8a Desires - Flowering

Ch.8a. Desires - Flower

This is the 1st part of Chapter 8 Desires, and is called Flowering. 

Introduction to Desires.

We have fears that we want to be rid of, so these are very basic wants, but we also have some essential desires 'built-in'. We think it would be so good to get rid of our fears, ie, for them to be not there at all, but then what would we respect in life? Anything? Maybe not, although I hope I have made clear that it is our giving of TISP to the internal 'other' that will help us with our fears, and that takes a bit of thought and work to carry out. In this way, our fears force us to look at our basic requirements for life on earth, and it is life on earth that is teaching us about what we most need to learn, which is, giving TISP = Doing Love. But what about our Desires?

I think of our basic fears as sticks for the donkey to make it move, and our desires as carrots to give it proper direction. This donkey has certainly needed both. But, what are these essential desires, our 'carrots'? What are we really looking for?

To Grow Bigger.  

A very basic urge is that we want to grow bigger. We want to 'grow up' to be an adult; to be like our parents, or some other role-model; and we do want to be like God.

We hope that this will bring us more power and control, choice, independence, explore and the freedom to do so, and expression, which is also a very deep drive, as is explore.

In fact, we want it so much that we will do anything to get the feeling of 'bigger'; so much so that it's probably a primary drive. One way we do this is with our minds, because we can. We look out there and judge and compare, which is what the whole of the Sup/Inf Caper is all about. But remember this is the outself that's doing this, and also that you're doing it to your InSelf as well (ML), to your own detriment and cost.

This is the disadvantage of having a mind like God's; we need it for comparison and discrimination, but it's a two-edged sword, and we can cut ourselves if we use it incorrectly.

Well, then, if we shouldn't be using our minds this way, how do we grow? Well, we can look at what children need to grow to give us some ideas for our own. 

The primary ingredients for children to grow and be happy are TISP, Rest and Play, all of which are very important. In TISP I include teaching children to give it as well as receiving it themselves; as they are receiving TISP, the parents are modelling giving TISP; that's what it's all about.

The whole point of being an Adult is the ability to provide all these things for oneself and others and in all energy domains. This is quite a big ask, and not many of us manage the full Adult. For most of us, growing up to ‘adult’ will get us to ‘bigger’, at least physically, and with any luck we’ll have a bit of control over life as well. Once we are adult size, we have technically finished growing in the physical domain and need to turn our attention to the other Energy domains of the Emotional, Mental and Spiritual/Intuitive, where we will have plenty to explore for the rest of our lives if we can access them. It’s a pity that our social ‘world view’ does not really understand all of them.

But, what IS Grow?

We grow when we can actually encompass more of life within us, and come to a greater understanding of what life is about, which helps us work with it better.  Life becomes more useful to us and we become more useful to life. As we reject parts of life, we exclude it, we can't encompass it, and we become afraid/angry. This shrinks us and hence we cannot grow. God grows bigger simply as She encompasses more of Life and Energy within Her.

'Grow' is not always 'out there' either. Notice that the plant has to get its roots down in the earth and dark to explore for nutrients, before it can shoot up higher. It always needs plenty of roots 'down and in' to support its growth 'up and out', as in, the dark is supporting it - we don't see the roots. We absolutely take it for granted for the growth and stability of the plant. For us, this means that our internal domains could provide us with nutrients to feed and support us if we cared to explore them.

We want to grow and know our own 'bigness'. We think it's to adult so we might have a bit more control, but the desire is more than that. All life grows, so then it can explore better, so then it can grow some more.

But we also want to Express, and it is the InSelf that wants this expression ie, our expression must come from within. The most useful metaphor/model for this is that of a plant growing to flower.

FLOWERING (8A)

The Flower Model/Metaphor.  (8A1)

In general then, (because there are exceptions) flowers are….

·         The plant's potential, realized, ie, made real.

·         Seen by others, and can then be contributed to by others (the flower can then go to the fruit/seed of the plant.)

·         Usually 'built' to attract and reward the fertilizing agent, eg, producing nectar which can be sweet that can feed insects or birds. The plant can't walk around; it has to attract the agent to it.

·         Often very attractive on a much 'plainer' plant. Think how much we put up with cranky, prickly roses because we want their flowers.

And notice that…. (8A1a)

·         The Flower is an essence of the plant, but it's not the plant. It is not part of the plant's general growth for support or nutrition. The apple blossom is not the tree (while the apple is different again). The product is not the producer. (We forget this when we confuse the actor/performer/sportsperson with the act/performance/sport.)

·         In general a plant must grow and feel strong and well fed to flower well. Flowering requires extra effort/energy on the part of the plant. (It also takes effort to produce fruit/seed.) if the plant is damaged or stunted, it affects the flowering.

·         The flower is formed by the plant from within itself and takes time to appear, because it takes time to form them - they don't just 'pop out'. The flower 'comes from within'. The plant then takes a rest from flowering. It also does it generally once a year and then builds up its resources before doing it again.  Not a bad idea.

·         It's the flowers that tell us deeper information about the plant; they are the reflection of its DNA hidden deep inside, and they (flowers) tells us what the plant's 'family and relations' are. We know the plant more specifically, ie, it's species.

·         The flower is useful to the plant. It is the prelude to fertilization from another plant of the same species, (usually), which leads to the production of fruit/seed which supports life and the continuation of the species.

·         Many flowers produce nectar which is 'sweet'. This sweetness attracts a pollination vector, amongst others.

·         Flowers give life to 'the other' - bees live on the nectar and pollen, as do other insects, birds, etc.

·         The variety of flowers is staggering; so many ways to flower - each one its own beauty.

·         And we love them; what would life be like without them?

And Notice that most plants like a bit of fertilizer, especially manures/shite, and flower better for it.

Thus, as we Flower we define ourselves out and express our own 'essence' as it were. The crux of this being that we have to be apart from God to be able to define ourselves out for ourselves. Hence the axiom of 'Know Thyself'.

Flowering is therefore defined here as the Expression from within; ie, it's a possibility of the Self, of many possibilities - it does require effort but it doesn't necessarily look like effort, because life wants (a great Desire) to flower, and there is a real Delight in so doing (Desire and Delight [D&D]). Our Flowering is our expression from within and as we do so it generates Self-Esteem (SE) and this is something we are really looking for.

What is Self-Esteem (SE)?  (8A2)

We think and talk about Self-Esteem, but don’t really know how to define it, but we want it - lots. It is how we feel 'bigger' within ourselves; or how we feel good about ourselves. Some have it and some do not.

We think our SE comes from our outself/conscious feeling bigger because that's what we know about, and we strive for that, which is what all the Superiority/Inferiority Caper in the previous section is about, but as I hope I have argued sufficiently, it is not The Answer. It is our InSelf that wants to Flower, and we will grow as we help it to do that, and ‘help’ is the operative here.

Where we build SE. (8A2a)

The problem with defining SE lies in where our SE 'lives' or is 'seated' or ‘built’ ie, it's 'home/house', whether this is in the outself or the InSelf.

If it is seated/built only in the outself/conscious, then by definition it is not in the InSelf, which means it is not true for the InSelf. This then, is Pride which can 'go before a fall' eventually, (because that pride is covering or compensating for its opposite lack internally, by definition). This is the 'house built upon sand'.

If it is seated/built in the InSelf/unconscious, it is secure because it is true/correct/'proper', and hence it is the 'house built upon rock' because it is actually true within life. Thus it is better labelled as True Self-Esteem (TSE). (The truth does feel like a rock, as in, more secure.)

True Self-Esteem TSE (8A2b)

So, in fact, what we really want is TSE. We think that we are wanting pride and we tend to label that as SE, but where it is 'seated' or it's source is crucial. We've all met someone who seems to have plenty of self-esteem, but will bite you pretty hard if they think you're having a go at them; you were needing to 'walk on eggshells' and you didn't, tch, tch; you've hurt their feelings, whether you meant to or not. (Their self-esteem is not true, so therefore it is pride, hence it is insecure.)

TSE Comes From Flowering (8A2c)

TSE comes from Flowering ie, the Expression of your InSelf or your 'what is within you'. This means a relationship between outself and InSelf to be able to do this, which requires time and energy from the outself for the InSelf in whatever manner. The InSelf needs help from the outself, because the outself is the part of us that can make/manifest/do 'things' in the physical world.

The InSelf is not part of the physical world. It isn’t ‘real’. Our big quarrel with life is that if it isn’t ‘real’, how can it have any impact on us? The trouble is, it does; ignore it at your peril. This effort uses our energy and time. Plants need energy and time to flower and so do we. The plant diverts energy from its normal growth to the making of the flower. For humans, the effort lies in the need to give Life/Love and time to your internal 'other' using your skills/abilities to bring forth this expression from within. We ‘real-ize’ ‘what is within us’ only after we make it real, (which is a bit strange really; it seems as if it should be the other way around, but it isn’t).

TSE is Sweet and Feels More Secure.  (8A3)

Your Flowering is actually useful to Life; it is a service to Life, even if we don't know how. We all want to Flower and God/Life wants your Flower. This is your personal Light, (it will delight you) and there is really no point in hiding it under a bushel either. You will also feel 'lighter' for having flowered; another 'light' word.

TSE is hard won by you, and no-one can take it from you. It has meant effort on your part, because you have served Life. You know inside that you've done this task, or made this effort. TSE has nothing to do with what anyone else thinks or has; it's there, and it reminds you that you exist, and that solves the 'ghost' problem. You have 'seen'/realized your InSelf, and that in itself gives a deep sense of security within Life.

As you Express this InSelf, this 'what is within you', so you have given Life to an aspect of your Self. Thus you will have this 'what is within you', because it is now 'without' (= outside) you, and you can now see it, it is now manifest. (This is what the quote from Thomas is all about. Thomas also goes on to say that if you can't get this expression outside you, it will destroy you, which is also unfortunately true. I suspect this is because you will lack TSE. Thomas quotes things that Jesus repeated often, and it's a warning to all of us.)

The other thing about TSE is that it is 'sweet'; there's nectar here, which is itself attractive to others.

Sweetness is a huge issue within our society. We want it so much; all pancreas issues are issues about sweetness in our lives. Think about how much we look out there for the things that are 'sweet'. It's not just food; love is 'sweet'; if politicians give us 'sweet words', we'll swallow anything, ditto medicine; we say, 'she's sweet' when we think things are OK. But the 'sweetness' that we are looking for is within and it comes with our Flowering.

This Flowering is a lovely feeling; you have done something worthwhile that contributes to Life. We have used ourselves to our own satisfaction. This is the sweetness we are looking for because we do feel 'fed' with this one; 'full-fill-ment'. And we want more, and we can grow in this, ie explore more and find more sweetness and more 'fullness'.

Notice also, that your own 'sweetness'/nectar which has come from within is naturally attractive to others.

Thus, our Flowering gives us Expression, Sweetness, satisfaction, fulfillment, and a feeling of belonging to Life which is a form of security, or a 'rightness' to being alive; a 'right living'. These are quite a few advantages.

Flowering is what God does all the time. She Expresses Her InSelf and manifests from within, and we label that manifestation 'Life'; all and everything around us in this life on Earth.

 

To Be Like God. (8A4)

Another very deep desire is that we want to be like God, which is also built in. We are a 'child' - a 'drop' of God. It is natural for the child to want to grow to be like/as the parent. But, in fact, we want to do God. We are not just wanting greater clout here; that is an ‘outself’ translation of ‘bigger’. We don’t really have much idea of what God is actually doing, because our SBRs don’t know, (other than accusing God of clobbering us if we get it ‘wrong’).

So, what is God doing, that we can be 'like'? (8A4a)

God creates living things which can themselves give life to living things, human beings included, which is pretty magical. So, how does She do that? By giving Life to Her InSelf. 'Life' (everything that is alive around us, and Earth too) is God's Flowering; Her Expression of Her inner Self, and hence Her own source of TSE, which makes Her bigger all the time; She Grows.

God Manifests all Life from within; She is making Her Inner Self Real. As She does so, She 'real-izes' who She is.

She does it all the time, and She loves doing it; it delights Her, and She isn't going to stop. 

 

God is a Duality as well as a Unity. (8A4b)

God is a duality, as are we, but She has worked out how to Merge them and make them One, a Unity, as well as how to use Energy according to its rules. (Energy is mirroring Her InSelf all the time, as it does for us.) If you're using anything according to its rules, ie, not yours, that means you are submitting to it, ie you understand it, and can use it as a tool. God is not only entirely and utterly respectful of what Energy tells Her about Herself, as it mirrors/reflects Her InSelf back to Her, She actively uses/works with it (Energy) to Create Life. This is what She has discovered about Energy. She is learning about Herself and Energy and it never stops, as in, there is always more.

Also,  

·         She does this by Herself - no other is required; it gives Her great pleasure, and 'sweetness'. This is just Her and Energy and nothing else, and yet She can give Life to all this! Including partners for Herself.

·         She doesn't care one bit about what we think about what She creates,

·         She knows, in fact, trusts Energy, and that if She does things with the 'right' energy, ie the 'right/proper/correct' motives, it will all work out, although She doesn't actually know how or when. Nobody else knows either; but it does work out, which is a delight in itself.

 

So, there's a paradox here. God IS a duality AND a Unity. And everything else (including an awful lot of confusion generated in trying to explain this) comes out of that fact. She is in partnership with Energy, as the rider is in partnership with the horse. She merges with it and uses what it tells Her about Her Self. But also notice that riding the horse takes effort on the part of the rider; think of all the factors involved in riding in real life.

But, remember, this is what God wants; yes, it is effort but it is Her Desire, and it delights Her and brings Peace of Mind, and these things are the same for us human beings, because we are built the same way. (Which I might have said before.) It is also the only undying solace when all else has faded away.

Giving Life gives Her TSE; Life is God’s Flowering. She just 'IS', that's why She says 'I AM', which means 'I exist', ie, 'I do this, and it's amazing, and I love it, (it delights Her) and I grow in the doing'. But, She also 'rests on the 7th day', and She really can rest because She has Peace of Mind. She has done what She can, and Energy looks after the rest. That is, She knows how Energy works and She trusts it to work the way it does. If Her motives for what She does are proper and correct, things will work out, eventually. Remember, Time is not an issue off earth.

God wants This and so do we. (8A4c)

And that's what we want too; all of those things. And that is why we have the opportunity/gift/present of Life on Earth to Explore for ourselves and Express, and find out, and Grow into our own little spark of the power to give Life. And She gives us the freedom to do that. Love has to.

We don't all succeed in this quite yet, and it is not easy, but we get to explore how we can do it for ourselves. No-one else can do this for us.

And that's what we want. To do God, because that will feel good, and we can rest within ourselves before we do it again.

 

But, once again, we are already manifesting our own Life from within. Seeing/hearing/feeling/knowing what's 'out there' is the only way we are able to realize who we are 'inside'. Well, it's not the only way, because God worked it out without help from anyone else, but it's certainly easier for us when we have a Life 'out there' to use as a mirror; in spite of what we may think about that. But we're not happy with ours, and our mainstream religions (SBRs) are very little help here; we don’t really understand how important the concept of Serve or giving Life is, or why. We're not going to learn how to do God if we are afraid of Life, or thinking it must be serving us, and exploiting it, or insist on nicking off and getting away as fast as possible, or entertaining ourselves to death until we can.

We certainly want TSE, so, how do we Flower?  (8A5)

Creating Life takes Effort/Labour and submission; giving TISP to InSelf is a service to Life; it's 'Till and Keep'. The outself has to Serve the InSelf which means directing your energy internally, not out.

To recap, the idea is to …

·         Notice how energy works, and

·         Take responsibility, and

·         Merge your 2 selves, which means they must relate on equal terms; they have to 'know' each other, and

·         Take some time and quiet to be able to 'talk to' inside, and pause to reflect, and

·         Think carefully about what's required, and what you want, and why; what for? and

·         Focus your intent, and

·         Carry it out, ie execute it.

Thus, if any of these things are lacking, your energy is not being directed correctly by you for you; it needs to be ‘at your heart’ - the desire will warm your heart. That’s how you can tell. (And that’s why you need to be able to feel/sense with your body so that your ‘rudders’ are working for you.)

If we want to Flower, we have to learn to Serve our InSelf, which is also God, Life and Self (for us). Hence, our Flowering involves God. The partnership between our 2 selves is a partnership with God. So, the 'child' of God becomes a partner with God.

So increasing Flowering on our part leads to increasing partnership with God.

The more we flower, the more we will learn to love life, and trust it more, so we can flower more, etc. we become more connected or intertwined with Life.

And Life starts to 'speak/talk' to us, in a manner that is dependent on our natural tendencies; whether we are auditory, visual etc. Also, our dreams and intuitions will 'tell' us things to help us learn how to live 'right' for ourselves. See more below under 'Fruit'.

   

Play  (8A6)

Another thing that children need to do is to be able to play, and particularly using all of their body, not just an emphasis on the visual or the mental, and preferably within the natural world. How much is this possible in a city?

Play is a form of exploration, but we are not doing it for anybody but our own self. We are exploring & enjoying our own abilities, skills or natural inclinations.  It's also an expression for self, because it is how we find out about ourselves within our world, ie, what's there, and its effect on us as well as our effect on it.

When we play, there are some key features present, viz.

·         We like doing it; we're there because we want to be.

·         We are Relaxed.

·         We are not comparing or judging, although we may want to improve or grow our skills. But, this knocks a lot of our sports/games out of the 'real play' category.

·         There appears to be no time; we are in the present; in the moment.

·         There is no or very little pressure; if there is any, such as games of skill, we've invented the rules. But, real playing for oneself has no 'doing' or trying. It can look very much like 'mucking around' to no purpose, as in, 'wasting time'.

I suspect that while we may not necessarily want to work, we all want to play. Play does not exclude Effort. But the operative is that you will want to do the effort to play. So, what is play for you?

And what's the difference between play and work?

Work is different.  (8A6a)

It is generally much more specific. It is or has....

·         A specific aim, and needs a structure or organization to achieve it, whether individually or many.

·         A set of tasks or rules with an outcome

·         Time is money or survival, there is pressure to get it done eg, fields need to be ploughed or sown in their season

·         Much 'doing'/execution/carrying it out.

·         May not necessarily use all one's skills etc.

Work or Play are not necessarily completely different or mutually exclusive, and we may do one so that we can do the other as well. But we do need to play, and that doesn't include consuming entertainment/distraction which is produced through another's creativity/expression, (films or sport), ie, notice that this is a consuming. The exploration for one's self because you want to, (as long as this or its outcome does not hurt another) is a primary factor here.

Rest.  (8A7)

All children need rest to grow, and we are also told that God rested on the 7th day, so I suspect that adults need rest as well.

So, what is rest?

In general, we understand rest in the physical domain for our bodies, but we don't understand the importance of rest for our minds, which depends upon the other domains of energy. If we have 'stuff' roiling around in our minds, (consciously or unconsciously) we will have not Peace of Mind (POM); our minds cannot be quiet.

The greater the split between outself and InSelf, the greater the internal mental racket/noise, which we consider normal and try to ignore/dismiss/cover up in whatever way we can. But, if the mind cannot be quiet, it's much harder to hear that still, small voice from within that is the InSelf (GLS) that includes our Inner Child. In our current electronic society we can fill our ears and make ourselves deaf with whatever noise we like to listen to, but that takes us even further away from this essential inner child of ours, who is the source of all our creativity - our Flowering, and hence our TSE.

If we have no TSE, we will have no POM, and hence no real rest; we cannot Rest in Peace (RIP). We can tell that RIP is very important because we think that we can have RIP only when we are dead, and many people would like that.

RIP depends upon your Flowering.  (8A8)

Thus, the logic of this UUS is that RIP depends upon your Flowering, 

Which depends upon your proper relationship between your 2 internal selves,

Which is dependent upon your ability to heal the split between these 2 selves.

Hence the importance of healing this split, which requires your TISPing of your InSelf, which = 'Love thy neighbour as thyself', because the logic of this UUS is that as you TISP your InSelf (= Love thyself), so you will end up 'Loving your neighbour' (= the 'other') anyway, through the logic of how Energy works, ie the Mirror Laws. This is what I suspect we are here to learn.

The upshot of this is that the more we are able to actually 'do like God', the more we are able to RIP while alive, which might be rather a nice change, really.

Thus and so, as we are built like God ('made in the image’, or the same DNA as a parent, so to speak), so we want to be like God or our parent who 'made' us, ie, gave Life to an 'other'.

The point is that there are great rewards in doing this; TSE, D&D, RIP, Growth, fulfillment, sweetness, satisfaction and greater trust/security and connection with life, with more of this as you grow. In fact, you will enjoy your life. The other side of this when we don't/won't do TISP is, of course, frustration, irritation, fear, anger, anxiety, stress, misery, suffering and general 'shrinkage' all round really; the great dissatisfaction with Life that we all know and love so well.

The Power to Flower. (8A9)

God uses Energy to Create Life; She uses Energy (which is outside Her) to reflect Her InSelf back to Her, and works with that to Create Us and all Life. This is a very powerful thing. It is a power for the self, not a power over anyone else, and yet it is the key to life, bringing many rewards which 'feed' us and help us do more. We can do the same, we're built the same way, Energy is the same for all of us ie, our 'ground', and we want to work out how to do this 'giving life' bit and feel good, and that is why we're here. This is what we are looking for. Simple? Maybe. Easy? Well, it wasn't for me. But, children who have been well-TISPed by their parents seem to do this naturally.

Conclusion.

We are looking for our own Power to Flower from within. This comes from the deepest part of ourselves because it is in our DNA. It is our Power to Do Like God. This is a power for ourselves which needs no other, but does not exclude another. We are our own little spark/drop of God.

If we want to grow and Flower, and get TSE, we need TISP, Play and Rest. But, really, the ability to relax and play as well as rest is still dependent on TISP - this just gets in the way all the time. This whole book is starting to look like a book on TISP, which it is! How to TISP your inner Self so that you can then give and receive TISP to/from your neighbour (= the 'other') to your heart's Desire.

Therefore, where and upon what you put your TISP matters to you, and you have a choice, and it is quite true that it's much nicer if it's on how to Serve Life/Nature or else no TSE (because of how Energy works). The more we can relate and connect to our InSelf, the happier we can become.

The crux of this is that the InSelf can be our companion/partner in Life, because it is GLS ie, our little bit of God. We need no other, and since Energy is always mirroring your InSelf you can use your life 'out there' to tell you who is inside, and then you can do things with your internal partner, such as, 'riding the horse' of Energy to wherever you wish to go.

And that is why you are here. The ‘Reason for Life’, or ‘the Meaning of Life, the Universe and Everything’, etc. The win-win situation for all. You win and so does Life. This is not something that is currently in great evidence at the moment, and it might be nice to see more of it.

Ultimately, this business of ‘doing God’ can appear to be entirely ‘selfish’, and yet you are actually giving Life to ‘the other’ and the benefits to external others will be there as well as for you, but are of no real concern to you except as feedback for you to understand/encompass more and be able to enjoy giving/serving more.

This is how you work with Energy for your own Desire and Delight in the Exploring and Expressing of Life of/for you, and there’s always more. ‘De light will show you the way’.

The Flowering is of the InSelf, but you can get to that by giving Life either directly to the InSelf or to the external other, although if you’re using the external route you need to make sure Desire and Delight are also there, not ‘oughts' or 'shoulds’ which tend to make you feel 'tied up'/bound, and you won't like that. That’s how you can use these formulae.

This set of equations is true for all, and very useful for noticing missing bits, eg, if you are Serving but not happy or following your heart, and losing energy or getting bored because of that, you need to backtrack and work out where your TISP is actually going and what you are actually doing.

This is how you feed yourself, are happy to give TISP to ‘the other’, and how you ‘fill’ yourself, for your own growth and TSE, Rest and Peace of Mind. There is a great deal of gladness here as well.

But, the Flower is the prelude to the Fruit.