1 year ago

Desires
Desires are foolish, & they are a kind of mental illness.
Not a serious illness that’s necessarily violent or scary in any way, but an illness nonetheless.

You will live forever, you will never die.
Your body will, of course, but you are not your body.

The ego, believing that it’s right & that it knows best,
Defiant, stubborn, & set in it’s ways, always sets off to prove god wrong
So people incarnate

To believe that you can see something that isn’t there is delusional
To believe that something’s true when it isn’t true is equally delusional

The ego wants to make a world in it’s own image, in order to protect it’s self-concept
In order to justify it’s own existence, it’s own necessity, the ego will think to itself:
“I am the best! I am above all others! No one is my equal!”

It will try to make a world where it doesn’t have to forgive
where it can hold onto resentment forever & never die.
It will try, it will certainly try, but from the day of it’s conception it is doomed to die

The death of the body & the death of the ego
Both are foregone conclusions
Fight, cry, barter, argue, the death of the body & ego are inevitable

There are three phrases that are frightening, four that the ego doesn’t like:
Death is inevitable, Resistance is futile, The unrepentant are in Hell, & You should forgive

Desires are different from preferences in that, while preferences are merely understandable differences in opinion, desires are deep-seated emotions that can drive people to unwholesome or depraved ends.

Desires are not healthy because they come from a place within a person, where that person feels like they lack something within themselves, & so they need to look outside of themselves in order to fill some kind of void within themselves. This is neither true nor necessary.

Forgive, treat others how you’d like to be treated, focus more upon giving & less upon taking,
Do not cling to possessions, do not crave what is unwholesome, & all will be well for you.

Clinging & craving are the two unwholesome roots. From these two roots come all vice & viciousness. Abandon desire, be content with the gift of eternal life, & all will be well for you.
Clinging
In a world of ceaseless change, many souls feel that they need to cling to something,
in order to provide their life with a sense of constancy or stability
For many, being able to cling to something, to depend on something, can give them comfort,
Even if, ultimately whatever they’ve become attached too may be nothing more than a crutch that holds them back from achieving their full potential or true fulfillment

Some people may cling to people, other’s to views, doctrines, or possessions.
Just because something’s comfortable, that doesn’t mean that that’s what’s best for you.
Take junk food, for example.
It’s designed to be addictive, & so many people become addicted to it.
Like a codependent relationship, if someone doesn’t get their high, if they don’t get their fix to satisfy that conditioned addiction, they can go into withdrawal.

Habits are a powerful form of self-hypnosis, & when combined with a strong identification like
“I am a good person”, “I am a believer”, or, “I am a plumber”, the habits of a person’s life can truly convince them that that is who, what, & all they are.
Once convinced of the story that they tell themselves, they may then even fight to defend that self-concept.
There is no conflict in the world but at the root of which is the question: “Who am I?”

Endless philosophies have been concocted trying to answer this question,
But philosophers are often deliberately prolix in order to appear wise,
In truth, they over complicate the question.

You are you. You are unique, but you’re not entitled to special treatment.
You are as god created you, but god doesn’t play favorites.
You are a child of god, & you may be holy or wicked, as you wish.

The wicked will suffer from an unhappy life
The holy will receive god’s many, innumerable blessings

You are not your body, nor are you your self-concept,
nor are you your mind, nor need you even be an ego.

You’re just you.
Let that be enough for you.
Words may not always be helpful, but let these words comfort you.

To cling to any thought like “I am this” or “I am that” is to confuse the role that the world would have you play for the role that god has created you for.
In order to fill the role that god would have you fill, you must understand who & what you are.

There are many occupations in the world, some exist to waste time, & others exist to interact with the body or mind in various ways. But you are not your occupation.

God prepared a plan for the atonement & salvation of humanity.
The children of god exist as participants in god’s plan, mediators of the atonement,
Students of the principles of the atonement, señors of the terms of the atonement,
Co-creators of the divine liturgy, & as the children of the father.

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