I was beginning to settle down in Usu Ilimmu and had started exploring Ryarkanaglish. Even though my utility room was fully equipped with all mod-cons I was reluctant to start using them. While rambling in the village I had noticed a dingy alleyway and found a laundromat about half way down. It was called ‘Sunshine’s’, and I had started doing my laundry there. On my second visit the owner introduced himself as Shaymaas Sunshine. He was a small man with a pot belly who liked to go around with his shirt half open. I supposed that this was because of the heat. We exchanged some pleasantries about the weather and then he started talking about the Church.
“We are here to experience pain and suffering.” He said, “If we live good lives, according to the rules of the Church, when we die we will go to Heaven. If we don’t live good lives, if we commit mortal sin and don’t go to confession, when we die we will be consigned to the everlasting flames, the eternal damnation of unending torture by the devils in Hell. Venial sins are not so bad, we’ll only end up in Purgatory for those. And, if we have committed serious mortal sins, a simple act of contrition on our deathbed would get us into Purgatory and avoid Hell. Should we be unfortunate enough to die in an accident or a tragedy, then a passing kind stranger could whisper the act of contrition in our ear and we might go straight to Heaven, or only have a brief stay in Purgatory. Supposedly, everyone locked up in Purgatory would be released on the last day, the Day of Judgment. But, we could still be sent to Hell forever, based on how we got on at this final judgment. We can never be sure."
“God is always watching us.” He continued, “And if God was busy, then Jesus Christ,” as he said this, he bowed his head and thumped his chest, “was watching. They do not watch over us, protecting us. They record all our misdemeanours in a big book. When we die and arrive at the gates of Heaven looking to get in, this book is taken out and reviewed.”
I had heard all this before and was beginning to wonder was Shaymaas a little bit crazy. So I played along with him and asked, “How did all this work before there were books? Why has God not developed the technology to be able to do holographic 3D display in fast forward with stop and rewind for the really terrible bits?”
Shaymaas replied, “It doesn't matter how God knows. He knows. I see a small boy, about eight years old. He dreads Confession. It’s a Saturday morning about ten o’clock and he’s hiding out in a shed behind his house, knowing that everyone would think that he has gone out to the church early. Sitting in the shed is turning out to be worse than he had expected. He’s thinking that whatever his sins were, not confessing them will have him wind up in Hell. And even if nobody finds out that he didn't go to confession, there would be questions about why he didn't go to Communion. Anyway, after agonising over his decision not to go, and plagued by his conscience, he bolts out of the shed and charges all the way to the church. He makes it in time, just as the priest is about to close up, confesses his sins and gets his penance, which he duly says on his way home. On reflection, he concludes that being the last was much better than being the first, but he never has the courage to pull that lark again.”
As Shaymaas continued, I wondered what any of this had to do with me.
“If the cap fits, wear it. You look like a man that has lots of time on his hands.”
I replied, “Yes, I’m semi-retired and don’t have much of a routine these days.”
He said, “There are some people in the local hospital that could use some help, just a friendly ear to listen to their stories and woes. Are you interested?”
I said, “I might be. Do I need any qualifications?”
Shaymaas replied with a smile on his face, “No, you don’t need any qualifications, and you won’t get paid. The work is totally voluntary. It’s in the Regional Hospital, near Cork City, ward GF. Just go into the hospital and introduce yourself to the staff. They are always delighted to see people who amuse the patients for a while.”
Shortly after this conversation with Shaymaas I went into the hospital and after wandering around its labyrinthine corridors for some time, I found GF. To my surprise it turned out to be the local acute psychiatric unit. I introduced myself to one of the staff and told her about meeting Shaymaas Sunshine.
She started giggling and said in a derogatory tone, “Oh, yer man, he’s always pulling stunts like that. He was probably fooling you and pretending to know things about you that he gets from his ‘spirits’. He should be in here. He’s crazier than most. But now that you’re here you can go and sit in the common room. Don’t push yourself on any of the patients, allow them to take the first step. They are usually quite curious about new attractions.”
As I went to the common room, I was thinking that now I’m an ‘attraction’. What was I letting myself in for. I decided to give it a go. I was volunteering and I need never come back if I didn’t like it. The common room was a big open area divided into sections by armchairs. I chose an area with armchairs on three sides and sat on one facing the windows. It was very quiet, and might even have been peaceful, except for the screaming of a female patient in the distance. I closed my eyes and quietened my mind.
“Codish anam ditch” I heard someone very close to me say. I had no idea what he was saying.
“Codish anam ditch” I heard again and, opening my eyes, realised that the speaker was about a foot away staring down at me. I immediately stood up; talking to people at eye level had always been a standard interviewing technique. Before I could say anything, a man in the chair next to me said,
“Now Clivid don’t you realise that he doesn’t speak any Irish.” And turning to me he said,
“Don’t pay to much attention to Clivid, he’s our born-again bigot, even though he thinks of himself as a born-again Christian. He was asking you what your name is.”
“My name is David.” I replied, “I was talking to Shaymaas Sunshine in Ryarkanaglish and he suggested that I should come in here and talk to some of the patients.”
“And my name is Will, Will Helm. A good man, Shaymaas, one of our own. Most of the patients in here are short-term, only here to test their tolerance to their new medications. A few of us are here long-term, primarily because we are anarchists and don’t play the society game. We are seen by our family and ‘friends’ as troublesome and disruptive. We see ourselves as independent thinkers, but everyone else regards us as crazy. We don’t mind that, because from our perspective, the world is crazy, and being regarded as crazy by people who are really crazy makes us sane.”
I could follow his logic, and could see why most people would have difficulty with him. While Will had been speaking, Clivid had pulled up an armchair directly opposite, and kept repeating the Ten Commandments over and over.
Will said, “He’ll keep doing that until we engage in what has become known as our ‘New Arrivals Three Voice Initiation’. The fact that you sat here in the common room rather than in the visitor’s room means to Clivid that you are a new arrival. The best approach you can take is to sit still, listen and let me and Darukin over there handle the responses. Clivid calls out the commandment, Darukin reinterprets it and I give the underlying assumption on which the commandment is based”
At that, Will and Darukin pulled their armchairs in so close that our knees were nearly touching. The atmosphere was getting a little intense, and with the three of them boxing me in I would have had to jump over the armchair to get away from them. And then the three of them began to speak simultaneously. How I understood what they were saying I’ll never know.
Clivid began, “First Commandment: I am the Lord your God, and thou shalt not have strange gods before me.”
Darukin reinterpreted, “We are clearly mistaken if we think God needs our adoration or worship.”
Will said, “Separation is possible.”
Clivid said, “Second Commandment: Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord, thy God, in vain.”
Darukin responded, “What God is cannot be named. And since God could never be offended, we can call Him what we like.”
Will said, “Image, icon and language representations are real.”
Clivid said, “Third Commandment: Remember that thou keep holy the Sabbath day.”
Darukin replied, “God is always with us. Remember that every moment of our lives.”
Will commented, “God is special.”
Clivid said, “Fourth Commandment: Honour thy father and thy mother.”
Darukin responded, “Learn from our parents and teachers, learn not to repeat their mistakes.”
Will said, “Authority is right.”
Clivid said, “Fifth Commandment: Thou shalt not kill.”
Darukin responded, “We kill only ourselves, in thought, word and deed. Give it up.”
Will said, “Only what believes itself separate can be harmed.”
Clivid said, “Sixth Commandment: Thou shalt not commit adultery.”
Darukin responded, “We are all the Sons of God, in whom He is well pleased.”
Will said, “Separate bodies can.”
Clivid said, “Seventh Commandment: Thou shalt not steal.”
Darukin responded, “Nothing of God’s can be stolen. It can only be shared.”
Will said, “Anything can be taken from you.”
Clivid said, “Eight Commandment: Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour.”
Darukin responded, “We may choose to deny the lies or the truth.”
Will said, “Words have power.”
Clivid said, “Ninth Commandment: Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour’s wife.”
Darukin responded, “Let her freely choose who she wants to be with.”
Will said, “Another human being can be possessed.”
Clivid said, “Tenth Commandment: Thou shalt not covet thy neighbours’ goods. “
Darukin responded, “We have been granted access to everything that matters.”
Will said, “More and more can make you happy.”
The three of them looked at each other in sheer amazement. Will said,
“You’re a sound man, David. That’s the first time we have ever made it to the end. Every time we have done it before, the receiver has either shouted at us to stop, run away, or Clivid picked up on their inner turmoil and started ranting and raving at them.”
I said, “But, I’m not a patient.”
Will replied, “I know, but we have done it for some members of staff and their reaction has been the same as the patients’. The idea of three voices talking at the same time is to be confusing. The object of the exercise is to overload the brain with too much information and it either goes quiet or freaks. Congratulations, David, you remained calm.”
The common room was beginning to fill up. I saw the nurse coming towards us. She said,
“It’s coming up to tea-time and I think you better leave.”
I turned around to say goodbye. Will, Clivid and Darukin had gone to join the queue for tea so I just waved at them. As I left, the nurse came over to me and said,
“That went well. The lads seem to have taken to you. You’ll be more than welcome anytime you want to come. We like our routines here so if you could come at the same time each week we’d really appreciate it.”
I said, “OK, I’ll come in on Thursday afternoons.”
When I got home I went to my meditation room. This was a room at the front of the house that I had dedicated to peace and quiet. As part of my daily routine I had started doing a meditation first thing in the morning and last thing at night. I was feeling quite disturbed by my experience in GF and decided that some quiet time might calm me down. On the wall opposite the window, I had hung a picture of Jesus Christ, the one developed by a scientist at NASA that had caused all the controversy. I sat down in front of it and started looking at it.
It was getting dark outside, and as the light faded I had to concentrate to see the picture. As I watched, the image in the picture began to change, different faces began to appear. Some were women, some were men, some had beards or moustaches, some were clean shaven. The images kept flipping from one face to another. After a while the images disappeared and all I could see was a misty blue haze. I panicked a little, blinked a few times and the image of Jesus Christ was restored. I kept watching. The same thing happened again, except that this time the images were going from left to right whereas the first time they had been going from right to left.
As the evening got darker I could not make out the image at all. I closed my eyes and began to wonder what was the matter with me. Could going to GF have unhinged me slightly? As I sat there, my mind became calmer and calmer. After a while I began to sense a presence in the room. I opened my eyes and turned around. Mi-Li-Sam was there. I nearly jumped out of my skin. My heart must have raced up over two hundred beats per minute. Of course, I was delighted to see them, but I had got quite a shock. As they just sat there and looked at me peacefully I calmed down again.
They said, “We sensed your turmoil, David, and felt that you might need some reassuring.”
I said, “That’s true, all the people I’m meeting talk only about the church. As a result of my visit to GF today, I thought I was going crazy”
They replied, “What they are trying to do is to introduce you to the basis of your thinking and to how ideas develop, mature, get used and abused. In the beginning, there is an idea, pure and simple. The idea enters into our minds where it germinates, gets formed with other thoughts and coloured by the individuality of the thinkers. These thought-forms are passed on to other thinkers with a more concrete outlook who grasp the main outline of the idea. They crystallise it and build it into a more definite shape which is more easily understood by the general public. The idea may then get an emotional appeal and becomes public opinion. By this stage, the idea has been stepped down, has lost much of its original beauty, and is not so pure and as lovely as when it was first conceived. It may have become distorted, but it is in public use and may still be used to convey a sense of the original”
They continued, “Let’s use ‘mind’ as an example. Mind is a word that refers to that which contains ideas. But mind is also an idea. So we have a paradox. That is only because we think that everything must have a platform to support it. Take computer technology as an example - there is hardware and software. The software needs the hardware to execute its instructions. The hardware is just a useless heap of materials without the software, and the software is just a long string of code unless it has something to run it.
“Likewise, we think that we need a brain as a platform for our ideas. Without a brain in a body, thinking is impossible. This is not true. There are only ideas, and for the sake of convenience we refer to the totality of all ideas as mind. So, in that sense, we can say that mind contains ideas, but not in the sense that a bucket holds water.”
This all made sense, but I was wondering what it had to do with my recent experiences.
Mi-Li-Sam continued, “Let’s look at your experience with the picture just now. When you first looked at the picture you saw a definite image. As the light level went down your mind began to sort through your stored memories and project them onto the space where the picture was. You went through your image gallery twice and each time at the end you saw a blue haze. This blue haze is the primordial energy of the universe and is the first manifestation of pure thought. It is in everything and everything is made of it. It has congealed, coalesced and concretised into everything that we think we now see in the universe. However, it is still there, and we can experience it in everything, just like you did with the picture.”
I asked, “And what about my experience today in GF, even though Clivid, Darukin, and Will were all talking at exactly the same time I heard them as three separate voices talking in sequence?”
They replied, “Your mind made three partitions and stored each of the conversations in separate locations and then played them back to you in sequence.”
And then the three of them burst out laughing. I couldn't see what they found so funny.
They said, “David, you always want to know how things happen. You’re getting completely caught up in the mechanism of how you heard and you’re paying no attention to what you heard. We’re laughing because you are inclined to believe everything that we tell you, whereas you are skeptical about what everyone else tells you. Always be on your guard, use your discernment no matter who’s talking to you.”
I said, “You mean that your explanations about partitions is not true.”
They said, “No, they’re true is some sense, but we want you to be a little bit wary of what you believe we’re saying. Your purpose is to clear your mind of the chaos of everyday life so you can achieve a greater state of peace and inner harmony. And you are getting on very well. The fact that you could sit through the initiation today means that you are getting in control of your thinking and are gaining a more peaceful perspective on life. Being in the moment, being present is the way to experience life. Try to understand that there is really no doctrine. Today, the Crazy Cabal gave you an example of an in-doctrinated view.”
They continued “Remember, everything is based on the mind, is led by the mind and fashioned by the mind. You have started doing meditation twice a day. Keep this up for a while, but remember that the purpose of meditating with a special set-up is that you learn how to do it. The real purpose of meditation is to live your life in a meditative state. Take many moments each day to enjoy the beauty of the view, whatever and wherever it may be, and rejoice in the relaxation it brings.
Our teaching is without scriptures, beyond words and letters, pointing to the mind-essence of man and seeing directly into our nature. There are no leaders, there are no followers, we are all experiencing this together, placing ourselves in a responsive relationship with the universe.”
I said, “I have a couple of questions. What is the essence of mind?”
Mi-Li-Sam replied, “The essence of mind is not born, so it will never die. It is not an existence, which is perishable. It is not an emptiness, which is mere void. It has neither colour nor form. It enjoys no pleasures and suffers no pains. The essence of mind is in everything, everywhere.”
I asked, “What is a responsive relationship?”
They said, “When, in conversation, if you are always thinking of what to say next you are not being responsive. You are not listening! Listen when you are talking; hear the words you say. Listen when the other person is talking; hear the words they say.”
I said, “But, the universe does not talk to me!”
They said, “Are you listening?”
And we all laughed. I thought about what they were saying. All my recent experiences had been reasonably easy, without any coercion. This was in complete contrast to the stories I had heard about esoteric students and sorcerer’s apprentices.
I asked, “Why is so much compulsion, and even violence, used to help aspirants to attain peace and joy?”
Mi-Li-Sam replied, “Some masters regard this as necessary because the ego’s stranglehold on perception is so strong and students are so hell-bent on obeying their domineering thought system that any means can be used to break it. Achieving All One Mind is just a simple matter of letting go or undoing our delusional attachment, and allowing the Holy Spirit to be our guide rather than the ego. Even though many have achieved it through the self-denial of pain, suffering, and sacrifice it was never necessary. We need do nothing! Look at the lilies of the field…”
Having spent my life being busy, the idea of doing nothing was still hard to grasp. Mi-Li-Sam were quiet. I began to wonder about Shaymaas’s story of the little boy. So I asked them,
“Does the story Shaymaas Sunshine told about the little boy have anything to do with me?”
They replied, “Shaymaas is guided by ‘his spirits’ and allows them to speak through him. They are not always right about the detail, but the message they deliver is always accurate. So, David, do you think that the message has any relevance to you?”
I said, “Yes, I had been a very spirited youth. At some stage in my thirties, I realised that my spirit had been broken. I had bowed down to the establishment. I was conforming with resentment and bemoaning my fate. Fortunately, I realised that this approach would only lead to depression, so I started looking at life with a positive perspective and got really involved in my work.”
Mi-Li-Sam said, “The Zen Buddhists use stories to get their message across. Tanzan and Ekido were once travelling together down a muddy road. A heavy rain was falling. Coming around a bend they met a lovely girl in a silk kimono and sash, unable to cross. “Come on, girl,” said Tanzan at once. Lifting her in his arms, he carried her over the mud. Ekido did not speak again until that night when they reached a lodging temple. “We monks don’t go near females,” he told Tanzan, “especially not young and lovely ones. It is dangerous. Why did you do that?”
“I left the girl on the riverbank,” said Tanzan. “Are you still carrying her?”
I said, “I like that one. It reminds me of the crucifixion. The Jews, Romans, Essenes, or whoever it was, took Jesus off the cross nearly two thousand years ago. The Christians are still carrying him there.”
Mi-Li-Sam said, “David, what are you still carrying?"
I was perplexed at this question. Having given up my career and dropped all of my old routines I thought that I had left all of my baggage behind. I decided to be diplomatic and answered,
“Not much! I think I have left most of my baggage behind me.”
They said, “But you panicked a bit when you saw the blue mist, and you got very anxious when you felt our presence earlier. You are afraid of something, you are still carrying fear.”
I was getting ready to say that I was afraid of nothing, but they continued.
“David, don’t get defensive. You are still carrying a lot of fear based baggage. There is no problem with this, it’s a phase you’ll get through. No one can get rid of the baggage for you, you have to do it yourself. There is an exercise you can do every night before you fall asleep. It is based on the idea that sooner or later you will die, and like all great events in life, the more prepared you are for it, the better you get through it. As you fall asleep ‘watch the screen’ and try to catch yourself falling asleep.”
I said, “That sounds easy, I should have no bother doing that.”
Mi-Li-Sam said, “Now, David, we are going to leave you to yourself again. When you visit GF again talk to the Crazy Cabal about the bible, especially Genesis 1:27 and Luke 10:27. Now close your eyes.”
I closed my eyes and after a few moments I felt their presence leave. I wondered would I ever get it right. I heard three voices speaking together but my mind converted it to,
“Rome was not built in a day.”
“There is no time and space in eternity.”
“Mind is eternal.”
And then I heard beautiful peals of laughter. I thought to myself that maybe Ruishk was right when he called Mi-Li-Sam the Three Witches.
Showing posts with label Church. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Church. Show all posts
23 December 2010
18 October 2010
David Narby - Chapter 3 - Ryarkanaglish
As I sat there thinking could it all really be that simple, Ruishk said, "Well, David, you have had your first trip. Did that feel like work?"
"Of course not," I replied, "That was fun. I really enjoyed that."
Ruishk asked, "How much work did you have to do to achieve that result?"
I was a little perplexed by his question. I had just said that it was fun and there was no work involved. I said, "I'm not really sure that I understand your question."
He smiled as he replied, "I'm playing with the meaning of words. 'Work' has many meanings, and we usually rely on the context in which it is used to understand what is being said. You are thinking about work in terms of things you do or have to do, but I was asking about work from a scientific-engineering perspective."
I asked, "I realise that Scientists and Engineers work, but what has science or engineering to do with work?"
Ruishk replied, "Scientists and Engineers have definitions for everything. Nothing is left vague. They have equations and formulae for everything. Using work(W) as an example:
W = Fd
F = ma, and therefore
W = mad
Where W is work, F is force, d is distance, m is mass, and a is acceleration."
What was Ruishk trying to do to me. I just had one of the best experiences of my life and here he is talking about definitions I hadn't heard or used since I was in school. However, I was getting to know him and realised that he was not engaging in idle chatter. As I wondered where he was going with this, he continued.
"David it is important that you understand the experiences you have. For you to understand we must come up with explanations that make sense to you. To get explanations we will take ideas from any source. Here we are, on this bus travelling west. The bus has mass and needs an engine that uses fuel to make it move. Without going into all the technical details, the engine converts the fuel into motion, so we can get to our destination."
"So, where is our destination?" I asked.
He replied, "Let's leave that for a while, and let me finish my explanation. As I said, the bus has mass and a lot of work has to be done to get it to move. When you traveled through the air, there was no mass involved. It was not your body that was travelling. It was an idea, and an idea has no mass. When we put m = 0 into the equation W = mad the answer becomes W = 0. And because there is no mass to move no 'work' is done and no fuel or energy is required for you to move. This means that you can travel anywhere in space-time and with a simple flip you can also travel anywhere in time-space."
I was familiar with the expression space-time but I did not see that there was any difference in time-space except that the words were reversed.
Ruishk noticed that I had screwed my face into a question mark and continued, "We are used to thinking of space as 3D, the plane that we move about on and above and below; and time as always moving from past to future. In time-space, location is locked and we can move to any time - past, present or future. So if we flip back and forth between space-time and time-space we can be anywhere and anywhen."
This explanation made sense. My imaginary spaceship was just an idea and it could go anywhere in time and space. Ruishk had gone quiet, and I began to wonder where I could go. Could I go to the stars? Could I really go anywhere? I decided to give it a try and thought of the place I would most like to be, out in space far enough away from the Earth to be able to see it all. I closed my eyes and imagined what the Earth looked like from space. I watched and watched, but nothing happened. All I saw was the blank screen. Eventually, I opened my eyes. I was annoyed. What was the matter with me? I had flown off the bus and gone to that beautiful valley. Why couldn't I take the trip out into space. Was there some barrier I had to overcome, or some permission I had to get? I smiled as I realised that there certainly was nowhere to buy a ticket. I looked at Ruishk and he was smiling too.
He said, "We all run into that little difficulty at the beginning. It is your mind that has the power, not your ego. We might even say that 'your mind has got a mind of it's own'. What you were trying to do was ego based. And ego is loaded with limitation. So, in your sense of having work to do, your work now becomes 'undoing the ego' or dropping your sense of limitation. The other thing is, that in the early stages, you need someone to help you, someone with the same idea. This works on the principle - 'when two or more work together with the same purpose the result is magnified at least a hundred-fold'. So on your first trip I was helping you."
"Huh!" I said, "does that mean that I won't be taking any more trips? That I'm confined to 'our destination' until I've dropped all my limitations"
He replied, "No, you will be taking lots of trips, but you will not be able to program them. Your mind will decide when and where you travel so that you learn your lessons. Get used to it. Learn to enjoy it all. It's not out to get you. It's helping to get you out."
I asked, "Where is our destination? Where in that Emerald Isle of Leprechauns, Saints, Scholars and Shamrocks are you taking me?"
Ruishk laughed so loud that people on the bus turned around to see what was going on and in his best brogue replied,
"Erra me bucko, we'll be taking you to a little backwater estate on the banks of the Lee outside Cork City, where you'll be able to enjoy the famous Irish hospitality of sharing the parlour with the horses, pigs and other animals. You'll have a little thatched cottage, with a smiling Irish maid dancing attendance on yer good self day and night."
I said, "You're not serious." He had a dead-pan expression. "Does this beautiful estate have a name?"
He said, "The Anglicised version of it is Ryarkanaglish. The Irish name for it is 'Radharc An Eaglais', translated into English means 'sight of the church'. In light of your background, the initial work you'll be doing will involve examining your view of the Church."
"And seeing as you are getting into translations, what does your name 'Ruishk' mean? And do you have a surname?"
Ruishk replied, "'Ruishk' is my last name. My full name is Cara Druma Ruishk. I am named for a town in Co. Leitrim that my parents fell in love with. In English it is called Carrick-On-Shannon. Carrick' is anglicised 'Carraig' which means rock. 'Druma' is a ridge and if we change 'cara' to 'cora' it's a rocky ridge.
The word 'cara' means friend; 'druma' is back, ridge or wave; and 'ruishk' is poke, stir, vessel made of bark, or 'large tough person'. So combining these, Cara Druma Ruishk might mean 'a friend who stirs an empty vessel' or 'a large tough person who you can rely on as a friend'.
We call this the translation problem. But there is also the interpretation problem. Words have many meanings. Take 'will' as an example - "My name is Will, and you will be going against my will if you do not do what it says in my will."..."
Ruishk had trailed off into silence. He sat perfectly still, his back upright, with a faraway look in his eyes. I left him in peace and wondered what had happened to him. Was he sick? Did he have a heart problem or a stroke? After a few moments he began to come around. I asked,
"Are you all right? What just happened?"
He replied, "I'm great. I just got a message from Mi-Li-Sam telling me to stop waffling about language and get on with the real stuff. They know that I have a huge reluctance to talk about the Church."
I told him that I had written articles on all the 'Pillars of Civilisation', and that included the Church. He said,
"I've read your articles and they dealt very well with the organisational and political aspects of all the major establishments. But they did not deal with the people at the 'grass roots' level, nor how these people are controlled by the manipulation of emotions."
I said, "I was writing an objective account of these organisations. It was never my intention to delve into the mental and emotional aspects of the people that make up our Civilisation."
"And there-in lies the problem, you never got subjective about what was going on. You totally ignored the spiritual aspects of religion..."
I could feel my heart beginning to race, my face was getting red and my fists were curling up into a tight ball. I closed my eyes and told myself to calm down. Why was I getting so angry at this 'empty vessel' that was making so much noise?
"Anyway", Ruishk continued, "Let me tell you why I have such a problem with the Church. I was brought up to be very loyal, and I was loyal to my family and friends. The worst thing we could do was 'tell tales' on each other. So we learned to keep our mouths shut about everything. I mistakenly transferred this loyalty to the Church. As time went on I began to realise that it was a loyalty based on fear and I began to transfer it to all authority. The fear manifested as distrust and I became a 'rebel'. Everything that established authority told me I regarded as a lie. The down side of this was that I always had problems with management in any shape or form. The good news is that it made me learn to question everything and to try and understand what was going on beneath the surface or, you might say, to read between the lines."
I asked, "What has this got to do with me? I've never rebelled and I always got on well with authority figures."
He replied, "I know. What I'm coming to is that much later in life I realised that I had thrown away a lot of essential ideas. So, I went back over all the teachings of the Church and other Religions in an effort to reclaim the basic ingredients. What I discovered is that all religions agree on a very few basic tenets and that these were taught to us when we were very young. Unfortunately, these tenets are quickly covered over by the teachings on right and wrong, good and evil, and the correct way to live our lives so that when we die we go to Heaven rather than being sentenced to eternal damnation."
"Was the fear of being sent to hell on Judgment Day what bothered you?" I interrupted, "Or was it the more immediate fear of being caught and punished?"
He answered, "Both, there were so many rules and regulations that it felt like 'mission impossible' to live a good life. I suppose the big problem was 'fear of God.' So, I did a little experimenting. I went against the rules to see what would happen."
"And what happened." I asked.
"That was the point," He replied, "Absolutely nothing, if I did not tell my transgressions in confession, no one was the wiser. God never did anything to me, no thunderbolt out of the blue, nor earth opening and swallowing me up. I began to think that there must be something the matter with this all-powerful everywhere God."
I said, "But isn't the whole idea that God lets you do anything you want? He gave us all free will. We are free to do what we like and on Judgment Day God will review the consequences of our actions and decide where to send us - Hell, Purgatory, or Heaven."
Ruishk said, "Yes that's what they taught us. Lets look at the logic of it - God gave us free will - so we must be free. Yet here you are and you can't fly out into space and look at the Earth. So, you're not free, you're bound by something. Usually we think that the something which imprisons us is the body. But it is not the body, it is the idea that we are limited. When we look at the rules and regulations we realise that they are all geared at what bodies should do, how we interact with each other's bodies, what behaviours are acceptable, what we can and can't do, what we can and can't say to each other."
"How does this idea of limitations come into play?" I asked.
He replied, "When we don't abide by the rules and regulations we believe that there will be consequences. This leads us to being afraid of doing certain things and then if we do them we have learned to feel guilty. So to some extent our lives become ruled by fear and guilt. This is emphasised in many thought systems by getting us to do a regular review of our actions. This review usually focuses on what we have done wrong. It keeps us looking at the past. It keeps us comparing ourselves with some idea we have about how we should be. And it is this idea that limits us."
"What is the idea?" I asked.
He replied. "We believe that we are separate - you and I are separate from each other and from everyone and everything else. This idea of separation is totally dependent on the idea that we are bodies. All of the establishment views, the Pillars of Civilisation as you call them, are based on bodies."
"That is what we all believe." I said. "In all my years of education and journalism I never met anyone who advanced the idea that there was something more to us than brains and brawn."
"Therein lies the problem." Ruishk said. "You stayed within the boundaries, you worked within the box. Everything you have come across has reinforced this one central tenet of civilisation. And even though you say that you have never rebelled, that is not quite true."
I was getting ready to react again, Ruishk held up his hand and I stopped.
He said. "You've had many little minor rebellions, but none of these are of any consequence. They were just letting off steam. Your life was well-ordered, working on your long-term life plan and then, oomph, you disappeared."
When he put it like that I realised that in that moment in St. Peter's Square I threw away everything that I had been working for all my life. Wow, that was some rebellion. Ruishk was silent again, and I begin to think about what I had done. How was I going to live now that all my daily, weekly and annual routines were gone. I was going to have a lot of time on my hands. In a moment of panic I even wondered if I should go back.
Ruishk interrupted what were beginning to turn into morbid thoughts. "There's no going back. You made a life changing decision back there. It wasn't a spur of the moment decision either. At the back of your mind, something about your life has been niggling at you, off and on, for years. Your life map was all external development, there was no time in the plan for David to develop himself. There was no inner growth path. Your runaway decision allows you all the time in the world to look at life from a different perspective, and this is what we have set up for you in Ryarkanaglish."
I looked out the window of the bus and could see lots of green rolling hills of well cultivated fields. The signs we were passing indicated that we were getting close to Cork city.
Ruishk said. "We should be there in about an hour or so. That gives us time to clear up a few ideas. Earlier I mentioned confession and review. These are two of the conventional methods used to keep us stuck in the past. Our emphasis is on getting you into the present. We let life be your teacher. Memories and experiences from the past are going to surface but we do not deliberately go looking for them. The question we encourage you to ask is 'What is this idea trying to teach me?' or 'What am I trying to learn here?' Primarily, you will be looking at and learning stuff that you have either simply ignored or have rejected out of hand. We have stocked your library with books that you have regarded as alien, weird, or irrelevant."
"What kind of authors are you talking about?" I asked.
"People like Velikovsky, Von Daniken, Sitchin, O'Leary, McKenna, Casteneda ..." He said.
"But these are all crazies, totally discredited ..." I was going to add 'by the establishment' before I realised that he was trying to get me to look at a different perspective.
He continued. "There will also be some of the more interesting science fiction and fantasy authors included. There will be courses in Cork City that we think you'd do well to attend, 'Flower of Life', 'Mayan Calendar' ..."
"Hold on." I almost screamed. "Are you taking over my life? Don't I have any say"
He said. "These books will be in your library. These courses will be available. You don't have to read or attend if you don't want to. Your education and life so far have been totally one-sided and we are pointing out to you that there is another side and a different way of looking at the world. There are bookshops and libraries in Cork City where you can choose your own material. They are not up to the standard that you are used to but they are more than adequate for our purposes."
I saw a signpost for Ryarkanaglish as the bus began to turn into a group of houses, all very small and duplex.
"In Ireland," Ruishk said, "they are called semi-detached. You will be living in the one called 'Usu Ilimmu'. Your neighbours will have little or nothing to do with you. This does not mean that they are unfriendly, there has been a lot of changeover of ownership and they take their time getting to know strangers. The joy of it is that you can remain completely private."
The bus had pulled up at a house on a corner, opposite a small green area. I was standing up to get off the bus when Ruishk stopped me. He said.
"Hold-on a few moments. We have one final thing to do before you leave. Back then, when you tried to see the Earth I could have helped you. You had to learn that we don't always get what we want. In a body-based thought system we think that to get energy from other people we have to be present with them in the same space. In mind, there is no such limitation. You can tap into me, Mi-Li-Sam or anyone anywhere just by thinking about us. However, we all have to share the same purpose."
"When we start looking at the screen behind our eyes we get an afterglow from what we were looking at before we closed our eyes. This fades and then we get shapes and colours from our pineal gland. Eventually, and this can take quite a long time, we begin to see with our mind. While we are looking we have a tendency to engage our pattern recognition system and start putting names on what we see. This usually takes us out of looking at, and into thinking about what we are seeing, and how or why we are seeing it. Close your eyes and look at the screen."
I closed my eyes and immediately saw an orange glow. This began to fade and I saw bright different coloured lines like we see on a compact disc. Then, everything went black. Suddenly, I could see a disc with triangles around it. I was about to try and figure out what this was, but I remembered what Ruishk had said. I just kept looking. The disc began to have shapes and colour in it. I looked around me and all I saw was black with tiny dots of light. I looked back at the disc. It was the Earth. It was like the pictures I had seen but it was glowing and had triangles around it. After some time, I have no idea how long, I opened my eyes and I was sitting on the bus. I felt completely at peace. Ruishk was smiling and said.
"We won't go into explanations. Let's leave that for you to research. Anyway, here are the keys to Usu Ilimmu, your new kingdom."
"Is that it?" I asked. "Aren't you coming in with me?"
He replied, as he walked me off the bus. "No, David, this you do on your own. Remember, we are always available, all you have to do is think about us. Now, goodbye."
He shook my hand and I stepped off the bus. I walked around to the back of the house. There was an enclosed garden with garden furniture scattered around. I sat down on one of the chairs. I closed my eyes and listened. A great sense of calm came over me. And I said out loud, not caring what the neighbours thought "Yes, I am going to enjoy this."
"Of course not," I replied, "That was fun. I really enjoyed that."
Ruishk asked, "How much work did you have to do to achieve that result?"
I was a little perplexed by his question. I had just said that it was fun and there was no work involved. I said, "I'm not really sure that I understand your question."
He smiled as he replied, "I'm playing with the meaning of words. 'Work' has many meanings, and we usually rely on the context in which it is used to understand what is being said. You are thinking about work in terms of things you do or have to do, but I was asking about work from a scientific-engineering perspective."
I asked, "I realise that Scientists and Engineers work, but what has science or engineering to do with work?"
Ruishk replied, "Scientists and Engineers have definitions for everything. Nothing is left vague. They have equations and formulae for everything. Using work(W) as an example:
W = Fd
F = ma, and therefore
W = mad
Where W is work, F is force, d is distance, m is mass, and a is acceleration."
What was Ruishk trying to do to me. I just had one of the best experiences of my life and here he is talking about definitions I hadn't heard or used since I was in school. However, I was getting to know him and realised that he was not engaging in idle chatter. As I wondered where he was going with this, he continued.
"David it is important that you understand the experiences you have. For you to understand we must come up with explanations that make sense to you. To get explanations we will take ideas from any source. Here we are, on this bus travelling west. The bus has mass and needs an engine that uses fuel to make it move. Without going into all the technical details, the engine converts the fuel into motion, so we can get to our destination."
"So, where is our destination?" I asked.
He replied, "Let's leave that for a while, and let me finish my explanation. As I said, the bus has mass and a lot of work has to be done to get it to move. When you traveled through the air, there was no mass involved. It was not your body that was travelling. It was an idea, and an idea has no mass. When we put m = 0 into the equation W = mad the answer becomes W = 0. And because there is no mass to move no 'work' is done and no fuel or energy is required for you to move. This means that you can travel anywhere in space-time and with a simple flip you can also travel anywhere in time-space."
I was familiar with the expression space-time but I did not see that there was any difference in time-space except that the words were reversed.
Ruishk noticed that I had screwed my face into a question mark and continued, "We are used to thinking of space as 3D, the plane that we move about on and above and below; and time as always moving from past to future. In time-space, location is locked and we can move to any time - past, present or future. So if we flip back and forth between space-time and time-space we can be anywhere and anywhen."
This explanation made sense. My imaginary spaceship was just an idea and it could go anywhere in time and space. Ruishk had gone quiet, and I began to wonder where I could go. Could I go to the stars? Could I really go anywhere? I decided to give it a try and thought of the place I would most like to be, out in space far enough away from the Earth to be able to see it all. I closed my eyes and imagined what the Earth looked like from space. I watched and watched, but nothing happened. All I saw was the blank screen. Eventually, I opened my eyes. I was annoyed. What was the matter with me? I had flown off the bus and gone to that beautiful valley. Why couldn't I take the trip out into space. Was there some barrier I had to overcome, or some permission I had to get? I smiled as I realised that there certainly was nowhere to buy a ticket. I looked at Ruishk and he was smiling too.
He said, "We all run into that little difficulty at the beginning. It is your mind that has the power, not your ego. We might even say that 'your mind has got a mind of it's own'. What you were trying to do was ego based. And ego is loaded with limitation. So, in your sense of having work to do, your work now becomes 'undoing the ego' or dropping your sense of limitation. The other thing is, that in the early stages, you need someone to help you, someone with the same idea. This works on the principle - 'when two or more work together with the same purpose the result is magnified at least a hundred-fold'. So on your first trip I was helping you."
"Huh!" I said, "does that mean that I won't be taking any more trips? That I'm confined to 'our destination' until I've dropped all my limitations"
He replied, "No, you will be taking lots of trips, but you will not be able to program them. Your mind will decide when and where you travel so that you learn your lessons. Get used to it. Learn to enjoy it all. It's not out to get you. It's helping to get you out."
I asked, "Where is our destination? Where in that Emerald Isle of Leprechauns, Saints, Scholars and Shamrocks are you taking me?"
Ruishk laughed so loud that people on the bus turned around to see what was going on and in his best brogue replied,
"Erra me bucko, we'll be taking you to a little backwater estate on the banks of the Lee outside Cork City, where you'll be able to enjoy the famous Irish hospitality of sharing the parlour with the horses, pigs and other animals. You'll have a little thatched cottage, with a smiling Irish maid dancing attendance on yer good self day and night."
I said, "You're not serious." He had a dead-pan expression. "Does this beautiful estate have a name?"
He said, "The Anglicised version of it is Ryarkanaglish. The Irish name for it is 'Radharc An Eaglais', translated into English means 'sight of the church'. In light of your background, the initial work you'll be doing will involve examining your view of the Church."
"And seeing as you are getting into translations, what does your name 'Ruishk' mean? And do you have a surname?"
Ruishk replied, "'Ruishk' is my last name. My full name is Cara Druma Ruishk. I am named for a town in Co. Leitrim that my parents fell in love with. In English it is called Carrick-On-Shannon. Carrick' is anglicised 'Carraig' which means rock. 'Druma' is a ridge and if we change 'cara' to 'cora' it's a rocky ridge.
The word 'cara' means friend; 'druma' is back, ridge or wave; and 'ruishk' is poke, stir, vessel made of bark, or 'large tough person'. So combining these, Cara Druma Ruishk might mean 'a friend who stirs an empty vessel' or 'a large tough person who you can rely on as a friend'.
We call this the translation problem. But there is also the interpretation problem. Words have many meanings. Take 'will' as an example - "My name is Will, and you will be going against my will if you do not do what it says in my will."..."
Ruishk had trailed off into silence. He sat perfectly still, his back upright, with a faraway look in his eyes. I left him in peace and wondered what had happened to him. Was he sick? Did he have a heart problem or a stroke? After a few moments he began to come around. I asked,
"Are you all right? What just happened?"
He replied, "I'm great. I just got a message from Mi-Li-Sam telling me to stop waffling about language and get on with the real stuff. They know that I have a huge reluctance to talk about the Church."
I told him that I had written articles on all the 'Pillars of Civilisation', and that included the Church. He said,
"I've read your articles and they dealt very well with the organisational and political aspects of all the major establishments. But they did not deal with the people at the 'grass roots' level, nor how these people are controlled by the manipulation of emotions."
I said, "I was writing an objective account of these organisations. It was never my intention to delve into the mental and emotional aspects of the people that make up our Civilisation."
"And there-in lies the problem, you never got subjective about what was going on. You totally ignored the spiritual aspects of religion..."
I could feel my heart beginning to race, my face was getting red and my fists were curling up into a tight ball. I closed my eyes and told myself to calm down. Why was I getting so angry at this 'empty vessel' that was making so much noise?
"Anyway", Ruishk continued, "Let me tell you why I have such a problem with the Church. I was brought up to be very loyal, and I was loyal to my family and friends. The worst thing we could do was 'tell tales' on each other. So we learned to keep our mouths shut about everything. I mistakenly transferred this loyalty to the Church. As time went on I began to realise that it was a loyalty based on fear and I began to transfer it to all authority. The fear manifested as distrust and I became a 'rebel'. Everything that established authority told me I regarded as a lie. The down side of this was that I always had problems with management in any shape or form. The good news is that it made me learn to question everything and to try and understand what was going on beneath the surface or, you might say, to read between the lines."
I asked, "What has this got to do with me? I've never rebelled and I always got on well with authority figures."
He replied, "I know. What I'm coming to is that much later in life I realised that I had thrown away a lot of essential ideas. So, I went back over all the teachings of the Church and other Religions in an effort to reclaim the basic ingredients. What I discovered is that all religions agree on a very few basic tenets and that these were taught to us when we were very young. Unfortunately, these tenets are quickly covered over by the teachings on right and wrong, good and evil, and the correct way to live our lives so that when we die we go to Heaven rather than being sentenced to eternal damnation."
"Was the fear of being sent to hell on Judgment Day what bothered you?" I interrupted, "Or was it the more immediate fear of being caught and punished?"
He answered, "Both, there were so many rules and regulations that it felt like 'mission impossible' to live a good life. I suppose the big problem was 'fear of God.' So, I did a little experimenting. I went against the rules to see what would happen."
"And what happened." I asked.
"That was the point," He replied, "Absolutely nothing, if I did not tell my transgressions in confession, no one was the wiser. God never did anything to me, no thunderbolt out of the blue, nor earth opening and swallowing me up. I began to think that there must be something the matter with this all-powerful everywhere God."
I said, "But isn't the whole idea that God lets you do anything you want? He gave us all free will. We are free to do what we like and on Judgment Day God will review the consequences of our actions and decide where to send us - Hell, Purgatory, or Heaven."
Ruishk said, "Yes that's what they taught us. Lets look at the logic of it - God gave us free will - so we must be free. Yet here you are and you can't fly out into space and look at the Earth. So, you're not free, you're bound by something. Usually we think that the something which imprisons us is the body. But it is not the body, it is the idea that we are limited. When we look at the rules and regulations we realise that they are all geared at what bodies should do, how we interact with each other's bodies, what behaviours are acceptable, what we can and can't do, what we can and can't say to each other."
"How does this idea of limitations come into play?" I asked.
He replied, "When we don't abide by the rules and regulations we believe that there will be consequences. This leads us to being afraid of doing certain things and then if we do them we have learned to feel guilty. So to some extent our lives become ruled by fear and guilt. This is emphasised in many thought systems by getting us to do a regular review of our actions. This review usually focuses on what we have done wrong. It keeps us looking at the past. It keeps us comparing ourselves with some idea we have about how we should be. And it is this idea that limits us."
"What is the idea?" I asked.
He replied. "We believe that we are separate - you and I are separate from each other and from everyone and everything else. This idea of separation is totally dependent on the idea that we are bodies. All of the establishment views, the Pillars of Civilisation as you call them, are based on bodies."
"That is what we all believe." I said. "In all my years of education and journalism I never met anyone who advanced the idea that there was something more to us than brains and brawn."
"Therein lies the problem." Ruishk said. "You stayed within the boundaries, you worked within the box. Everything you have come across has reinforced this one central tenet of civilisation. And even though you say that you have never rebelled, that is not quite true."
I was getting ready to react again, Ruishk held up his hand and I stopped.
He said. "You've had many little minor rebellions, but none of these are of any consequence. They were just letting off steam. Your life was well-ordered, working on your long-term life plan and then, oomph, you disappeared."
When he put it like that I realised that in that moment in St. Peter's Square I threw away everything that I had been working for all my life. Wow, that was some rebellion. Ruishk was silent again, and I begin to think about what I had done. How was I going to live now that all my daily, weekly and annual routines were gone. I was going to have a lot of time on my hands. In a moment of panic I even wondered if I should go back.
Ruishk interrupted what were beginning to turn into morbid thoughts. "There's no going back. You made a life changing decision back there. It wasn't a spur of the moment decision either. At the back of your mind, something about your life has been niggling at you, off and on, for years. Your life map was all external development, there was no time in the plan for David to develop himself. There was no inner growth path. Your runaway decision allows you all the time in the world to look at life from a different perspective, and this is what we have set up for you in Ryarkanaglish."
I looked out the window of the bus and could see lots of green rolling hills of well cultivated fields. The signs we were passing indicated that we were getting close to Cork city.
Ruishk said. "We should be there in about an hour or so. That gives us time to clear up a few ideas. Earlier I mentioned confession and review. These are two of the conventional methods used to keep us stuck in the past. Our emphasis is on getting you into the present. We let life be your teacher. Memories and experiences from the past are going to surface but we do not deliberately go looking for them. The question we encourage you to ask is 'What is this idea trying to teach me?' or 'What am I trying to learn here?' Primarily, you will be looking at and learning stuff that you have either simply ignored or have rejected out of hand. We have stocked your library with books that you have regarded as alien, weird, or irrelevant."
"What kind of authors are you talking about?" I asked.
"People like Velikovsky, Von Daniken, Sitchin, O'Leary, McKenna, Casteneda ..." He said.
"But these are all crazies, totally discredited ..." I was going to add 'by the establishment' before I realised that he was trying to get me to look at a different perspective.
He continued. "There will also be some of the more interesting science fiction and fantasy authors included. There will be courses in Cork City that we think you'd do well to attend, 'Flower of Life', 'Mayan Calendar' ..."
"Hold on." I almost screamed. "Are you taking over my life? Don't I have any say"
He said. "These books will be in your library. These courses will be available. You don't have to read or attend if you don't want to. Your education and life so far have been totally one-sided and we are pointing out to you that there is another side and a different way of looking at the world. There are bookshops and libraries in Cork City where you can choose your own material. They are not up to the standard that you are used to but they are more than adequate for our purposes."
I saw a signpost for Ryarkanaglish as the bus began to turn into a group of houses, all very small and duplex.
"In Ireland," Ruishk said, "they are called semi-detached. You will be living in the one called 'Usu Ilimmu'. Your neighbours will have little or nothing to do with you. This does not mean that they are unfriendly, there has been a lot of changeover of ownership and they take their time getting to know strangers. The joy of it is that you can remain completely private."
The bus had pulled up at a house on a corner, opposite a small green area. I was standing up to get off the bus when Ruishk stopped me. He said.
"Hold-on a few moments. We have one final thing to do before you leave. Back then, when you tried to see the Earth I could have helped you. You had to learn that we don't always get what we want. In a body-based thought system we think that to get energy from other people we have to be present with them in the same space. In mind, there is no such limitation. You can tap into me, Mi-Li-Sam or anyone anywhere just by thinking about us. However, we all have to share the same purpose."
"When we start looking at the screen behind our eyes we get an afterglow from what we were looking at before we closed our eyes. This fades and then we get shapes and colours from our pineal gland. Eventually, and this can take quite a long time, we begin to see with our mind. While we are looking we have a tendency to engage our pattern recognition system and start putting names on what we see. This usually takes us out of looking at, and into thinking about what we are seeing, and how or why we are seeing it. Close your eyes and look at the screen."
I closed my eyes and immediately saw an orange glow. This began to fade and I saw bright different coloured lines like we see on a compact disc. Then, everything went black. Suddenly, I could see a disc with triangles around it. I was about to try and figure out what this was, but I remembered what Ruishk had said. I just kept looking. The disc began to have shapes and colour in it. I looked around me and all I saw was black with tiny dots of light. I looked back at the disc. It was the Earth. It was like the pictures I had seen but it was glowing and had triangles around it. After some time, I have no idea how long, I opened my eyes and I was sitting on the bus. I felt completely at peace. Ruishk was smiling and said.
"We won't go into explanations. Let's leave that for you to research. Anyway, here are the keys to Usu Ilimmu, your new kingdom."
"Is that it?" I asked. "Aren't you coming in with me?"
He replied, as he walked me off the bus. "No, David, this you do on your own. Remember, we are always available, all you have to do is think about us. Now, goodbye."
He shook my hand and I stepped off the bus. I walked around to the back of the house. There was an enclosed garden with garden furniture scattered around. I sat down on one of the chairs. I closed my eyes and listened. A great sense of calm came over me. And I said out loud, not caring what the neighbours thought "Yes, I am going to enjoy this."
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