D.E. Lamont's Blog
December 4, 2021
Religious Influence in Society
“For the last hundred years or so religion has been beset with a relentless attack. You have been told it’s the ‘opiate of the masses,’ that it’s unscientific, that it is primitive; in short, that it is a delusion. But beneath all these attacks on organized religion there was a more fundamental target: the spirituality of man, your own basic spiritual nature, self-respect and peace of mind. This black propaganda may have been so successful that maybe you no longer believe you have a spiritual nature but I assure you you do. In fact, you don’t have a soul, you are your own soul. In other words, you are not this book, your social security card, your body or your mind. You are you. Convince a man that he is an animal, that his own dignity and self-respect are delusions, that there is no ‘beyond’ to aspire to, no higher potential self to achieve, and you have a slave. Let a man know he is himself, a spiritual being, that he is capable of the power of choice and has the right to aspire to greater wisdom and you have started him up a higher road.”
–L. Ron Hubbard, HCO PL 21 Feb 1991 “RELIGIOUS INFLUENCE IN SOCIETY” OEC Volume 7 p. 868.© 2020 NEW ERA Publications International ApS. All Rights Reserved. Grateful acknowledgment to L. Ron Hubbard Library
July 30, 2021
What Is Our Real Nature?
I am sharing with you today the most fundamental truth I know. It won’t be real to all of you. That’s okay. Consider it, and also realize that it stands as truth outside and above all else – everything we know. You can know and appreciate and experience this even if you never set foot in a church or other religious house. You can know and experience this no matter what your religion is! It can change your life. To start off, here is something L. Ron Hubbard said about it:
“For the last hundred years or so religion has been beset with a relentless attack. You have been told it’s the ‘opiate of the masses,’ that it’s unscientific, that it is primitive; in short, that it is a delusion.
“But beneath all these attacks on organised religion there was a more fundamental target: the spirituality of man, your own…
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January 30, 2021
What Is Our Real Nature?
I am sharing with you today the most fundamental truth I know. It won’t be real to all of you. That’s okay. Consider it, and also realize that it stands as truth outside and above all else – everything we know. You can know and appreciate and experience this even if you never set foot in a church or other religious house. It can change your life.
“For the last hundred years or so religion has been beset with a relentless attack. You have been told it’s the ‘opiate of the masses,’ that it’s unscientific, that it is primitive; in short, that it is a delusion.
“But beneath all these attacks on organised religion there was a more fundamental target: the spirituality of man, your own basic spiritual nature, self-respect and peace of mind. This black propaganda may have been so successful that maybe you no longer believe you have a spiritual nature but I assure you you do.
“In fact, you don’t have a soul, you are your own soul. In other words, you are not this book, your social security card, your body or your mind. You are you.
“Convince a man that he is an animal, that his own dignity and self-respect are delusions, that there is no ‘beyond’ to aspire to, no higher potential self to achieve, and you have a slave.
Let a man know he is himself, a spiritual being, that he is capable of the power of choice and has the right to aspire to greater wisdom and you have started him up a higher road.”
—L. Ron Hubbard, from an essay published on Feb 21, 1991 titled, “RELIGIOUS INFLUENCE IN SOCIETY”
I started out by saying that this is the most fundamental truth I know. That is so, because as a spiritual being, you are virtually unlimited in an infinite number of ways – just a few of which are your creativity, your kindness, your ability to help others, your ability to invent new things. You are not limited by some inborn block to your intelligence because of your physical characteristics. Your intelligence is, actually, one of your spiritual qualities. So is your drive to life, your artistic ability – all the different capabilities that demonstrate that humanity is so much more than the sum of his and her physical circumstances.
June 29, 2020
What Is Our Real Nature?
I am sharing with you today the most fundamental truth I know. It won’t be real to all of you. That’s okay. Consider it, and also realize that it stands as truth outside and above all else – everything we know. You can know and appreciate and experience this even if you never set foot in a church or other religious house. It can change your life.
“For the last hundred years or so religion has been beset with a relentless attack. You have been told it’s the ‘opiate of the masses,’ that it’s unscientific, that it is primitive; in short, that it is a delusion.
“But beneath all these attacks on organised religion there was a more fundamental target: the spirituality of man, your own basic spiritual nature, self-respect and peace of mind. This black propaganda may have been so successful that maybe you no longer believe you have a spiritual nature but I assure you you do.
“In fact, you don’t have a soul, you are your own soul. In other words, you are not this book, your social security card, your body or your mind. You are you.
“Convince a man that he is an animal, that his own dignity and self-respect are delusions, that there is no ‘beyond’ to aspire to, no higher potential self to achieve, and you have a slave.
Let a man know he is himself, a spiritual being, that he is capable of the power of choice and has the right to aspire to greater wisdom and you have started him up a higher road.”
—L. Ron Hubbard, from an essay published on Feb 21, 1991 titled, “RELIGIOUS INFLUENCE IN SOCIETY”
December 8, 2019
Is It True or False – Find Out for Yourself
The search for truth is obviously an enormous subject that has been debated endlessly down the ages by plenty of wise – and not-so-wise – people. But the ability to distinguish or recognize truth is an essential ability that everyone can use on a daily basis. If you can’t work out the truth of something, how can you speak or act correctly about it? How can you make important decisions without the truth about things and how can you make sure of the consequences?
So I’d like to talk about the subject of “truth” in a more down-to-earth way here and leave “cosmic truth” for another time.
Everybody today deals with information – tons of it, gigabytes of it. The internet has made so much information available instantly to us. But what IS this information that flows through onto your social media, comes in your email, that you see in blogs and on websites?
Raw information is like raw chicken
Raw information isn’t ready to use. Raw information is the unfiltered and often unasked-for pieces that flood your incoming channels every day. You should find out first if something is relevant to you, meaning if you need or want it, or even just love it. That’s the first thing you should do.
And you should be ruthless with it. It may seem obvious, but sometimes an inner imp or impulse can make you do things you really don’t want to. If you look at some piece of news or information and instantly say “so what!” to yourself, don’t look at it anyway – just delete it! If you get that nagging feeling that you “should” read it (because your mother or Great Uncle Jack would have said you should), delete it. If you already KNOW it’s going to be b.s., delete it. If you’re choosing it because you want to re-post it just to show people how educated or cool you are, when you really aren’t on that subject … delete it! Come on, we don’t have to be THAT dependent on what people think, do we??? (Been there, done that myself!)
Also, if you have the urge to read it for a distorted reason – say because you think it’s going to be deliciously critical or rip somebody big-time, well, I’d say delete it. You really shouldn’t waste your time on other people’s dirt or nasty leavings, because your time is worth more than that. And you might want to start creating things yourself rather than just soaking up other people’s gunk. Everybody is creative in some or many ways!
So delete irrelevant emails and feeds, and click away from irrelevant blogs and articles. Unsubscribe freely from things that don’t excite you. This is how you sort out what things you will actually want to read and also buy yourself the time to check out things that are really worthwhile – or start creating them yourself.
So how do you tell what is true or not?
Strip off your prejudices and let the nude YOU look well and hard at what’s in front of you
I’m speaking of the real YOU, the logical being of reason, the perceptive being of seeingness, the intuitive being of knowingness. Use your native mind, free of automated thoughts or glitched thinking.
In other words, develop and use your common sense. If something doesn’t strike you right about what somebody is saying or writing, then your intuition is almost certainly correct – reject it! Don’t puzzle over it, because it probably doesn’t deserve it.
Take note of specific things that don’t seem right or are definitely not right. If someone is including errors of fact or misleading statements that can’t be proven, these are points of untruth. If there are careless mistakes, they still show that the person is not taking care to adhere to the truth. If there are intentional falsehoods or omissions, facts that contradict each other, failure to state the date which gives a totally wrong impression of things – well, the writer obviously can’t be trusted for accuracy and truthfulness, and is probably trying to get readers to believe things that are really not true.
Truth does not need to be a covert operation
Speaking of someone who can’t be trusted – here is another heads-up in the truth department: It is a symptom of the state of our current world that the news media (which is usually owned by groups, companies or people with some agenda to push), as well as other writers and groups on the internet, publish reams and streams of information that is slanted (biased) toward a particular point of view or against another, and intended to sway us through our emotions or through leaving out information or including other illogicalities rather than just presenting the truth and allowing us to use our reason and intelligence to come to our own conclusions.
Realize that if someone is using trickery to try to persuade you of something (meaning they are lying to you), they don’t have your best interests at heart, because they don’t TRUST you (to think for yourself)! So you need to realize that before you are taken in by it.
Such slanting is done as a covert operation, cleverly disguised so that you won’t be aware that you are being manipulated. It’s OK for someone to openly try to persuade us of something with reason, but when the writer tries to convince us by leaving out important facts, or adding other info that is untrue or partly untrue, we don’t have the full or correct “input” our minds need to make a sound decision. Only if we have all the truth about something can we actually understand it and make the right decision.
A final point – adhere to your OWN sense of reality and truth
Author and educator L. Ron Hubbard wrote, in the “Code of Honor”:
“Never compromise with your own reality.”
(Reference below.)
This may seem to contradict the first part of this article, but it doesn’t, as you’ll see. All of your perceptions, observations, beliefs, ideals and dreams and thoughts combine to form your reality. Your reality is composed of those things you feel certain are true – what you believe to be true no matter what anybody thinks or says or writes, or even what supposed evidence is presented. Each of us has what should be considered an inviolable, sacred right to observe for ourselves and make our own decisions about what is true for us.
If something is true for you, then it is true, period! It forms part of your own reality and view of things. Your beliefs and your sense of reality are not inconsequential things; they are important. Of your own free will, you can make all the choices and new observations and conclusions you want. This is how you learn new things.
But… if you are certain about something, don’t let someone push or force you off your certainty into uncertainty or confusion – not even if they are an expert or an important person.
Only YOU have the right to change your own mind. You can learn new things which then change your view of things, or you can observe things more closely, which then may change your views. But never let anyone manipulate or force you to change your mind or beliefs. And that includes teachers and college professors, who are notorious for collecting groups of worshipful student followers (disciples) to bolster their own pitiful self-esteem.
Only YOU have the right to change your own mind!
____________________
(Ref.) Scientology 08, The Book of Basics, p. 391
Public comments are disabled but please feel free to write me about this article. See the “Get in Touch” page.
Copyright 2016, 2019 by Daveda Lamont. All rights reserved.
December 2, 2019
Welcome to Magical Mystical You!
I started Magical Mystical You to help others searching for answers to existence to begin to understand their spiritual nature – and what that means, in a fuller sense than one normally hears about. I am most definitely not any kind of guru. But I have been inspired to share and explore these ideas and experiences with you, because I want you to experience what I have. Getting the truth about an area of life that has been confusing and chaotic can open up so many possibilities – even those you hardly dared dream of before.
This blog is not about mysticism or esoteric spiritual practices or rituals. It’s not about getting some kind of thrill or sensation. It is about achieving happiness and success by learning things that can help you bring about new awareness and real change in your own life. It’s intended to introduce you to a broader, fuller meaning of spirituality that has personal relevance to you. And it is also about high-flying ideas that can inspire you and make your spirits soar.
I will also share some great resources for further exploration, both in my blog articles and personal stories, and on the “Recommendations and Links” page. My intention is to make it much more real to you that you and your life can change dramatically and wonderfully – often in a very short span of time. Even small nuggets of truth can have very deep effects on us.
My Work
Professionally I am a scenic photographer and digital artist. My online gallery and shop, Daveda Lamont Photographic Art, is located at https://fineartamerica.com/profiles/daveda-lamont.
I am also an author of both nonfiction and fiction. My debut fiction, a novella called The Way of the Eagle: An Early California Journey of Awakening, was published in May 2011. In November, 2011 it was named a Finalist in Visionary Fiction in The USA “Best Books 2011” 8th Annual Awards sponsored by USA Book News & JPX Media Group. In May 2012 The Way of the Eagle was a Silver Medal-winning Finalist in the Novella category of the 2012 Next Generation Indie Book Awards. And before that it was honored as a Cross-Genre Finalist in the 2012 National Indie Excellence Awards.
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I am also an author of both nonfiction and fiction. My debut fiction, a novella called The Way of the Eagle: An Early California Journey of Awakening, was published in May 2011. In November, 2011 it was named a Finalist in Visionary Fiction in The USA “Best Books 2011” 8th Annual Awards sponsored by USA Book News & JPX Media Group. In May 2012 The Way of the Eagle was a Silver Medal-winning Finalist in the Novella category of the 2012 Next Generation Indie Book Awards. And before that it was honored as a Cross-Genre Finalist in the 2012 National Indie Excellence Awards.
One of my nonfiction books, co-authored with Kirk Mango, Becoming a True Champion: Achieving Athletic Excellence from the Inside Out, was published in May 2012 and is a must-read for any aspiring athlete who wants to know how to attain lasting excellence in sports, with principles that extend to every aspect of life and career. My second nonfiction book, co-authored with Roger and Kathy Maxwell, is Taking Charge of Your Stroke Recovery: A Personal Recovery Workbook, or How to Pick Up When Rehab Ends, Complete Your Recovery and Be Better than You Ever Were Before!
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I currently live in Westchester County, north of New York City. We have been incredibly fortunate that our 12th floor apartment looks out over the great Hudson River and the picturesque wooded New Jersey Palisade cliffs on the other (west) side of the river. The Hudson is about a mile wide here and provides us with beauty and inspiration as it changes dramatically from day to day, season to season. We see all kinds of ships and boats, as well as huge oceangoing cargo ships and tugboat-driven barges as they travel up and down the river.
If you enjoy this website, please share my articles with your friends on Twitter, Facebook or your favorite social media sites. I would love to hear from you and know if you like these articles! Feel free to email me any time – see my Contact page.
You can subscribe to this blog in the sidebar form or below.
D.E. Lamont
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June 24, 2019
June 2019 – Welcome to My New Web Design!
June 16, 2019
Native American Daily Life and Spirituality Inseparable
I'm reposting this original article because I think it says best what I wanted to express on this subject. I did recently write a second article on this subject and you're welcome to check it out as well.
I recently learned about this aspect of Native American life through the writing of Ohiyesa (Charles Alexander Eastman), a part Santee Sioux raised in a traditional Native American home, who later was educated as a doctor in American colleges. He wrote eloquently about Native American life in the early 20th century. He wrote that daily life and spirituality, as lived purely by original peoples, were not really even two elements tightly interwoven. Rather, the people viewed their existence and lived their lives AS a manifestation of spirituality and spiritual creation. To them, there was no difference; they were inseparable.
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