacher, or the student, or a confidant.

Remember that each person comes into your life at different times to fill different needs that you are facing.  They help you and you help them in an endless cycle. I believe that through experience and conscious thought we learn the things that we are meant to learn. As these people come in and out of your life there is nothing saying that they won't come back and in a different role.  I believe that at times we maybe the teacher, explaining our path and what we have learned to a student, and at other times we are the student and we find that we have something to learn from our previous student, and don't be surprised if your friend and confidant becomes a teacher or a student from time to time.  There is nothing saying that you will always be surrounded by the same people, remember everyone comes and go through our life in their allotted time and only for as long as they are needed.

You may not understand what I am trying to explain, but it is rather easy.  The Bible tells us that we are never given more than we can bear, and I believe this to be the honest truth.  In addition to God being with us always, I believe that we are always surrounded by help if we just look for it.  God provides for us even when we don't ask for it. It is up to us to understand and accept the blessings that He grants us.  But it takes prayer and openly listening for the answers.  Please remember that when Christ was on the cross He promised to send us the Comforter, and I believe that the Holy Ghost is who He sent to help guide us and comfort us in His absence, and it is the Holy Spirit and the angels that bring each of these individuals into our life to help us along our spiritual road and journey.

I also want you to realize that it is never to late to start on your journey, and never to late to learn that which is necessary for us to succeed in our mission.  I told you once before in my blog entry on "Crucible of life" that we have all signed a spiritual contract and we have a job or part to play while we are here on earth.  It is also my firm belief that we have to learn by doing and experiencing life.  I believe that pain is the impetus to help us learn and reinforce the lessons that we have experienced.  When I tell you that it is never too late for you to start your journey and complete your mission, I mean it.  Let me give you an example of what I mean.  Let us turn our attention back to the Bible and the story of Moses.  Because it is his life that has given me the inspiration to realize that our education is on-going and life long.  Moses for the first 40 years of his life, he was raised as a child of the Pharoah, given the education of royalty, including Egyptian mysticism and how to rule the people.  However, when he was 40 he witnessed a slave being beaten, and he got so angry and killed the taskmaster that was abusing the slave.  Moses was then a murder and an outcast and had to give up his home in the palace and flee into the desert.  Where he wandered and lived for another 40 years.  During this time Moses learned how to survive and negotiate the wilds of the desert. All of this was future preparation for the task that he was yet called upon to do.  Now, you can imagine Moses' surprise when God called upon him to lead His people out of bondage from Egypt.  Moses was 80 years old at this time and thought that he was too old, and didn't know how he was going to do what he was told he must do.  He thought that maybe Lot, or Aaron were better suited for the job, but God insisted.


You want to know why?  The answer was simple, Moses had the knowledge and training that was needed. He knew how the Pharoah would react, he knew the tricks that Pharoah's magicians would use and could counter them, and most importantly Moses knew the desert and the wilds that the people would have to face while fleeing.  As I have said we are never given more than we can bear, we are well trained and suited for the job that is ahead of us.  Just as Moses had Aaron and Lot with him, I too believe that we have 2 who are going to be with us.  As I have said that our roles may change over the course of our journey, they will remain the same.  One of will be the teacher, and other a student and finally someone who we can confide in and will help us understand what we are about.  As our roles change so might the people that fulfill them, but trust me there is always going to be two around you to help you through all things.


Now, with all of this being said, I am not sure if the Akashic Record exist or not,  but as I explained in yesterday's discussion that the only thing that have permanence in this world are ideas or thought forms, I would assume that they have to be part of this record.  My reasoning behind this is we are creatures of energy, housed and contained within a shell of flesh, as I have stated before, as the body dies and fails, the energy that is us still remains.  It is further my understanding that energy follows the natural law of conversion, that it can neither be created or destroyed just manipulated and changed. If this is the case then when our body finally gives our the energy creature that is us truly moves on to another level of existence.  I also pointed out that our beliefs have power and energy of their own, and if enough people believe in something that thing will come into existence.  Therefore, if our thoughts and beliefs are energy, they too have to go somewhere and come from somewhere, and that place is what I called yesterday our 2 fold reality.  


Again, this is just something that I am exploring and have some belief in. I am not asking you to believe as I do, but I would like to know you thoughts on this.  Like I said, my origin is based in Christianity though I have adopted or collect other parts of religious beliefs to help me round out and understand God and the Philosophical and Spiritual Journey we all must travel.  Therefore, I can compare the spiritual realm that I have referred to as the Christian Heaven, or liken it to the astral plane of the mystics, but to me they are one and the same and I believe that they are the layer that overlaps our physical reality.  I believe that Plato is partially correct that we cannot transfer knowledge from teacher to student directly, that all things that are learned must be experience and discovered through ourselves.  But I think a teacher is a vital part of the equation and helps us understand that which we are experiencing and helps us to absorb and integrate our learning into our daily lives.  Plus, I believe that this journey of life is but one aspect on the road toward enlightenment and higher learning and knowledge that will help us in our transition from this plane of existence to the next.  It is also my contention that we never stop learning and if we do then we are not living, but merely existing.  


Our road is not an easy one, and sometimes the path is hard to find and definitely harder to follow once we are on it. But we are not ever alone on our journey, we are given assistance and help when we need it.  People come into our lives for a brief time that is allotted them and then they move on.  Some will be with us way longer than others, and then there maybe some that come and go, but are always near. Lastly, I believe that no matter where we are at on our journey, that God is always with us, and carries us and gives us the strength we need and the encouragement to continue.  Remember that the road you are on is a road of enlightenment, which is a journey to further and gain knowledge, and as you progress along this road you are going to receive direct spiritual guidance and come to know the creator and all things in nature. This is the path that was set for us when Adam and Eve were cast from the Garden of Eden and it is what defines us and makes us human. We are not angels or divine beings with the knowledge of good and evil that was not granted to us.  But we were granted dominion over the earth and all things in it. As can be found in Genesis.  It is our duty to protect that which has been give us, and do that we must learn and grow from that education.  The earth is our home and the only one we have been give, we are the caretakers and the custodians, and we haven't done a really good job taking care of it.


So please keep these things in mind as you embark upon your journey, remember what I have said, and I am sure over time you will come to see things in a different and much more enlightened light.  When you do be sure to keep your eyes and heart on God because through His Divine Grace He will reveal all things.

Again, I look forward to hearing from you, please leave a comment and join my blog.  I want to hear from you, and I would love to hear your opinions, concerns, feedback, criticisms or whatever else you would like to say to me.  All I am doing is trying to share what I have learned with you.

As always my hopes and dreams are with you,

Uncle B

2 fold reality..thought forms, and permanence

Yesterday, I spoke about beliefs and believing, and how I wanted to talk about reality.  I also told you that I was basing my understanding on Plato's Allegory of the Cave.  I am not sure how many of you have read it, but I want to give you a synopsis of it here, so that you might be able understand where I am coming from, and where I am heading in this discussion.

Before, I do that however, I want you to realize that this is for discussion purposes, and I do solicit and request your feedback and comments. This is a spiritual journey we are on, and I would love to have others opinions and questions, as well as comments on this.  Remember that nothing you say is going to be judged against you.  I would like this to be an exercise in learning and expanding our personal vision and understanding of what reality is, and how it interacts with us.

Plato wrote the Allegory of the Cave in his work called the Republic and the central characters in this allegory are Socrates, who by the time of this writing had already died, and Plato's cousin Glaucon. Steven Kreis wrote in his lecture on Modern European Intellectual History (2000).  " In the Allegory of the Cave, Plato described symbolically the predicament in which mankind finds itself and proposes a way of salvation. The Allegory presents, in brief form, most of Plato's major philosophical assumptions: his belief that the world revealed by our senses is not the real world but only a poor copy of it, and that the real world can only be apprehended intellectually; his idea that knowledge cannot be transferred from teacher to student, but rather that education consists in directing student's minds toward what is real and important and allowing them to apprehend it for themselves;".  

The Allegory of the cave presents a group of people that are living in a cave from birth. They are chained and forced to look at a blank wall, they have no way of moving or looking elsewhere.  The mouth of the cave opens up to the light, but between our chained assembly is a walk way that separates them from a huge and roaring fire.  It is across this walkway that others carry and drag things and objects across, which cause shadows to form on the wall in front of the assembly, as these objects were being carried across and their reflections being seen by the assembly.  Over time the assembly would come to recognize and describe these shadows and name them, when asked what the shadows were they could guess as to the object being displayed along the wall.  Sounds associated with the crossing would also help and cue the assembly in their identification.  Now, imagine if you will that one of the assembly was taken by force and dragged from the cave into the light.  Plato theorized that they would not be able to see at first because their eyes were not accustomed to the light, and would be terrified, though as the pain lessened and they would began to see things, and they would not recognize them, for they had only known the shadows on the wall, but as they were introduced to the items they would come to understand and see them for what they were, but would not believe it at first because they had only known the shadows. Remember that their reality was only that of shadows, so physical forms would be dismissed as fake.  Though with time and patience, they would soon grasp that the forms were one and the same, and would not if taken back into the dark forget and be able to play the game of shadows with his fellows that have never left the cave because his eyes have been opened to a different sight.  Plato also theorized that the ones that had never left the cave would not believe the one who had left saying his site was corrupted and that his version of the truth could not be correct.  Therefore, because their reality was challenged and the one that had left was no longer part of the collective they would seek to kill him, because he was wrong.  

Please keep in mind that this is my own interpretation from reading the Allegory, and if you would like to read it for yourself, I would ask that you do so.  For the version I have presented here is condensed and paraphrased by me, but it is enough for me to draw the points out that I would like to convey.  If you would like to read excerpts of either Steven Kreis's lecture or Plato's Allegory of the cave I invite you to check out this link http://www.historyguide.org/intellect/allegory.html.  

Now what I would like to do is break this down a little for you, because I find that those chained in the cave and learning in the darkness is humanity as a whole and we learn by what is revealed by our senses.  Though I also believe that it is true that nothing in this world hold permanence because just as with the images on the cave wall, and the items that were shown the escapee, they corrupt, rust, crumble, decay and fade away.  However, in the true spiritual world the idea, or concept remains, and therefore is the truth.  This might be hard for you to understand, but I will try and make it easy.  Philosopher's refer to what I am talking about is thought forms, I call them base objects.  These base objects are the ideas that we use to create things.  Therefore, the idea is what is permanent, not the actual object themselves.  From the idea more objects can be created and made.  Therefore as long as someone can remember the idea or base object that object can still exist.  An example of this is a chair, we all know what a chair is, we know that it is eventually going to rip, tear-up, get broken or disintegrate, unfortunately time has a way of doing that to all things including the human body.  However, a new chair can be created to replace the old chair.  Why can we create a new chair because we know of the concept or idea of the chair, it is the thought form or base object that is remembered and passed on.    

What I am trying to tell you is that there seems to be a 2 fold reality at work in our universe, there is the one that we can see, touch, taste and smell, but that is just a mere reflection of the true reality that is made of thoughts, ideas, energy.  As humans we rely on our senses to show us and guide us, it is how we learn, but there is more to the learning, and we have to leave the darkness of our cave and climb into the light. Though it maybe painful, and we have to wait for our eyes to adjust to the brightness and the pain, then we have to learn it all over again.  Because what we have known as reality and truth, is not entirely accurate.  This is the philosophers journey, but is also a spiritual journey toward enlightenment, and a closer understanding of the divine.  I believe that which we live and reside in is our physical reality, but there is a spiritual plane of existence that is super imposed upon this one.  It is here where the angels and God reside, it is where our prayers, meditations and desires are manifest.  I also believe that the universe has constant laws that are opposite between both realities.  If you go back and look at my blog entries on "Creative Visualization" you will see the law of attraction and how in the physical reality or plane of existence opposites attract, such as when you hold a negative and positive end of a magnet toward each other.  In the spiritual reality or plane of existence the inverse happens, like attracts like and negative attracts negative.  

I am hoping that you can see what I am trying to say.  If you were the person that was taken from the cave and shown all the things that you once saw and thought of as real were not, and come to realize that all that you have known was wrong, could you go back into the cave and see the same things, I don't think you could.  Because once you have seen what is real the reflections of them would no longer be relevant to you.  I believe it is the same with any revelation. Once your eyes are open to the truth you can no longer go back to seeing them the way you once did.  When you take your first steps on your journey your eyes may not understand what they are seeing, and you may even doubt, but as you keep going you are going to realize that what you once thought was reality, isn't.  No matter how much you want to go back and liberate those that you left behind on your journey.  They aren't going to see the same things as you, you are going to be different, and they won't accept or believe you until they start their own journey.

A friend of mine wrote to me on Facebook that he was glad to see that I am taking everything with a positive attitude.  My response was that it is hard to see the negative side of things anymore because so many wonderful things have been happening.  It is true, I don't look at things the same way I once did, because I don't see them the same exact way.  I don't see the negative, I only see the good things that have come from my journey.  I know this all sounds so confusing and hard to understand.  But as you progress and make your own journey you are going to see that your attitude as well as your vision changes.  Things that were once so bothersome, are now small and mundane, and are mere reflections of a much larger picture.

Even if you don't agree with me, I hope that you will take some time and research what I have been talking about.  Maybe you will come away with something different from the Allegory of the Cave then I did, and I hope that you will be willing to share it with me.

I hope you will come back tomorrow, because I want to focus a little bit on what Plato was talking about when he was speaking on education and learning. Because I believe that learning and education are an important part of understanding the journey that we are on in this life.  I also believe that as we learn and grow, we mature, and tend to comprehend more, and when that comprehension builds it drives us toward further enlightenment.  The more enlightened we become the more we understand.  

As always my hopes and dreams are with you,

Uncle B

Beliefs and Believing are they the same thing?

I was thinking about how I wanted to open up this discussion that I have been kicking around about Reality, but it dawned on me that as with all things reality is based on perception and beliefs.  So I decided that I needed to backtrack just a bit and discuss beliefs and believing, because most people think that they mean the same thing.  Most would be incorrect in that assumption though, because the human mind works in such a way that we can believe something differently then the belief in which is is founded. You might think that this is a play on words, but it is truly remarkable how the human mind has the ability to compartmentalize and evaluate different concepts and assign a value to them, which later become ingrained in our own belief system and structure.

See a belief is something that we have either learned or experienced, it is first hand knowledge of something that has happened or transpired.  Whereas, believing in something is an act of faith in some cases, and in others is just a reinforcement of a belief that has been experienced.  Taking religion as a basis for this discussion, I can show you the difference between a belief and believing in something.  There is however an inherent danger in beliefs and believing, because believing in something gives it strength and power.  It is also possible to manifest or create a believe and bring it into existence.  All of this I will try to demonstrate and explain.  It is upon this type of idea and abstraction that the current religion is based.  For the majority of people there are two primary and competing religions in the world.  Now, I said for the majority, I want to clarify that there are other religions out there and belief structures, and I am not trying to say one is better than the others, or any of them are right or wrong.  My personal beliefs are actually a culmination of several beliefs and structures, but that is for another time.  What I can say is that I was born into a Christian home, I was taught from the Bible and I have maintained that core in my own personal belief structure, though I have incorporated and utilize different portions of faiths and religions to build and customize my own way of thought and living.  I uses Buddist chanting and meditation techniques and I incorporate Wiccan ceremony and rituals into my own life.  I am not asking anyone to follow me in my pursuit because it is mine and mine alone.

Yet, I have come to realize that I can believe one thing and have a belief in another, and both can exist and be correct at the same time.  You might think that this is impossible but it is not.  I can also believe in something and have no discernible proof that it exists.  This bridging of fact and belief is called an intellectual synthesis.  Sir Thomas Aquinas created a synthesis that allowed science and religion to co-exist together.  He postulated that science was only furthering to prove the existence of the Divine and in such pursuits God Himself.  Because of this new found belief Reason was no longer thought to be the enemy of faith, but rather that reason would expand and explain faith.  It also brought about the renewed change in thought of the time that  philosophy was no longer the enemy of theology, but would also expand it and broaden it's reach. Though theology is often time a part of philosophy the depth and breadth of philosophy reaches far further.  For philosophy is reason personified and rational and irrational thought studied and followed to it's conclusion.

It is important for you to understand that you can have a belief while believing in something else entirely.  Just because you believe that God speaks to you through prayer, doesn't mean that you can't believe that he talks to someone else through meditation and divination.  It is elusive to describe in detail what I am trying to say because beliefs and believing in something are very personal and deeply ingrained in us, whether by, culture or denomination or even religious devotion. You might even liken a belief to a personal conviction.  By doing so you make it exclusively your's, and that conviction can be a part of a greater belief and it be right for you but only you.  However, by believing in something you are giving it energy and life. I am asking you to trust me that believing is different than having a belief but as I sit here trying to force my mind around it, I keep looping back.

I guess what I am trying to say is having a belief is personal where believing in something means you take part in it.  What comes to mind is that I believe there are ghost and spirits in this world that interact with us.  However, because I am a believing Christian, I am taught that there aren't.  The same aspect could be true.  I am a believing Christian, but there is no empirical evidence or proof that God or Heaven exists.  Where are the graves and markers of the Saints?  We are to believe without seeing which is called faith, but isn't faith another world for belief?  I think it is.  I also think that having a belief in something and believing in something are two separate things.  I also believe that this is made possible by the fact that our brain can think, rationalize, analyse and process information on several different levels that let us be able to accept incongruous things.

Therefore, it is possible for two people to have differing belief's yet believe in the same thing. Just look at church denominations.  The all believe in God, but they have different approaches and internal dogmas that make them separate.  Because I am a member of the Church it is said that I am a believer, but depending on my denomination my belief may differ from another believer and we both might be correct.  This little tidbit of knowledge is hard to grasp, and I have explained it as well as I can to help you understand what I have been trying to say.

Because what I am leading up to is that I believe that there are different types of realities that exist simultaneously and each are perceived and interpreted by the brain differently depending on you level of enlightenment.  This is just the first in a little series I want to explore on reality. I am basing what I am writing about on "Plato's Allegory of the Cave".  

 I hope that I have intrigued you enough, or maybe even confused you enough that you will want to come back and follow the next few blog entries that are going to deal with the spiritual journey and the path towards enlightenment. What tools we have at our disposal, and how the further we go on this journey different things will start to look, and how our understand of what we perceive as reality may in-fact be just a shadow of the real world hidden behind.

As always my hopes and dreams are with you,

Uncle B

Pain it's all good...just you read and see!

Pain is real, it is quantifiable and measurable.  But pain is more than a nerve impulse traveling from an extremity to the brain along a nerve.  Pain can be broken down into identifiable categories and can be described in many different ways.  When asked to define pain or ascribe a level to it, we use terms such as dull, achy, sharp, throbbing, explosive and so forth.

This allows another person to quantify the pain you are describing to them.  Many healthcare professionals ascribe a 1 to 10 scale for rating the level and intensity of your pain.  1 being the lowest and least amount of pain and 10 being the highest and most severe amount of pain.  This makes pain more observable and easier to treat. No one likes pain and drugs are often administered to help control it. Pain however is necessary as you will soon find out.  It usually accompanies or s a symptom of something else that is going on inside of your body.  Pain is a symptom or side effect, if you will of a wound or injury or problem within your body.

As I have said pain is entirely necessary and a function of the body and the brain, specifically the nervous system.  I also stated that there are categories of pain, which I define as being physical, emotional and spiritual pain.  Each category can be a stand-alone attribute or they can happen together. As described earlier they are each measurable and quantifiable and are rated using the 1 to 10 scale. Yet I contend that each are equally important and need to be addressed.  As I have said no one likes pain and when we are in it, we long for relief and comfort.

Pain treatment varies by degree and method.  Sometimes by drugs or other forms of care.  Sometimes they are treated by time and distance, yet sometimes by a combination of the drugs and time.  In almost all cases pain is treated in a type of process.  First, by removing the cause then treating the residual pain that is left through cleaning, dressing and finally drugs.

However, if you remember I stated earlier that pain is necessary, and it is!  Pain is also important as you will soon see.  I am asking you to stay with me here as I endeavor to try and explain it too you. If death is the anti-thesis to life, then pain is the anti-thesis to living.  With that being said, lets look at how this works.

Physical pain teaches us. It tells the body NO, you can't do that or that there is something wrong, or there is some kind of sustained damage.  Emotional pain matures us ad teaches us how to grow and accept.  Spiritual pain enlightens us and propels us forward. Pain is important and if you refer to my blog entry entitled "The Crucible called life is a training ground" you will find that pain is the heat and pressure applied to our lives that mold us and builds us into the individuals we become.

Physical pain is a warning that tells our mind and body to stop.  Don't do that! Quit! Move Away and in almost all cases screams don't do that again.  Emotional pain is similar in it's message, but in a much more subtle way.  Physical pain we learn from immediately, such as getting burned by a hot object.  We know the signs, heat, smell and of course the end result, and we know right away that we don't want to do it again.  However, emotional pain, the lesson may not always be quite as clear.  We might have to experience it a few times in order to grasp what it is trying to teach us.  Most of the time emotional pain comes from some sort of relationship and is just as painful as physical pain.  Spiritual pain is harder yet to explain, but we all go through it.  It can be a religious type of pain or it could just be something as mundane as reaching puberty, having a mental crisis, or a betrayal of some sort.  However, spiritual pain involves a moral or personal wound or injury.  Spiritual wounds can be perceived and felt as much as physical or emotional pain.  Spiritual pain can also be the dawning realization that there is so much more to everything then you knew.  As I have said spiritual wounds tend to be the trickiest because they are usually a combination of both the physical and emotional types of pain.  As we go further along I will try and make all three of these types of pain more understandable.

We have done all this talking about pain and my three classifications of pain, but what is the definition of pain?  According to Webster's Dictionary "Pain is the unpleasant feeling resulting from injury or disease; any distress or suffering of the mind; sorrow"  As you can see the definition covers the first two aspects of pain but leaves untouched the third (spiritual). Now when I say classifications, aspect or types of pain I am referring back to my concept of Physical, Emotional, Spiritual.

So in order to better explain things I need to talk to you a bit about what I call the "Light Body".  This might sound confusing at first but the concept can be explained and once I explain, I think you will begin to see a much clearer picture of what pain is and how it effects us and how we benefit, learn and grow from it.

I believe that the "Light Body" is made up of three complete and distinct layers or aspects. This is the result of what I have studied, been taught and have extensively thought about.  Whether you believe as I do, or come to accept it is all up to you.  But if you bear with me I am sure you will at least come to understand what I am talking about and can put together your own interpretation.  But feel free to interpret what I have to tell you anyway you like so that it all makes sense to you.  Because no matter I believe once it is explained you can extrapolate your own conclusions.

"The Light Body" is comprised of three distinct and fundamental levels that can operate independently or in conjunction with each other. As with pain I break them down as follows: physical, mental or emotional ans spiritual or soul.  These aspects or layers are overlaid over the body all at the same time and are handled by the bodies super computer the brain.  Now one could argue that because they reside and overlap the body they are therefore part of the physical body, which is partly correct.  However permit me to explain and I will try to make it easy for you to understand.

In order for me to do this correctly I am going to have to delve into a little biology and physiology.  The body has a system of nerves that network through-out it's entirety.  This would be the central nervous system and the peripheral nervous system.  These are easy to explain and simplify if you will.  The central nervous system comprises the brain and the spinal cord with the extending nerves through the spine. The peripheral nervous system is the nerve network that combines the limbs and organs to the central nervous system.  Simple right?  Well I need to break it down a little bit further.  The peripheral nervous system is broken down into two sub-systems called the sonomic and autonomic nervous systems.  Here is where the first break happens between the physical and the emotional and spiritual body occurs.  The sonomic system is where voluntary control of body movements occur.  It is also where sensory input from our limbs travel to the central nervous system to the brain.  The autonomic nervous system is the regulatory system and controls the bodily functions without conscious intervention.  Examples of this are heart beat, respiration, digestion and sexual arousal.  The actions of this system happen on the subconscious level of the brain, however some can work with the sonomic nervous system such as breathing and swallowing.  Both of which can happen involuntarily or by thinking about them.

Are you beginning to see where I am coming from? Do you see the physical and emotional bodies beginning to form?  I hope so because I am about to take you further still to understand the spiritual body and how the three work together to for the "Light Body".  Now keeping in mind that we are still taking about pain and how we react, grow from, learn from and experience it.  The nervous system is read by and interpreted by the brain, the body's super computer. Without going into the psychology of the brain, I will just explain that the spiritual body is house there.  Whether in the subconscious or conscious parts of it or in another place entirely is open for another lesson.  However, I need to say that the brain is hwere the soul or consciousness resides.  It is where rational, irrational thoughts take place. It is here that I believe the Divine Spark lives. What Christians call the breathe of life, and what I refer to as the "Godhead".  It is the part of us that the Divine has gifted us with that gives us life and sentience.

As I have said before all three aspects, or categories of pain exist because the three aspects of the body exist.  It is possible to experience pain on each level individually or collectively.  The body is a miraculous machine, governed and moderated by the brain.  It has wondrous coping and defense mechanisms that help us compartmentalize and analyze as well as quantify the pain we experience. But the overall outcome of pain is the same.  It is a warning, a signal of danger, hurt or damage that needs to be handled and addressed.  How we deal with pain is personal and will vary by each individual. Everybody handles and deals with pain and injury differently.  However, we each receive warnings and symptoms that alert us to the injury or wound.

As we grow, develop, mature and age our body develops an early warning system that helps protect us and identify danger and potential for injury.  As a threat is perceived we might experience a period of heightened awareness, a tensing of the muscles and we become hyper sensitive to body languages, sounds and other signs that attack or danger is imminent.  After this brief period of awareness comes the "Fight or Flight reflex" which is a rising panic within us to either prepare for battle or flee from the attack.  This floods the body with adrenalin and endorphin's that shield the mind from the trauma of pain and injury. This is also known as Shock.

The brain is so powerful that it can override or deaden the impulses of pain to such a degree that a person can walk around on a broken ankle for an hour and never realize that it is broken.  However, it will react in the same way to any other type of pain you might experience. Shock shields the brain from being overloaded by massive pain impulses flooding from the nerves.  How to cope with pain is another topic we can explore later in another blog entry.  What I wanted you to learn from this entry is that there are several different types of pain that you can and will experience, and through each type what you the individual will learn from, grow from and develop and mature from.

They say that time heals all wounds. Essentially that is true, but pain is different and is handled differently, processed differently and ultimately may never go away.  But I am here to tell you this, you can survive pain, there are ways you can lessen your pain and sometimes you can overcome it.  Other times you will have to bear it.  But know and understand that you can live with it and endure it.  Pain is how we truly learn, how we adapt.  If forces us to grow, mature. It can even give us direction, change us, make us stronger and more cautious.

Pain teaches us patience, humility and inevitably through the process we learn frailty and mortality. It can also drive us to explore new possibilities, take bigger risks and chances and helps us face our fears.  Most of all it molds us, builds our character and in a way makes us human.  Pain means we are living and alive, growing and learning.  Though we hate it, it is important none the less!

As always my hopes and dreams are with you,


Uncle B