Robert Gale Ongley

Month: August 2020

  • CREATE YOUR WORLD

    In these times when it can seem the world and even your own life is beyond your control, it’s time to be reminded that you have more of an impact than you think.

    I’d like to examine how your thoughts, feelings and actions create an effect spanning from the metaphysical to the practical. We should not underestimate ourselves.

    Wisdom of the Ancients

    I’ve been re-reading part of an excellent book by Gregg Braden called The Divine Matrix. Part of it has to do with unlocking the meaning of early texts from religions going back thousands of years. ” In the teachings of Mahayana Buddhism”, for instance, “it’s believed that reality can exist only where our mind creates a focus.” Without that focus, reality would not take shape. It’s only a potential reality until we place our focus there, which I propose is made up of intention to perceive in a specific way. Thus, reality is created.

    The Dead Sea Scrolls, written by Essene Gnostics in the early days of Christianity, contain ancient prayers that were translated recently. Braden points to words of Jesus about proper prayer. The King James Version put it this way: “Whatsoever ye ask the Father in my name, he will give it to you. Hitherto have ye asked nothing in my name. Ask and ye shall receive, that your joy may be full.”

    The latest translation is a powerful clarification: “All things that you ask straightly, directly…from inside My name–you will be given. So far you haven’t done this…So ask without hidden motive and be surrounded by your answer–Be enveloped by what you desire, that your gladness be full.”

    The point Braden takes from this is that effective prayer involves fully feeling that which we focus on, feeling it as though it already happened.

    Scientific Confirmation

    The field of quantum physics has shown us that reality on the subatomic level depends on our observation of particles such as electrons. The rules of quantum physics state that the consciousness of the observer determines how energy will behave.

    Quantum physics research has suggested that there are many, if not infinite, potential realities. Every situation has lots of potential outcomes. We have the power to choose the realities we prefer. We can also, and more often do, allow outcomes we do not prefer. The reasons for this are many also, among them being ignorance and fear.

    Abstract Particles Physics Quantum Physics Wave

    What to Do

    Becoming a master at choosing all aspects of our reality, effectively deciding from moment to moment how we want our lives to go and thus making it all come true, is probably not going to happen overnight. I think it’s safe to say that for most people, living on this plane, it’s going to take a lot of study and work over the course of a long time. I suspect most people reading this have serious doubts we have this ability. And a good many of those folks are beginning to wonder if I have a stable grip on reality at all. Having said that, I do believe we all have the capacity to use this science. We can make firm decisions on taking our lives in a desirable direction and making things happen.

    On a practical level, we can influence outcomes on small and large scales. The smaller changes might include improving our grades or building a bookcase. The large scale changes are more likely to happen when we do them collectively, such as changing systemic racial injustice by taking part in a global movement. The Vietnam War would have dragged on much longer if it weren’t for the united voice of the throngs who protested against it. Sentient beings who visualized a new reality brought about change with their decisions followed by action.

    Here in the latter half of 2020, we are faced with unacceptable realities. We are in the midst of a pandemic that has changed our way of life. It has resulted in a blow to our economy. The death toll continues to rise. We are taking measures, mostly through science and medicine, to manage and eventually overcome it.

    Social upheaval due to a system that makes life harder than necessary for people of color is signalling that enough is enough. I sense that the collective consciousness of the beings who inhabit this world is bringing human energy to a level of critical mass, a tipping point where we end racial injustice as a standard societal basis.

    Finally, we have a President who is a documented serial liar who simply makes up a reality he would like us all to accept. He has reached a point where he is trying to pass it off as truth, saying a long-standing, dependable system of voting is susceptible to fraud when there is no evidence to support his self-serving claim. He would rather take down our postal service, established by order of the Second Continental Congress, than to let people vote by mail, a right that was established during the Civil War and in the late 1800s for civilians. It is proven and reliable, as is the United States Postal Service. The writing on the wall is clear. Voting by mail is dangerous to quasi-president Trump and he will corrupt the system before accepting a loss. Then, when he loses, he will claim the election was “rigged.” My belief is his true agenda is to dismantle the United States government. Many of his actions point to this goal.

    Vote!

    We can collectively change the dark course of our country and the world. First, decide. Be the change we want to see, paraphrasing Gandhi. To be practical about it, exercise your right to vote. The hearts and minds of our people can steer us away from this catastrophic end the sick, sad leader visualizes for us all.

    Want a nation of wholesale love and equality? Quoting Mr. Braden, “We must become in our lives the things that we choose to experience as our world.”

  • LOVE AS ART

    A case can be made that all art is an expression of love. The very act of creation may be a bursting forth of love. There it is on the canvas. There it is on the page. There it is in the music, on the dance floor, on the stage.

    I hope in this post to illustrate how art in its many forms is love manifest. It may not always strike an aesthetic chord and maybe it’s downright irritating to the observer experiencing it, but the source of the sprouting seed from which it germinates is the same life force that brings us our most cherished art.

    Some Blazing Examples

    Music is a treasure trove of cases in point. Vivaldi’s Four Seasons would qualify, in my opinion, along with many other classical pieces. Works of Mozart and Rachmaninoff come to mind right away. Rock, folk, jazz, blues and country music gave us contributions like Love Song by Elton John, All You Need is Love by the Beatles and Back Home Again by John Denver.

    Books such as Siddhartha by Hermann Hesse, The Magic Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett and The Prophet by Kahlil Gibran are a few of many tomes swelling with love from cover to cover.

    In the world of painting, what could speak love more eloquently than Michelangelo’s frescoes on the ceiling in the Sistene Chapel? In dance, nothing demonstrates the joy of romantic love better than Singin’ in the Rain. While there are many films that give us stirring romance, Titanic showed as well as any how deep love can go.

    It’s easy to recognize love in art through these magnificent works, but let’s challenge ourselves. Let’s open our minds a little to find it dressed in other not-so-pleasant garb.

    Burnin’ Down the House

    I’ll tell you what comes to mind when I go searching for loving art in disguise. It’s heavy metal music. Guttural voices, pounding rhythms and grating instruments that could set your teeth on edge. Keep in mind, though, that metal fans are rabidly loyal. They may be most excited about their bands when they’re teenagers, but they still love them when they’re bonafide grown-ups. I would contend also that those musicians playing this music are doing so because they love it. The lyrics can also be endorsing deep spiritual compassion, couched in language reminding us who we are. My son played the latest Tool album for me recently. It’s called Fear Inoculum. Check out part of their message from this song, Pneuma.

    We are spirit Bound to this flesh We go around one foot nailed down We’re bound to reach out and beyond this flesh  become Pneuma
    We are will and wonder Bound to recall, remember (We are born of) One breath, one word (We are all) One spark, sun becoming
    Child, wake up Child, release The light Wake up now, child, wake up Child, release The light Wake up now, child
    (Spirit) (Spirit) (Spirit) (Spirit)

    One of the most violent and disturbing television shows of all time, Breaking Bad, had as its basic premise the intention of a secretly dying high school Chemistry teacher to leave his family all the support financially they would need in his absence. His decision to raise a fortune by making and selling meth led to major complications and some pretty ugly actions arising from his need to survive long enough to realize his goal. Still, love for family was the initial driving force for this character.

    Hate and Love

    All well and good as far as those examples go, you may be thinking. Exceptions to the rule do not a rule make. It’s absurd that all art is an expression of love, right? I mean, where’s the redeeming quality in a song that speaks forcefully about killing cops? Or where’s the love in a manifesto that declares oppressive intentions toward a group of people?

    I once wrote an angry song about a woman who had the good sense to break off our relationship when she saw that we weren’t compatible. I penned a scathing assessment of her mental condition and sang it with vitriolic passion. I think it’s vital to look at the source of these feelings that produce such anger and hate that we sublimate into our art.

    As humans, we are basically animals. As spiritual beings, we are so much more. Most people identify more with their bodies than they do with their higher selves. We are pack animals on that most basic level. As such, we have a strong urge for affinity. My dictionary tells me affinity is a natural liking or attraction. It’s natural to like others and want to be close to them. We care about those in our pack and we would defend them against attack. This is love…uncomplicated when sane, pure when simple.

    Being rejected by the pack creates a sense of separation. There’s enforced distance, thus diminished affinity. It can lead to anger, hate and retaliation to being pushed away. The artist who experiences this is inclined to produce art that reacts to the unwanted condition of being thrust from the circle of love. They would much rather be wrapped in the loving embrace of their community. The love that naturally emanates from the source of life within the person meets with the rejection and cries out in pain as creatively as it can. Figuratively speaking, it screams or growls or moans in dark art that demands reciprocation. Love’s protest is registered on the canvas of humanity’s matrix, but always retains its identity as love.

    Don’t Be Fooled

    When you see the twisted and disturbing piece of sculpture or the violent movie or a grotesque portrait of a vicious man, don’t look upon it in disgust and certainly do not reject the creator of this art. Don’t judge this person to be cold or hard or mean. Look deeper and try to find the expression of love giving rise to what bubbled to the surface.