My 95-year-old mother-in-law has a phrase she uses for when she thinks you are making fun of her – “Are you poking Charlie at me?” – she will say. It probably originated as a latter-day distortion of the verbally less genteel “poke bogey,” a colloquialism for “poking fun” in use at the turn of the 20th Century. Charlie Hebdo has a long history of poking Charlie at religious and political institutions. Satirical journalism is what the Charlie Hebdo magazine is all about. But is satire good for us, even if it offends another’s beliefs?
The answer to the above question is ‘yes’—as I will explain later in this three-part post. First though, let’s look into the reaction of the majority of human beings to this Parisian Mass Event other than the initial abhorrence.
Much of the furor in response to the events in Paris of the last week revolves around the issue of “Freedom of Speech,” or as the French have it, “Liberté d’expression.” This post goes into the spiritual origins of this issue and how our Freedom of Expression is a sacrosanct principle underpinning our existence in the physical world. In the spirit of the theme of this Blog, I will also attempt to uncover the deeper message contained within this and other “acts of terrorism” of late as it pertains to our Shift in consciousness.
Freedom of Expression
The basis of life is Freedom. (Abraham, channeled by Esther Hicks.)
Abraham, along with other metaphysical sources, reminds us that all life forms are able to to freely express their “Selves” (their particular configuration of energy) in the physical dimension. That is, all life forms have freedom of expression. Furthermore, the freedom of a life form to express its “Self” in the physical world is not just a notion to ponder; it is instead a fundamental aspect of being physically alive. It is a vital force emanating from “Source” (Consciousness/All-That-Is), that drives energy along its natural creative course into physical materialization.
We marvel at the bountiful and beautiful expressions of life. Freedom of expression for living things was an evolutionary step made by Consciousness as It went about Its own individuation* process. Inorganic matter, such as a pebble, has a rudimentary sense of awareness. Its elemental particles “know” that by maintaining a certain consistent configuration of energy (vibrational frequency) it can exist within the physical world. Organic matter on the other hand, such as a rose, is imbued with self-awareness and an ability to play with its vibrational frequency a little (exercise creativity) on its way to optimal manifestation.
Human Freedom of Expression
We happy humans took a further evolutionary step on the road to optimal manifestation—and it was a psychological one. We developed a “Mind” because we became consciously self-aware—able to reflect upon our experiences and deliberate upon how we might change things for our Selves.
Having a mind though meant that we required another psychological development; an aspect of our Selves that could manage and organize all that comes with having a mind—the thoughts, beliefs, values, feelings, intuition, impulses and emotions. Consciousness gave us an ego!
Now without maligning the ego too much, because it is a necessary addition to our evolving ability to Self-express, we do have to understand how our ego’s work when they become involved with physical manifestation. In organizing the contents of the mind our ego’s have become lazy. They mostly disregard feelings, intuition and impulses, haven’t a clue what emotions are about, and so concentrate their logistics on thoughts and beliefs.
In short, our ego’s currently imagine that working with just thoughts and beliefs in the production and evaluation of an experience is sufficient. In other words, generally speaking (and this applies more to the male of the species than the female), we focus upon our beliefs when reasoning how to act, and our thoughts when interpreting how we’ve acted.
The problem with beliefs
Actually, there is no problem with beliefs! Beliefs are neutral constructs. The problem lies in thinking that your beliefs, religious or otherwise, are absolute truths.
The only absolute truth is the Oneness of Consciousness. We are all an expression of this one absolute—your very existence confirms this.
Going back to our privileged state of conscious self-awareness for a moment, you should know that with Freedom of Expression of your Self comes just one moral code.
Do not violate.*
This is the only universal “law” or principle that should be followed in the doing of anything—including Self-expression. Do not violate in the process of creation.
Having a conscious mind with an ego, being consciously self-aware and able to self-reflect, introduces us to this one pre-eminent coding within all actions. Nature itself commits no violations. Other life forms, without conscious self-awareness, simply adhere to this code of conduct because they haven’t the mind to do otherwise!
It is not a question of whether following this code is right or wrong, like all of the Natural Principles,* it’s simply how things actually work. Your free will allows you to live by it or not live by it. What your inner self will remind you of constantly throughout your life though, is that to not live by it compromises your own existence in the physical realm.
The demise of the perpetrators of the violent events in Paris is a testament to the inevitable consequences of committing to violence when expressing your Self.
Returning to our problem with beliefs… will happen in the second part to this post.
Still to come:
- Why we must understand the true nature of beliefs.
- Why you can’t violate beliefs.
- Why poking Charlie at beliefs is good for us.
- Why you can’t impose the laws of your Faith upon those outside of it.
- Why terrorism is a good sign that we are finally realizing that imposing our beliefs through the use of fear doesn’t work.
- Why Fear giving way to Divine Love is the next step on our evolutionary path.
***
- individuation: The process by which Consciousness (All-That-Is/Your God) comes to know Itself through experience.
- violation: A violation is a deliberate act to end, harm or undermine the physical or psychological freedom of another living expression of Consciousness (All-That-Is/Your God).
- Natural Principles: A set of principles by which Consciousness operates when expressing Itself and Its individuations (life forms) through the medium of physicality.
