I forgot to add one more dimension of meaning to my short film, The Fall. The choice that it represents isn’t only a choice made before lifetimes. It is an ongoing choice, day to day, moment to moment, about how to engage the world. One way to engage (or really, not engage) is to stay in whatever temporary comfort realm one can manage with distractions, entertainment, addiction. Yet none of these can be permanent, and even the most sublime experiences of immersion in nature or lovemaking cannot be prolonged beyond their right span. At some point, the awareness grows that we are on the brink of a pit, that right beneath us, just a shift of attention away, is a world that begs our service. To rest, to recharge, is important in order to render that service well, but when the batteries are full, restlessness will seize even the most indolent among us. So, the choice to attempt a permanent disengagement from the world to abide in its pleasurable precincts is futile.
Thank you for this, Charles. I needed to hear this additional explanation. I said this to someone last year: I feel like I’ve been benched. My drive to serve has steadily been increasing and I’ve done bits and pieces, but can’t seem to find what’s mine to do. Be useful. I’ve been sidelined by some kind of an invisible force that’s holding me back, things not happening or falling in their place and I keep waiting restlessly, trying to open my eyes even wider to see what I’m missing, trying to transmit even louder to find some ally, someone I can do something with. In vain. The only thing that keeps working is when I pull back and really focus on my physical health and my son. So, I keep doing that. Maybe that’s it, .. is it? Maybe it is. Hopefully.
Thank you for this clarification, Charles. It is a choice we make day by day--even hour by hour. And I also am guilty of not entering fully into the fray. I am trying, as I write--and throughout the COVID years--to walk a fine line between activism and spiritual commitment. I am still unsure about which path is mine to walk and maybe I really do have to travel both at different times? I am so drawn to speak out for RFK Jr. and for the brave lions of truth who are courageously fighting for us--including you. But I also recognize that there is a more subtle spiritual battle going on that requires that I take more time away from the fray in order to connect with this most important part of my being. And it is this part that has the potential to create the ripples that will have positive impact on future generations--that carry the real core of who I know I am and what I know I must do in service to humanity. What feels sad to me is that I feel divided in which one I must give my energy to. How much more powerful would be my contribution if I could choose one and contribute fully???
I'm so often a reluctant participant myself, Charles. Thanks for naming it. I was thinking just this morning, upon arising, that i want to do better. I thought, what if everyone on Earth, all 8 billion of us just did one thing daily more soulfully, more fully engaged, how much that would change the world.
I was touched by the film and also saved it to watch again when I feel hopeless in the face of all on this planet that’s not aligned to our highest good. That said, If it wasn’t for my own spiritual awakening I’d be living a life of materialism and hedonism. I still enjoy those aspects only now in proper measure to being a helper. What the film spoke to me is about soul contract and it echos what I understood during the spiritual awakening: that I’m here by choice, for a purpose, and that God as I understand God remembers my soul contract even when I get forgetful, lost or fall into despair. I also understand results are not guaranteed. Just cause we show up to do our inner and outer work doesn’t mean we’ll live to see a profound change in human relations. But, and I get this from my higher power, things are indeed better when we show up for the work. Without helpers, this planet would really be hell.
While I too have sometimes viewed others with an ungenerous eye, I have been through many highs and many lows and when I see people living "less than" I mostly say to myself "how can I judge without walking in their shoes?" and/or "but for the grace of God there go I." The "grace of God" for me includes many generous souls who reached out to help at various low points. Life is difficult and can at any time push any one of us to the brink or over it.
We all bring something to the table. Maybe that realization comes with age and life experience with a sense of humility and acceptance and grace that we are all in one way or another heading for the fall.
In a way it confirms what I have thought for a long time. That "spiritual" people are not really spiritual if they aren't engaged in some form of effective and loving activism. Most of humanity it seems, is numb to the daily assaults that humanity endures, i.e. war, violence, poverty injustices, atrocities, cruelties, lies, etc. Ignoring this, or being above it, or accepting the unacceptable is false, it is not really being honest and true to oneself. And the patent excuse, but what can I, one person do? is false as well. Everything that has ever been done was initially because of one person.
I feel like we have already fallen yet how can we be the observers?
I just watched sacred economics from 11 years ago charles, and on a large scale nothing has improved, only worsened materialistically, economically and environmentally
Covid saw to that. The gap has increased.
Just last week a beautiful Meditation teacher took his own life. Wife, kids, home, seemingly successful practice.
Yet he must have got to the point of no return. Self and life loathing...
If our teachers do this, what hope is there for those on the absolute fringe, and I am talking in tents, and cars , and couches ( getting more prevalent daily!)
And then we all cry out, reach out to your mates if you are suffering..etcetera
Then you do via the shame, fear of rejection, judgements etc
And get passed on. So. We stop.
Mental health is so important!
But with apps, distractions.
No mental health is you don't have a bed. A home. A kitchen. The basics..who would of thought..that could be a reality. I didn't.
What is saying is I firmly believe and embrace all you say and live for..
Sacred economics. Kindness. Bringing our gifts, a better world
Yet feel beaten . In Australia anyway where a cost of living and housing crisis is out of control and I am physical witness the decline in humanity , with obvious acts of unkindness and people openly being angry, brash, rude and uncaring and unable to step aside, be the witness and think, wow , wonder what it's like to be you..
How and why are you suffering. How can I help? Please let me help..
With your struggles, with your aloneness or loneliness..
I was a bodyworker. Craniosacral therapsit my ego hangs onto that role. A physio actually, now unregistered...
I lost my work due to covid. Work was my partner and kids as I have no partner and no children, late 40s
Sigh
Huge sigh...
Giving human touch was my gift.
Now. In a car. Houseless and joining Tim is a constant companion..
Love to all here
I can't feel community. I don't have one..
And disconnected from self trying to find a reason..
I always believed in karma. Now I'm not so sure.
What do we do when we've lost it all?
What do we do when we can no longer afford to live , sustainably and healthily?
What can we do when our governments and political systems are so blatantly corrupt and unjust?
I am happiest giving and sharing. Aren't we all?
Thanks for the touching video
The fall
Reminding me to be the witness and observer, and step above it all.
There's another interpretation of what the fall represented.
Before eating of the tree of knowledge, man and woman were in paradise.
There was nothing to worry about. One could live without needing to plan for much besides what to eat. This was a state not unlike what animals live in. There's some planning and thinking, but there is no need for higher level consciousness. You could also say that some tribes live this way, like the Pirahas of the Amazon who count one, a few, and many. There was no need to think about counting accurately.
The symbolism of eating from the tree of knowledge was when humanity started to need to know more things in order to survive. This came from moving from living as foragers and hunters and small agriculture into a system that required a lot more planning and preparation.
The Ishmael books by Daniel Quinn explain this in a similar way. Modern agriculture is what complicated life and as a result, we have a lot more things to think about. His stories also add how there's a side effect of this increase in cognition. We lost a lot of the wisdom of nature and life as agriculture is more like the caged domesticated version of nature.
thank you , once again for sharing your deep and honest work . so much of what you share i resonate with , and judging by other brothers and sisters comments so do a lot of people . im grateful for a feeling of connection when i read your works and the comments <3
I like the way you have encouraged others to examine this idea of service & activism.
But what if, in the process of falling into the negative reality of this planet, we lost the memory of why we came here and became trapped, part of the whole negative illusion that dominates the mass consciousness.
Became swamped with emotions of fear, guilt, superiority, condescension and rampant ego?
There’s a possibility that this fable has merit but there is only one way out…eliminating all negativity from our hearts, no longer putting bad feelings into our Mother Earth.
I was shocked when the beings who I thought to be human, jumped into the fiery pit of hell! I was sure they would have collectively buried all that chaos and misery, or at least walk away and leave it to its own scalding destruction.
I have gathered from the comments that the beings were angels. Therefore, Gods of a sort. Gods who jumped into the fiery pit of hell. The prevailing interpretation here is that the Gods were performing a holy deed by bringing first aid to the burning, butchered souls.
I see it differently. The "angels" were the metaphorical representation of humanity in harmony with nature, understanding that collective togetherness was the key to survival. But, no. Those "angels" were representations of a god which had itself become alienated, a mirror of the society that created it. As the "angels" were falling into the pit of hell they lost touch with one another. They became isolated, alienated from each other, not a unified cohesive strength, rather a bunch of disconnected individuals to find themselves in the middle of the fray, an unavoidable conflict between the few who own all and the many who own nothing. This is the source of present conflict.
I wonder which side the "angels" joined in their descent into the fiery pit?
Beautiful film, Charles. I cried like a baby. It was very moving, and it feels like I did take that plunge. It took me decades of inner work and healing to even begin the process of embodiment. Didn't start really feeling connected to my body or this world until my mid-thirties. Now I am in my late forties and I have never felt more vital, connected, or embodied. I feel more joy now than I ever have before, I feel more purpose, and I feel more hopeful. Life truly is a miracle, and that is what I am serving.
The Fall -- more interpretation
Thank you for this, Charles. I needed to hear this additional explanation. I said this to someone last year: I feel like I’ve been benched. My drive to serve has steadily been increasing and I’ve done bits and pieces, but can’t seem to find what’s mine to do. Be useful. I’ve been sidelined by some kind of an invisible force that’s holding me back, things not happening or falling in their place and I keep waiting restlessly, trying to open my eyes even wider to see what I’m missing, trying to transmit even louder to find some ally, someone I can do something with. In vain. The only thing that keeps working is when I pull back and really focus on my physical health and my son. So, I keep doing that. Maybe that’s it, .. is it? Maybe it is. Hopefully.
Thank you for this clarification, Charles. It is a choice we make day by day--even hour by hour. And I also am guilty of not entering fully into the fray. I am trying, as I write--and throughout the COVID years--to walk a fine line between activism and spiritual commitment. I am still unsure about which path is mine to walk and maybe I really do have to travel both at different times? I am so drawn to speak out for RFK Jr. and for the brave lions of truth who are courageously fighting for us--including you. But I also recognize that there is a more subtle spiritual battle going on that requires that I take more time away from the fray in order to connect with this most important part of my being. And it is this part that has the potential to create the ripples that will have positive impact on future generations--that carry the real core of who I know I am and what I know I must do in service to humanity. What feels sad to me is that I feel divided in which one I must give my energy to. How much more powerful would be my contribution if I could choose one and contribute fully???
I'm so often a reluctant participant myself, Charles. Thanks for naming it. I was thinking just this morning, upon arising, that i want to do better. I thought, what if everyone on Earth, all 8 billion of us just did one thing daily more soulfully, more fully engaged, how much that would change the world.
I'm glad you returned to say a little more. I appreciate your risk-taking sincerity and vulnerability here.
I was touched by the film and also saved it to watch again when I feel hopeless in the face of all on this planet that’s not aligned to our highest good. That said, If it wasn’t for my own spiritual awakening I’d be living a life of materialism and hedonism. I still enjoy those aspects only now in proper measure to being a helper. What the film spoke to me is about soul contract and it echos what I understood during the spiritual awakening: that I’m here by choice, for a purpose, and that God as I understand God remembers my soul contract even when I get forgetful, lost or fall into despair. I also understand results are not guaranteed. Just cause we show up to do our inner and outer work doesn’t mean we’ll live to see a profound change in human relations. But, and I get this from my higher power, things are indeed better when we show up for the work. Without helpers, this planet would really be hell.
While I too have sometimes viewed others with an ungenerous eye, I have been through many highs and many lows and when I see people living "less than" I mostly say to myself "how can I judge without walking in their shoes?" and/or "but for the grace of God there go I." The "grace of God" for me includes many generous souls who reached out to help at various low points. Life is difficult and can at any time push any one of us to the brink or over it.
We all bring something to the table. Maybe that realization comes with age and life experience with a sense of humility and acceptance and grace that we are all in one way or another heading for the fall.
Godspeed, the speed of Love, to all us world-weary, walking wounded of Heart and Soul 💖
Love will carry us through 🙏
In a way it confirms what I have thought for a long time. That "spiritual" people are not really spiritual if they aren't engaged in some form of effective and loving activism. Most of humanity it seems, is numb to the daily assaults that humanity endures, i.e. war, violence, poverty injustices, atrocities, cruelties, lies, etc. Ignoring this, or being above it, or accepting the unacceptable is false, it is not really being honest and true to oneself. And the patent excuse, but what can I, one person do? is false as well. Everything that has ever been done was initially because of one person.
I feel like we have already fallen yet how can we be the observers?
I just watched sacred economics from 11 years ago charles, and on a large scale nothing has improved, only worsened materialistically, economically and environmentally
Covid saw to that. The gap has increased.
Just last week a beautiful Meditation teacher took his own life. Wife, kids, home, seemingly successful practice.
Yet he must have got to the point of no return. Self and life loathing...
If our teachers do this, what hope is there for those on the absolute fringe, and I am talking in tents, and cars , and couches ( getting more prevalent daily!)
And then we all cry out, reach out to your mates if you are suffering..etcetera
Then you do via the shame, fear of rejection, judgements etc
And get passed on. So. We stop.
Mental health is so important!
But with apps, distractions.
No mental health is you don't have a bed. A home. A kitchen. The basics..who would of thought..that could be a reality. I didn't.
What is saying is I firmly believe and embrace all you say and live for..
Sacred economics. Kindness. Bringing our gifts, a better world
Yet feel beaten . In Australia anyway where a cost of living and housing crisis is out of control and I am physical witness the decline in humanity , with obvious acts of unkindness and people openly being angry, brash, rude and uncaring and unable to step aside, be the witness and think, wow , wonder what it's like to be you..
How and why are you suffering. How can I help? Please let me help..
With your struggles, with your aloneness or loneliness..
I was a bodyworker. Craniosacral therapsit my ego hangs onto that role. A physio actually, now unregistered...
I lost my work due to covid. Work was my partner and kids as I have no partner and no children, late 40s
Sigh
Huge sigh...
Giving human touch was my gift.
Now. In a car. Houseless and joining Tim is a constant companion..
Love to all here
I can't feel community. I don't have one..
And disconnected from self trying to find a reason..
I always believed in karma. Now I'm not so sure.
What do we do when we've lost it all?
What do we do when we can no longer afford to live , sustainably and healthily?
What can we do when our governments and political systems are so blatantly corrupt and unjust?
I am happiest giving and sharing. Aren't we all?
Thanks for the touching video
The fall
Reminding me to be the witness and observer, and step above it all.
Be here now.
P.s I am in a car
In a rental crisis
Health issues arising
annahookings@gmail.com
annahookings@paypal.com if care to donate.
Namaste all
P.s.s that is not easy to do!!!
Love hard.
There's another interpretation of what the fall represented.
Before eating of the tree of knowledge, man and woman were in paradise.
There was nothing to worry about. One could live without needing to plan for much besides what to eat. This was a state not unlike what animals live in. There's some planning and thinking, but there is no need for higher level consciousness. You could also say that some tribes live this way, like the Pirahas of the Amazon who count one, a few, and many. There was no need to think about counting accurately.
The symbolism of eating from the tree of knowledge was when humanity started to need to know more things in order to survive. This came from moving from living as foragers and hunters and small agriculture into a system that required a lot more planning and preparation.
The Ishmael books by Daniel Quinn explain this in a similar way. Modern agriculture is what complicated life and as a result, we have a lot more things to think about. His stories also add how there's a side effect of this increase in cognition. We lost a lot of the wisdom of nature and life as agriculture is more like the caged domesticated version of nature.
thank you , once again for sharing your deep and honest work . so much of what you share i resonate with , and judging by other brothers and sisters comments so do a lot of people . im grateful for a feeling of connection when i read your works and the comments <3
I like the way you have encouraged others to examine this idea of service & activism.
But what if, in the process of falling into the negative reality of this planet, we lost the memory of why we came here and became trapped, part of the whole negative illusion that dominates the mass consciousness.
Became swamped with emotions of fear, guilt, superiority, condescension and rampant ego?
There’s a possibility that this fable has merit but there is only one way out…eliminating all negativity from our hearts, no longer putting bad feelings into our Mother Earth.
Frances
I was shocked when the beings who I thought to be human, jumped into the fiery pit of hell! I was sure they would have collectively buried all that chaos and misery, or at least walk away and leave it to its own scalding destruction.
I have gathered from the comments that the beings were angels. Therefore, Gods of a sort. Gods who jumped into the fiery pit of hell. The prevailing interpretation here is that the Gods were performing a holy deed by bringing first aid to the burning, butchered souls.
I see it differently. The "angels" were the metaphorical representation of humanity in harmony with nature, understanding that collective togetherness was the key to survival. But, no. Those "angels" were representations of a god which had itself become alienated, a mirror of the society that created it. As the "angels" were falling into the pit of hell they lost touch with one another. They became isolated, alienated from each other, not a unified cohesive strength, rather a bunch of disconnected individuals to find themselves in the middle of the fray, an unavoidable conflict between the few who own all and the many who own nothing. This is the source of present conflict.
I wonder which side the "angels" joined in their descent into the fiery pit?
Beautiful film, Charles. I cried like a baby. It was very moving, and it feels like I did take that plunge. It took me decades of inner work and healing to even begin the process of embodiment. Didn't start really feeling connected to my body or this world until my mid-thirties. Now I am in my late forties and I have never felt more vital, connected, or embodied. I feel more joy now than I ever have before, I feel more purpose, and I feel more hopeful. Life truly is a miracle, and that is what I am serving.
so true, hopeless for me at 83yrs 0ld...just so sad..