Bringer of Light, Chapter 42: Meditation — Philosophical Foundation
From “Comprehending the Soul of Diamond,” ascribed to Clarissa Kragen and Sanvi Janes ca. 2060 CE / Year Two UMC Calendar. Transcribed and edited for clarity by Brady Cooper with possible assistance from Far East Asian and Central African faction settlers, date uncertain.
Nothing remains the same. All things change with time; people seem to become different people, appearances of behavior alter slightly with age, like the facades of buildings. It is only the habit of daily exposure which masks the change. Underneath it all, there is a small kernel of truth. This is what the viewer thinks they see. This is what is not there.
But is there such a thing as soul? Not in the religious sense; nothing is undying, all things die and become another. This soul is a kernel, a core of personality. Yet personality itself is created by interactions and revelations of contact with others. The task is to remove the layers of appearances and find the core. The core does not change; the appearance and the perception of the does. But we can never see the core, for everything we see is by nature appearance and perception. Once we lay eyes upon a thing, it ceases to be that thing and becomes simply the appearance of what we think this thing to be.
Instead, we note that appearances change, as does the appearance of the person and the personality. If we can see the things that change, a measurable characteristic through comparison of years past and present, through removal we can uncover that which we cannot see.
Once we realize what has been changed through reaction to others, we then come to the conclusion that it is possible to prevent this change in certain respects. Some aspects of being which we cannot affect include cellular age and injury. But others may be prevented from alteration through force of will and determination. This is what we seek.
There is nothing which will change our personality; there are only things that we allow to change our personality. Similarly, there are things which we think make us change our emotions and our relationship to other people and to the world around us. But in truth we, ourselves, are the agent of change; we, ourselves, control this change, and this change does not control us. The way to maintains this control is to understand, and to accept; this is the soul of diamond.
There are many kinds of ecstasy. Ecstasy brought about through use of drugs; that which is brought about through music, playing or listening; that which is brought about by dance and gyration; that which is religiously inspired; that which comes as a result of physical exertion from work or play; that which comes from actively seeking nothing, in meditation; that which is the result of extreme deprivation, of sleep or food or water; that which is the result of extreme temperatures of heat or cold. This ecstasy is an intense feeling that: nothing matters, nothing can bother me, nothing can stop me, nothing can change me, because…there is no longer a “me” to be bothered.
Think: I have become part of a greater invisible-whole, I am merely a physical extension of this whole, finally aware of itself outside of itself. I am that which understands being, and is and is becoming, and has always been becoming. I exist; I do not exist; I am that I am, and was, and always shall be.
Believe: The realization comes that the self is no longer important; that, in fact, the self no longer exists, if it existed at all. One cannot change what does not exist. Only this moment becomes important, this task at hand, this immediate experience, this now. Past and future are not important because…they do not exist. They are only experiences, remembrances or visions, of this present; they are as unchangeable as this present, and as such are unimportant. The barrier we unconsciously erect between the worlds is torn asunder through acts of great physical, emotional or mental stress; and…the true self is revealed for what it is.
This, too, is the soul of diamond.
Understand: We live in a moral world by necessity, but not by truth. Morals are necessary because people constantly hide their souls from themselves…weak souls seek to harm others to compensate for a lack of self-understanding, to compensate for a weakness of soul and a frailness of spirit, to justify feelings of self-hatred and -condemnation. Whether seeking pleasure in another or seeking pain from others misery, both are acts to bolster the appearance of one’s self to one’s self; it is a lie within a lie, and all are acts of cowardice.
A soul of diamond need not harm or injure another in any way whatsoever. A soul of diamond is not needing of the opinions of others, or of the support of others, and does not flinch from the condemnation or bodily harm inflicted by others. A soul of diamond may stand alone, or may contribute to a group, or may become the center of the group; but always it needs no one and nothing.
It is itself. It is what it is. I am that I am. We are what we are.
This is not resistance; this is Being/Unbeing.
Ecstasy and the experience of ecstasy: To stand outside and within one’s soul will free you from yourself. Pleasure is not a goal; pain is not a goal; true knowledge has no goal other than itself. An ultimate world is an ecstatic world, free from pain, free from guilt, free from hate, free from hate, free from influence, free from result, free from cause, free from appearance and perception of appearance. It is a constant of ever change, but cannot be changed. It cannot be actively sought, only attained. It cannot be kept, only experienced. It cannot be taken or given, but its knowledge can be received and recognized. A true soul recognizes itself, and through this recognition, will in turn recognize others; for, this true soul is one and the same, only as seen through a different pair of eyes.
Remember: This is not about anger. This is not a closure to the outside world, an ignoring of one’s environment. There is no religion. There is no political message. This is not a message of inflexibility, a message of unbending resistance. This is a philosophy. This is an understanding, a flash of unspoken recognition. We see the self within the self, the self within others, the Oneness within the Other; and we recognize that, and that which is part of ourselves and of which we are a part.
We are that which is always being and coming into being; there is no loss of being and no loss of unbeing. All energy and all mass in the universe is preserved. We are one as we are all. Only the illusion of existing separately prevents us from becoming who we truly are and what we truly can do.
Move beyond perception. Open your “mind.” Which, after all, is only a borrowed thing, for a time. Only then will we truly be free. Free from the constraints of the physical plane. Free from self-doubt. Free from any limitations, which only separate us when we place such limitations upon ourselves and our own understanding of the ways things be.
It is written: This is the way that is not the way. It cannot be taught, only accepted, understood, experienced, shared…as above, so below. The part is the whole, and the whole is the part.
This, too, is the soul of diamond.
