Is there a "wrong" path?

[neutral333]

A big question remains...

Is there a wrong path? And, how do you tell if you're on it?

First, I know that right or wrong is a judgement, but The Law of One seems to allow some space for judgement.

Some will say that you are constantly creating your path and that you are only on the "wrong" path when you do not follow your heart. Well following your heart can be like swimming through murky water. There are so many conflicting aspects to any situation. For example: "Do I lose sleep and energy to help talk my friend through a problem, or do I conserve my energy so that I can be a light unto all the next day?" Or, "This decision I will make is not "right" according to others, but I want to see where this will lead."

Basically, I do things that I sometimes regret or wish to do in a different way consciously, but at the same time, some of those decisions have revealed so much about me unto me.

I feel the need to put myself on the right path, but I wonder if it is really possible to stray. Are not all things One? Is not all Love? Do I need more discipline or acceptance?

[Patrick]

IMHO you judge for your Self what is right or wrong for your Self. As long as you do not enforce your judgments on other Selves, you are walking the positive path.

[hogey11]

Ima quote my LOO homeboy Jesus on this one (remove the 3D religious coating before consuming please):

“You are the salt of the earth, but if salt has lost its taste, how shall its saltiness be restored? It is no longer good for anything except to be thrown out and trampled under people's feet.

“You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.

Like others, I think the only way you can be on the 'wrong path' is to suppress yourself and who you want to be. We must be bright yet we also must be salty!!! Embrace your saltiness!!! Salt is flavor, and life can always use more flavor. How much you put out or take in (STS/STO) is up to you; the only thing that you can 'do wrong' is to not do anything at all, imo...

[Shin'Ar]

If one is the type of person that enjoys to see others suffer, they might not consider it wrong to abuse someone.

If, as intelligent emotional beings, we cannot use our sense of love and compassion, along with our reason and intellect to judge accordingly whether abuse of others is wrong or not, than there really isn't much sense in trying to understand these higher aspects of existence, because you aren't going to be able to judge the rationale within them either.

All too often I continue to hear the same old excuse that there is no right or wrong because we are all one. There is far too often tolerance and apathy toward things that an intelligent loving person should be able to comprehend as wrong. And yet, in an effort to 'appear' to be well educated in the laws of One, these so called loving and intelligent beings suddenly become illogical, non judgmental cancers on society.

Of course as compassionate beings of love and light we may use judgement to discern what is right and wrong.

Rape is wrong.
Murder is wrong.
Child pornography is wrong.
Genocide is wrong.

Caring for the elderly and sick is right.
Saving someone from being seriously injured is right.
Seeking to know thyself is right.
Avoiding betraying a friend is right.

Why would anyone of sound intelligence and compassion for other human beings suggest it is wrong to make these rationalizations?

Any path that leads one into an experience where they would be acting to the detriment of their humanity is a wrong path.

Any path that would cause one to avoid evolving into their higher being is a wrong path.

[Plenum]

A big question remains...

Is there a wrong path? And, how do you tell if you're on it?

I think there is a certain "efficiency" of learning which can be considered.

With the right information you can make tremendous progress ...

[Bring4th_Austin]

A big question remains...

Is there a wrong path? And, how do you tell if you're on it?

First, I know that right or wrong is a judgement, but The Law of One seems to allow some space for judgement.

Some will say that you are constantly creating your path and that you are only on the "wrong" path when you do not follow your heart. Well following your heart can be like swimming through murky water. There are so many conflicting aspects to any situation. For example: "Do I lose sleep and energy to help talk my friend through a problem, or do I conserve my energy so that I can be a light unto all the next day?" Or, "This decision I will make is not "right" according to others, but I want to see where this will lead."

Basically, I do things that I sometimes regret or wish to do in a different way consciously, but at the same time, some of those decisions have revealed so much about me unto me.

I feel the need to put myself on the right path, but I wonder if it is really possible to stray. Are not all things One? Is not all Love? Do I need more discipline or acceptance?

All is one, and all is Love. But one path seeks to take you as far away from integration of Oneness as possible, and see Love for none other than yourself. There is a poetic passage from session 19 which paints a picture of which path is appropriate for what kind of person:

"Some love the light. Some love the darkness. It is a matter of the unique and infinitely various Creator choosing and playing among its experiences as a child upon a picnic. Some enjoy the picnic and find the sun beautiful, the food delicious, the games refreshing, and glow with the joy of creation. Some find the night delicious, their picnic being pain, difficulty, sufferings of others, and the examination of the perversities of nature. These enjoy a different picnic.

All these experiences are available. It is the free will of each entity which chooses the form of play, the form of pleasure."

Obviously, if you are consciously choosing to follow the path of Service to Others, there are things which are "wrong," and will pull you away from your chosen path. The same would go for someone consciously choosing Service to Self. Actions can be "right or wrong," or present a gain or a loss in polarity.

But it's important to remember not to simply suppress the darkness you find within yourself. In session 18, Ra suggests this method to realize the entirety of your Oneness without straying from your path:

"We have found it to be inappropriate in the extreme to encourage the overcoming of any desires, except to suggest the imagination rather than the carrying out in the physical plane, as you call it, of those desires not consonant with the Law of One, thus preserving the primal distortion of free will."

If you have consciously chosen to walk the path of Service to Others, yet you have desires which you discern to lead you astray from that path, realize them within your mind rather than run away from them. Acting them out would be "wrong," yet these desires give an opportunity for balance and acceptance. In using the tool of imagination to explore these desires, balance can be found while maintaining loyalty to your chosen path.

[Shin'Ar]

Or one could just use their common sense to know that murdering someone for their money would be wrong, and have no need to pretend to do it in your mind where you could pretend it didn't matter.

My understanding would be to keep your mind filled with thoughts of love and light and avoid the dark things altogether.

We are not only one with God, we are also one with our consciousness, and if we pollute that consciousness with unclean thoughts of inhumanity, we pervert and corrupt our oneness with the Creator.

[JustLikeYou]

The wrong path is the path you walk which your heart does not truly desire. This path will always be beset with barriers and difficulties. When you learn that the right path is what is already within your heart, you will find that seeking this only will feel natural. On the right path, what others would see as difficulties appear to you as challenges.

Yet it can be so difficult to determine what the heart truly desires. In attempting to determine this, you will inevitably walk down many paths that turn out to be wrong for you. It's okay. Lesson learned. Now you know. You may have karma to make up or nullify through radical forgiveness, but you will still be better for it.

My path has shown me that if I close off a particular set of possibilities because they are "wrong" in an absolute sense, I thereby shut off my own capacity for free will. I was raised Catholic and found that I had made myself entirely dependent on the religion to tell me which actions are acceptable. Of course, this brought me deeper into imbalance because I did not make the decision on my own. To learn what the heart truly desires, everything must be on the table. All of your desires, no matter how conflicting, must be laid out before you so that you can sift through them and determine which of them represent the most profound impulse within you. Shall we convince ourselves that we do not want to seek power because it is wrong? When has this sort of brainwashing ever produced a morally consistent human being? True morality comes from the heart, not a list of "right" and "wrong" actions. If we are constantly afraid of what we would do in the absence of "right" and "wrong", then we are thereby constantly afraid of our own freedom. A wise ethics would open all pathways, but warn of the repercussions of particular kinds of actions.

[Tenet Nosce]

Right and wrong are relative terms. Thus, along with all other dualistic concepts, these have no meaning in the realm of the absolute. All is acceptable to the Creator, because all IS the Creator. There is nothing which exists outside the Creator. Paths are illusory, and each path eventually leads one to the realization that they never actually left the Creator in the first place, and that the entire journey was an illusion.

However that being said, if one is choosing a "positive" path as part of one's illusory journey within the Creation, here are some examples, as I see them:

Right: Going within and asking to be shown one's true self.
Wrong: Telling others who they are.

Right: Living up to one's own values and ideals.
Wrong: Pushing one's own values and ideals onto others.

Right: Looking to one's own mind/body/spirit complex for guidance on how to eat.
Wrong: Using one's own personal guidance as a model for how others are supposed to eat.

Right: Expressing how one feels.
Wrong: Telling others how they should feel.

Right: Sharing one's spiritual practices with others.
Wrong: Telling others that one's own spiritual practice is the "one true way".

Right: Following the guidance of spiritual teachers, such as Jesus Christ.
Wrong: Calling oneself a "Christian" while failing to employ the teachings of Christ in one's own life.

Right: Standing up for what one believes in.
Wrong: Cutting down others whose beliefs are not congruent to one's own.

Right: Using love and acceptance to motivate others toward positive action.
Wrong: Using fear and denial to motivate others away from negative action.

I'm sure by now you get my drift! Generally speaking, the "right" things involve discovering one's own true identity, and expressing that to others, while the "wrong" things involve causing others to look outside themselves for identity, and/or attempting to replicate one's own identity in others, i.e. trying to make others into "Mini-Me's".

[drifting pages]

i definitively drifted on your drift

[Tenet Nosce]

Does that make us drifters?

[godwide_void]

A path is not inherently right or wrong. It is the individual choices made which determines whether one's path is of light or of darkness. As well, it must be considered by the individual being exactly what the target goal is for themselves. If you seek the light, then disharmonious and negative actions are "wrong" for your particular path. If one desires to tread the darkness, then all that would be considered wrong on the positive path become right.

For all intents and purposes, displays of kindness and compassion towards others is the foundation for facilitating progress towards spiritual ascension. There exists a positive bias towards positivity in this sphere, thus the positive path is more preferable, but it is not the absolute right path as there are those who either shy away from the light willingly or simply those who must experience both polarities in order to learn.

You are Creator. Craft your reality as you wilt, and do so following only what rings as your true divine will within your heart. In the end, only you may discern what is beneficial and what is detrimental for the particular path you have chosen to experience the Creation in.

[Shin'Ar]

The wrong path is the path you walk which your heart does not truly desire. This path will always be beset with barriers and difficulties. When you learn that the right path is what is already within your heart, you will find that seeking this only will feel natural. On the right path, what others would see as difficulties appear to you as challenges.

Yet it can be so difficult to determine what the heart truly desires. In attempting to determine this, you will inevitably walk down many paths that turn out to be wrong for you. It's okay. Lesson learned. Now you know. You may have karma to make up or nullify through radical forgiveness, but you will still be better for it.

My path has shown me that if I close off a particular set of possibilities because they are "wrong" in an absolute sense, I thereby shut off my own capacity for free will. I was raised Catholic and found that I had made myself entirely dependent on the religion to tell me which actions are acceptable. Of course, this brought me deeper into imbalance because I did not make the decision on my own. To learn what the heart truly desires, everything must be on the table. All of your desires, no matter how conflicting, must be laid out before you so that you can sift through them and determine which of them represent the most profound impulse within you. Shall we convince ourselves that we do not want to seek power because it is wrong? When has this sort of brainwashing ever produced a morally consistent human being? True morality comes from the heart, not a list of "right" and "wrong" actions. If we are constantly afraid of what we would do in the absence of "right" and "wrong", then we are thereby constantly afraid of our own freedom. A wise ethics would open all pathways, but warn of the repercussions of particular kinds of actions.

And if you are a murderer or a rapist, and it feels good and natural for you, know that you are on the wrong path and you need to change your way.

Let's look at it this way:

Instead of basing everything one does on what is best for their temporary self, begin to think in terms of what is best for the All.

Ask yourself, did the Creator create this being next to me so that I could abuse it and enjoy making it miserable. If your answer is yes, than it is very likely that you are NOT thinking in the mind of the Creator, but in the mind of the self, which is exactly the thing that we should be learning to rise above, and why we cannot evolve further.

[godwide_void]

The path of murderers and rapists is one founded upon darkness and robbing others of light. To the perpetrators such a thing feels right; but something which feels right is not always right, because if it actually WERE right, then it would not make others feel wrong.

[Bring4th_Austin]

And what if telling a murderer or rapist that they are wrong makes them feel wrong?

[3DMonkey]

(jumping in based on thread title only)

Technically, there is only a wrong path from perspective of the right path.

Me? I'm on my path . Wanna know a secret? You are all along my path

[Shin'Ar]

And what if telling a murderer or rapist that they are wrong makes them feel wrong?

Too bad for the murderer and the rapist.

It is not a matter of accommodation. It is a matter of whether or not it is wrong to murder and rape.

Shall we stand by and avoid saving a child from a murderer so as not to impose on the murderer's choices?

How would you manage to establish a society of justice?

---

(jumping in based on thread title only)

Technically, there is only a wrong path from perspective of the right path.

Me? I'm on my path . Wanna know a secret? You are all along my path

Technically, a person has intelligence and should use it to make intelligent decisions with regard to what might be wrong and right when it comes to our humanity and the sharing of this existence with others in a harmonious way rather than a selfish way.

For the record Monkey, I am nothing like you at all from what I have been able to discern from this community. we are two extremely different types and therefore I am NOT on your path.

[Bring4th_Austin]

And what if telling a murderer or rapist that they are wrong makes them feel wrong?

Too bad for the murderer and the rapist.

That justification can be used by the murderer or rapist as well. "Too bad that what I do makes someone else feel wrong." Anyone can justify anything they want to in their minds.

A murderer and rapist can simply declare that what they do is right just as easily as you can declare it wrong. If someone thinks that it's right to not fully realize the Creator in all other-selves, then you can tell them that they're wrong all you want...they will think you are just as wrong as you think they are, and you're both simply standing on your own path of right and wrong, accosting each other for being different.

[Shin'Ar]

And what if telling a murderer or rapist that they are wrong makes them feel wrong?

Too bad for the murderer and the rapist.

That justification can be used by the murderer or rapist as well. "Too bad that what I do makes someone else feel wrong." Anyone can justify anything they want to in their minds.

A murderer and rapist can simply declare that what they do is right just as easily as you can declare it wrong. If someone thinks that it's right to not fully realize the Creator in all other-selves, then you can tell them that they're wrong all you want...they will think you are just as wrong as you think they are, and you're both simply standing on your own path of right and wrong, accosting each other for being different.

Yes they can delude themselves all they want.

What they cannot do is justify their rationale. It is the rationale behind the choices and the way of thinking that you are choosing to cast aside as an unimportant aspect of the discussion, solely for the purpose of enabling one to act in whatever way they so choose out of greed and selfishness, as though there are not any consequences.

Stand on a cliff edge and try using that same logic to convince yourself that you have right to jump off if you choose, and you will discover what the consequences are.

Justice reveals itself as consequence.

Should we choose to care only about our self, we will not evolve into Higher Being.

Should we choose to destroy our planet, we will have nowhere to live.

Should we all murder and rape, we will live in a world without love.

[Bring4th_Austin]

Shall we stand by and avoid saving a child from a murderer so as not to impose on the murderer's choices?

How would you manage to establish a society of justice?

"We" shall do whatever we feel is right, and in my eyes, that is protecting the child from the murderer to protect its sovereignty, not to attempt to infringe on the murderer.

---

Yes they can delude themselves all they want.

What they cannot do is justify their rationale.

And they can say the same about you...and they are just as right as you are in their mind. Maybe wrong to you, but a murderer doesn't care what you think is wrong.

[Shin'Ar]

And they can say the same about you...and they are just as right as you are in their mind. Maybe wrong to you, but a murderer doesn't care what you think is wrong.

IMO, you are now leaving the environment of common sense, just to justify your point, which you state as being that there is no such thing as justification. I cannot discuss further under those circumstances. Except to reiterate what I have just stated:


Justice reveals itself as consequence.

Should we choose to care only about our self, we will not evolve into Higher Being.

Should we choose to destroy our planet, we will have nowhere to live.

Should we all murder and rape, we will live in a world without love.

[JustLikeYou]

Instead of basing everything one does on what is best for their temporary self, begin to think in terms of what is best for the All.

The measure of what is right is what is in the heart, not what the mind believes. Experience has taught me this lesson many times over. One can claim that what is best for the All is right until the cows come home, but unless it feels right, it will have little impact upon the consistency of one's actions.

Ask yourself, did the Creator create this being next to me so that I could abuse it and enjoy making it miserable. If your answer is yes, than it is very likely that you are NOT thinking in the mind of the Creator, but in the mind of the self, which is exactly the thing that we should be learning to rise above, and why we cannot evolve further.

This statement seems to be in direct opposition to the very concept of a valid STS path. You are welcome to believe as you like and it is not for me to make any effort to change your beliefs. However, you may benefit from the knowledge that very few people in the Strictly Law of One Material forum will agree with this statement due to the fact that the vast majority of them resonate with the Ra Material which endorses a valid STS path.

Also, upon my reading of the Ra Material, you sometimes seem to conflate the STS path with a severely imbalanced person who, as such, has not chosen any path at all. Indeed, many (probably MOST) rapists and murderers are not STS at all, but a distorted and flailing mess of imbalances. They are, as you would say, addicted to the flesh. The STS path is as much a path of discipline as the STO path is. Addiction has no place in either sphere.

It is not a matter of accommodation. It is a matter of whether or not it is wrong to murder and rape.

Shall we stand by and avoid saving a child from a murderer so as not to impose on the murderer's choices?

One can save a child from murder without also telling the would-be murderer that he is wrong for doing so. Rightness and wrongness are beliefs and therefore they are in the mind. Actions, however, are in the body, and as such they have consequences. The consequence of attempted murder is often protection of the would-be victim. Again, all of this can take place without attempting to change the belief system of the murderer. The freedom of the murderer to choose what is right or wrong for him is far more important than the freedom of the murderer to be allowed to murder. The murderer will find convenient ways of murdering when he considers the potential consequences of the action, so there is no need to assist the murderer for the sake of preserving freedom. The body is only a tool for the evolution of the mind.

Again, there is no cognitive dissonance in declaring that it is neither right nor wrong to murder while simultaneously choosing to protect victims from attempted murder. In fact, consideration of the Wheel of Fortune and Enchantress archetypes suggests that because the murderer attempts abridgment of free will, it is only appropriate that the response of the environment to the murderer is reciprocal abridgement: anytime you act in your environment, the environment adapts to reflect your action back to you. Or, more simply, what you give is what you get, and sometimes you get it before you finish giving it.

[Shin'Ar]

Your support is the belief that you have others that believe as you do. And yet you care more for your self, than you do their humanity.

You speak of following your heart, as do many who follow the old adages and traditions without truly understanding the truth behind them. That statement is one many use to describe intuition. The heart is an organ which pumps blood throughout your body and has no part in intuitive thought processes.

Rather it is with the experiences and wisdom of your consciousness that you discern truth and understanding.

Follow not your heart. Follow your intuition. Which is based in the field of consciousness which by design is connected with all of those others who you deny as you struggle to separate your self as individual.

Therefore if one is following their intuition, they would not act in detriment to their humanity or the All, and excuse their self in the process.

Acting in service to self is not following one's intuition. Intuition is the combined memory of the All, and by design cannot manifest as self.

[Sagittarius]

I don't believe there is wrong. If we experience it, it is not wrong. All paths merge into light in the end. You have raped and murdered before Shin'Ar and you have been raped and murdered. You can't move on until you let it go.

[Patrick]

I would like to add that common sense is part of the mind not the heart. I give my heart (intuition) precedence over my mind.

[Shin'Ar]

I don't believe there is wrong. If we experience it, it is not wrong. All paths merge into light in the end. You have raped and murdered before Shin'Ar and you have been raped and murdered. You can't move on until you let it go.

Just because we may have acted wrong in the past does not mean that we can now alter its meaning and definition.

[godwide_void]

I don't believe there is wrong. If we experience it, it is not wrong. All paths merge into light in the end. You have raped and murdered before Shin'Ar and you have been raped and murdered. You can't move on until you let it go.

Just because we may have acted wrong in the past does not mean that we can now alter its meaning and definition.

Redemption, repentance, forgiveness; it is what matters in the present, what actions are undertaken in the here and now which we perceive that holds true weight. One's wrong-doings (depending on the magnitude) usually arrives at an opportunity for the doer to make up for them. Mistakes exist. The proper course of action is to learn from one's mistakes, is it not? There actually exists a way to stop the cycle of karma, thus showing that it is impossible to remain forever anchored down to one's previous actions dictated by lapses of reason.

Sagittarius, when you accuse Shin'Ar of having committed murder and rape in the past, are you alluding to the notion that perhaps such might've occurred in a past life? Because if you are, then it appears that we are all guilty. No, the Creator Itself is guilty of these transgressions, for in ever past life, and in every present life, and all lives to come, it is, was, and always will be, us, you, me, them.

[Unbound]

Personally, I feel there needs to be a balance. I do not give any of my centers "precedence" over any of the others because that would imbalance me. I consider my intuition to be different from "following your heart", which to me, is more of an indication of following one's deepest desires. If you derive your deepest desires from your intuition, which to me, is akin to "inspiration", then that is a powerful alignment. As such, I would also mention that not all common sense is necessarily simple logic. Much common sense is instinctual (e.g, don't touch what just burned you), and has more to do with sensory reactions than mental cognition or processes.

I don't understand this whole Heart vs Mind thing. They are meant to work together, and neither is "THE" center, such an idea has no validity. The Mind is that which shapes, and the Heart is that which gives rise to the form that is shaped.

I would like to add that common sense is part of the mind not the heart. I give my heart (intuition) precedence over my mind.

[Patrick]

Yes you are right. Common sense can include concepts that we collectively intuited.

The mind vs heart thing simply comes from my belief that currently on Earth most imbalances comes from the great majority putting all worth on their mind and not a lot on their heart.

What most considers to represent "faith", i.e. religions, has been corrupted for so long that people simply ditched it all and started trusting only their mind (logic).

IMHO, we are now in a position where we should balance this out with giving precedence to our hearts until balance is achieved.

Then mind and heart will work together properly.

[Unbound]

I admit I do not understand your conception of balancing. If a tight-rope walker is leaning too far in one direction, it will do them no good to go equally as far in the other direction.

I understand that you believe "the mind is ahead", but if we consider that human mental processes are in fact much "newer" than instinctual and heart based processes, I think we can conclude that in fact the Mind was at first trying to catch up to the heart. Of course, then they kept going, as my tight-rope example, and now once again we have to bring ourselves in to a balance. However, I don't think this can be done by emphasizing the heart and putting the mind on the backburner. The only way the Mind and Heart are going to be integrated is if such a conception is worked with and both are considered and utilized and in conjunction.

Of course, this is just my conception. Just seems to me that it would be easier to now consider the Mind and Heart as one, rather than to "overcompensate" for what is perceive as a "mind dominance". SO rather, I guess I feel the Heart should be awakened, but I don't think the Mind should be considered 'inferior'.