The stumbling blocks of "faith" and "prayer"

[Jade]

The Law of One uses some complex concepts, some words and phrases that are not normally part of our vocabulary. One of those phrases is "intelligent infinity". This one took me a while to conceptualize. It wasn't until I realized that Ra gave the simplest of explanations:

3.9 Questioner: I am reminded of the statement, approximately, if you had enough faith, you could say to a mountain to move and the mountain would move. I assume this is approximately what you are saying, and I am assuming that if you are fully aware of the Law of One, then you are able to do these things. Is that correct?

Ra: I am Ra. The vibratory distortion of sound, faith, is perhaps one of the stumbling blocks between those of what we may call the infinite path and those of the finite proving/understanding.

You are precisely correct in your understanding of the congruency of faith and intelligent infinity; however, one is a spiritual term, the other more acceptable perhaps to the conceptual framework distortions of those who seek with measure and pen.

So intelligent infinity = faith.

Ra: To define intelligent apart from infinity is difficult, for these two vibration complexes equal one concept. It is much like attempting to divide your sound vibration concept, faith, into two parts. We shall attempt to aid you however.

So faith is congruent to intelligent infinity! Faith is a concept I understand. Faith is browbeaten upon some of us, even, with our modern religiosity. Does the word "faith" trigger you, probably specifically into thinking of the Christian god?

My husband has this problem. He is very staunchly anti-religion. He will proudly proclaim from the rooftops that he is an atheist. He scoffs at the idea of "faith"! But he also is one of the most fanciful people I know. It's interesting, because he wasn't raised religiously (I was, sort of) - maybe that's the problem, his mom is sort of anti-organized religion too, so he has internalized some of that, I think. But "faith" isn't the only positive connotated word that religion has co-opted - how do you feel about the word prayer? That one may be more triggering for me, personally, because when I think of prayer, I think of it as it has been used in its selfish ways, to ask for favors specific to one's tiny bubble in the incarnation. There is nothing wrong with praying this way, for example, but the formality of it given in a Catholic setting was too routine, too dry and dusty. "Oh, here's the part of the mass where I pray for God to be benevolent to my family", never was there emphasis on asking for healing for all.

Ra uses the word prayer, unprovoked. In fact, many times he uses it, it is in triplicate with two other words several times: Meditation and contemplation.

Ra: The foundation or prerequisite of these exercises [the balancing exercises of seeing the Creator in the mirror/each other] is a predilection towards what may be called meditation, contemplation, or prayer. With this attitude, these exercises can be processed. Without it, the data will not sink down into the roots of the tree of mind, thus enabling and ennobling the body and touching the spirit.

In one instance, Ra clarifies that these are different access points.

49.8 Questioner: Is it better, or shall I say, does it produce more usable results in meditation to leave the mind, shall I say, as blank as possible; let it run down, so to speak, or is it better to focus in meditation on some object or some thing for concentration?

Ra: I am Ra. This shall be the last full query of this work time.

Each of the two types of meditation is useful for a particular reason. The passive meditation involving the clearing of the mind, the emptying of the mental jumble which is characteristic of mind complex activity among your peoples, is efficacious for those whose goal is to achieve an inner silence as a base from which to listen to the Creator. This is an useful and helpful tool and is by far the most generally useful type of meditation as opposed to contemplation or prayer.

The type of meditation which may be called visualization has as its goal not that which is contained in the meditation itself. Visualization is the tool of the adept. Those who learn to hold visual images in mind are developing an inner concentrative power that can transcend boredom and discomfort. When this ability has become crystallized in an adept the adept may then do polarizing in consciousness without external action which can affect the planetary consciousness. This is the reason for existence of the so-called White Magician. Only those wishing to pursue the conscious raising of planetary vibration will find visualization to be a particularly satisfying type of meditation.

Contemplation or the consideration in a meditative state of an inspiring image or text is extremely useful also among your peoples, and the faculty of will called praying is also of a potentially helpful nature. Whether it is indeed an helpful activity depends quite totally upon the intentions and objects of the one who prays.

May we ask if there are any brief queries at this time?

So meditation = opening the mind to the silence of the Creator
Contemplation = Consideration of an inspirational text or image, mantras
Prayer = a faculty of the will

Ra makes mention often that Carla's use of prayer alleviated some of the negative distortions from the channeling experience.

Faith is a very important step in the act of reaching for the Creator. Faith is the seat of the indigo ray. Faith is what allows us to not get beaten down by the 3D illusion.

Prayer is where we ask for help of the unseen energy forces that exist in our realm. Without invoking their help, these energy sources cannot step in to assist directly, as it would be a free will violation to come and affect our situations energetically if we do not ask for it. I'm talking of beings - devas, guardians, our higher selves, or just the pure expansiveness of intelligent energy. We "pray" unconsciously all the time, asking for this and that without realizing it. Taking control of this faculty of the will is a big step for the adept.

Here Ra states what is necessary to polarize positively in the face of anger:

Ra: The entity polarizing positively perceives the anger. This entity, if using this catalyst mentally, blesses and loves this anger in itself. It then intensifies this anger consciously in mind alone until the folly of this red-ray energy is perceived not as folly in itself but as energy subject to spiritual entropy due to the randomness of energy being used.


Positive orientation then provides the will and faith to continue this mentally intense experience of letting the anger be understood, accepted, and integrated with the mind/body/spirit complex. The other-self which is the object of anger is thus transformed into an object of acceptance, understanding, and accommodation, all being reintegrated using the great energy which anger began.

The negatively oriented mind/body/spirit complex will use this anger in a similarly conscious fashion, refusing to accept the undirected or random energy of anger and instead, through will and faith, funneling this energy into a practical means of venting the negative aspect of this emotion so as to obtain control over other-self, or otherwise control the situation causing anger.

Control is the key to negatively polarized use of catalyst. Acceptance is the key to positively polarized use of catalyst. Between these polarities lies the potential for this random and undirected energy creating a bodily complex analog of what you call the cancerous growth of tissue.

Faith is the act of diving full into catalyst, and welcoming the transformation. Does the caterpillar enter the cocoon knowing full well what will emerge? Possibly. It is still an act of faith to trust that one will metamorphasize into something more beautiful out of the gangly, awkward human we are given to raise. Faith allows us to continue to seek, without the need for proof. Some people say, well wait, I need to see an example of a "higher evolved being" to believe that such is possible of us. Letting go of the desire for proof is the main step for unfettering the indigo ray. Not until you let go of your *need* to experience proof will you begin to experience your own subjective truth that cannot be argued in the science books.

This is the quote I run through my head, when my desires to seek with "measure and pen" get the best of me:

84.7 Questioner: Thank you. I’m sure that we are getting into an area of problem with the first distortion here, and also with a difficulty in a bit of transient material here, but I have two questions from people that I’ll ask, although I consider especially the first one to be of no lasting value. Andrija Puharich asks about coming physical changes, specifically this summer. Is there anything that we could relay to him about that?

Ra: I am Ra. We may confirm the good intention of the source of this entity’s puzzles and suggest that it is a grand choice that each may make to, by desire, collect the details of the day or, by desire, to seek the keys to unknowing.

Do you desire to collect the details of the day, or do you desire to seek the keys of unknowing?

[AnthroHeart]

I barely remember what happened before today, so I try to live by faith of the future since I will forget that too when it comes.

Your post gave me a chuckle at points about being anti-religious and such. That's like me, and I sometimes get Creator mixed up with God.

[Jade]

You're very right, the past and the future are perfectly mutable, faith in the moment is the secret to bliss.

I'm glad I could help untangle "God" and "Creator" because that was indeed part of my goal, thanks for the feedback Gem!

[ricdaw]

So intelligent infinity = faith.

I think faith and intelligent infinity are congruent, but not synonymous.  I think intelligent infinity is (a) word for the Creator, and it is also the spark of that Creator in each of us.
"Thus, the intelligent infinity within this mind/body/spirit complex re-forms the illusion of body, mind, or spirit to a form congruent with the Law of One."  Session 4

"The indigo body may be seen to be an analog for intelligent energy. It is, in microcosm, the Logos. The intelligent energy of the mind/body/spirit complex totality draws its existence from intelligent infinity or the Creator. This Creator is to be understood, both in macrocosm and microcosm, to have, as we have said, two natures: the unpotentiated infinity which is intelligent; this is all that there is. Free will has potentiated, both the Creator of us all and our selves as co-Creators with intelligent infinity which has will. This will may be drawn upon by the indigo or form-making body and its wisdom used to then choose the appropriate locus and type of experience which this co-Creator or sub-sub-Logos you call so carelessly a person will take. " Session 51

“the intelligent infinity present in each particle of light”  Session 6

"The energies moved in increasingly intelligent patterns until the individualization of various energies emanating from the creative principle of intelligent infinity became such as to be co-Creators. Thus the so-called physical matter began. The concept of light is instrumental in grasping this great leap of thought as this vibrational distortion of infinity is the building block of that which is known as matter, the light being intelligent and full of energy, thus being the first distortion of intelligent infinity which was called by the creative principle."  Session 13.

"The galaxy and all other things of material of which you are aware are products of individualized portions of intelligent infinity. As each exploration began, it, in turn, found its focus and became co-Creator. Using intelligent infinity each portion created an universe and allowing the rhythms of free choice to flow, playing with the infinite spectrum of possibilities, each individualized portion channeled the love/light into what you might call intelligent energy, thus creating the so-called Natural Laws of any particular universe."  Session 13.

Intelligent infinity is also useful, in that it can be put to use:

"The Atlantean race was a very conglomerate social complex which began to form approximately 31,000 years in the past of your space/time continuum illusion. It was a slow growing and very agrarian one until approximately 15,000 of your years ago. It reached quickly a high technological understanding which caused it to be able to use intelligent infinity in an informative manner. We may add that they used intelligent energy as well, manipulating greatly the natural influxes of the indigo or pineal ray from divine or infinite energy. Thus, they were able to create life forms."  Session 10

Intelligent infinity is used or manipulated by focus:
"Awareness led to the focus of infinity into infinite energy. You have called this by various vibrational sound complexes, the most common to your ears being “Logos” or “Love.” The Creator is the focusing of infinity as an aware or conscious principle called by us as closely as we can create understanding/learning in your language, intelligent infinity."  Session 13

But this is a quibble, Jade.  Your essay is quite beautiful!

[Monica]

I don't think 'congruent with' means exactly 'equal to.'

But other than that, I agree with your points and I think you've had some very powerful realizations! Thanks for sharing!

...

[Jade]

I might agree to quibble then, geometrically congruent means identical.

   con·gru·ent
   adjective
Geometry
(of figures) identical in form; coinciding exactly when superimposed.

Of course, that's only one definition, "harmonic" being another. Ra didn't spend much time speaking of geometry, but its importance in structuring the universe into a hierarchy is discussed. I don't think it's out of the realm of possibility that Ra was referring to the geometric term of congruency, but again, a quibble in semantics.

I think, in most of those quotes, ricdaw, replacing "intelligent infinity" with the word "faith" leaves the quotes in their original meaning. Again, I believe the conguency is dependent upon the emotional charge and societal meaning that we give the words. But I also see the congruency with Faith = Creator = Intelligent Infinity. Faith is the act that suspends our belief in the illusion and allows us to channel in the higher, more "magical" frequencies of the Creator. I do think they are all a very similar concept. When one opens the indigo ray, they indeed are along the path to being a conscious Creator.

Either way, thanks for reading and giving feedback, guys!

[APeacefulWarrior]

The basic concept of faith in Intelligent Infinity came across to me from my higher-selves as a triad: Accept/Submit/Love.

And if 'submit' sounds too negative for some tastes, this isn't submitting like bending your knee to a conquering king. This is 'submit' in the sense of "His airborne body submitted to gravity." The concept of a force so large and encompassing and inescapable that there is simply no rational/possible way to oppose it.

To accept the Creator is to submit to the Creator is to love the Creator. Each leads to the other.

After all, where would you be without gravity, huh? Floating in space somewhere, that's where! You can't fight gravity and you can't escape it... but you can embrace gravity, and you can work with it. Once you do so, amazing things become possible.

So it is with the Creator / Intelligent Infinity. At least as I see it.

[TsaktuO]

This is a great topic, and has helped me thoroughly. Many Thanks for sharing this, I will look back on this more in the near future for sure.

[Jade]

Thanks for the feedback, most happy to be of help!

[tamaryn]

Living the Word;

[Diana]

Jade, I understand your husband's reactions. 

The problem I see with the word, FAITH, is the connotation it carries from our religions, specifically Christianity here in the U.S. Likewise, the word, GOD, is tainted with religious meanings. 

The use of a word gathers energy. So centuries of meaning behind the word, FAITH, from Christianity, has added to its beingness. I don't personally like to use either FAITH, or GOD, in my conversations, though I will for communication's sake. 

Specifically, FAITH, and deriving from centuries of religious control, has a connotation of just believing something without thinking it out for yourself, following blindly, doing what the church says because you aren't to question. These applications of the word, reinforced so often, have tainted the actual word.

Intelligent Infinity can be likened to the wave function where all outcomes are possible in a field of infinite possibilities. This idea takes out the human factor of having to "believe," or follow without question. It removes the idea that we blindly have "faith" and instead opens up possibilities. I like that better. And then there is the idea that observation, or focus, collapses a particle (an outcome) from the wave (all possible outcomes). This idea empowers a person. Having "faith" seems to disempower. 

[rva_jeremy]

I really enjoyed your post, Jade! I appreciate the way you digested the concepts, and it gave me a new perspective on these matters. Honestly, it makes me want to read the material all over again.

[Jade]

What a nice compliment, thank you! I love rereading the material, so it's neat if a bit of that rubbed off.

[Minyatur]

In my view faith is useful to pierce one's veil. All that is known lie within the unconscious, it cannot be remembered through rationality but can be accessed through a concious use of the unconscious. So with faith that everything one seeks lies within, one can remember itself. Without faith one can only get a general rationalized idea of what is going on.

I don't really do prayer, did it as a christian a long time ago and it was kind of empowering at the time. Prayer seems like work in consciousness, you can pray for your well being or the well being of others for example. Although prayer seems to be asking for an intervention rather than being it, so maybe not actual work in consciousness.

[Jade]

I see prayer as a way to commune with our guides and other unseen entities that surround us. It can be to request their assistance/intervention. I think it's offering a service to them when we allow them opportunities to serve us in our daily Earth lives, but it must be invoked, in most circumstances (unless things have been discussed preincarnationally, like please be here to save my life on this date if things go sour, etc)

I think it allows us to facilitate more energy transfer pathways in our consciousness, so it could be considered working in consciousness. Also, we are allowing the melding of ourselves and our actions with other consciousnesses, which is more the true way of being behind the veil, co-Creators, so I believe this is definitely considered spiritual work. I think ultimately, if one is dedicated to the goal of service, there is very little to be considered as not working in consciousness.

My prayers consist of things like "please help me radiate the Creator to others today" and "please allow me to witness the highest good for all" and "thank you for being there for me". I don't usually ask for little piddly manifestations from prayer, but I believe there is great power to be utilized when we invoke the help of our friends, especially if we are in any sort of crisis, physical or emotional.

Let's take Q'uo as an example. Every session Q'uo says something along the lines of "Thank you so much for calling us to your circle of light this evening. to allow us to share with you what we have learned..." expressing their gratitude to have this avenue of service opened to them. Someone called for them! They also offer themselves to be called upon in meditation to help "stabilize" our energy fields. So, yeah, Q'uo offers intervention, and I can see the appeal of wanting to do it "alone" (one of the reasons to be behind the veil) but it's not the natural state of things. Giving each other spiritual hands ups is the name of the game!

[Steppingfeet]

My prayers consist of things like "please help me radiate the Creator to others today" and "please allow me to witness the highest good for all" and "thank you for being there for me". I don't usually ask for little piddly manifestations from prayer, but I believe there is great power to be utilized when we invoke the help of our friends, especially if we are in any sort of crisis, physical or emotional.

I think that's exactly it!

I see prayer as a form of tuning.

And, if done in a manner similar to the one you describe above, as a means of turning the attention away from the small self and all its problems, toward the world of spirit. Correspondingly enlargening the perspective, and opening the self to receive the gifts, as it were, of spirit, among which include grace, serenity, acceptance, and the open space to transform the anguish into joyful recognition into an experience of the One.

It all depends on the "intentions and objects of the one who prays":

49.8 Ra: . . . the faculty of will called praying is also of a potentially helpful nature. Whether it is indeed an helpful activity depends quite totally upon the intentions and objects of the one who prays.

Great posts, Jade & co!

[The_Tired_Philosopher]

Could we use the term 'belief' for that of 'faith'? Would that help bridge to faithful connotations where the word faith is charged and not as useful for some?

[rva_jeremy]

Belief is a lot like faith, and I definitely have come around to the opinion that belief is a kind of tool for creativity. It creates the thought forms within which behavior, identity, experience actually occur.

Now, with that said, I personally appreciate some of the additional connotations of faith--the idea that it's vulnerable and in some ways self-effacing. So extending the analogy and thinking of faith as a tool for growth just augments this idea of exercising faith as a conscious mode of intention, a choice of a kind that has it's own special characteristics and puts its own valence on life.

Great point, TTP!

[Minyatur]

About faith, it is also required if one wishes to develop his intuition. (obviously)

[rva_jeremy]

I agree with Gary that prayer is a form of tuning. From a Law of One perspective it seems silly to necessarily ask the Creator to do any particular thing for me. I usually rather use prayer as a form of reflecting on my intentions and taking the opportunity to direct them consciously and from a place of calmness and connectedness, instead of the usually flurry of intentions that accompany action in the waking world.

The downside of this is that I get bleed-through between clear-minded meditation and single-minded prayer, but I'm learning to just roll with that.

[Jade]

Could we use the term 'belief' for that of 'faith'? Would that help bridge to faithful connotations where the word faith is charged and not as useful for some?

I think it works, and it's up to you.

For me, faith has a charge as being raised Catholic, I was supposed to have "faith" in Jesus and God and Mary and the Holy Spirit, etc. But none of these ideas actually stirred my soul in any meaningful way. Faith mostly means to blindly believe. But how can you have faith in something that you have no proof of, not even an emotion? I try to have faith in the things that stir me in a positive way. Faith that the sun will rise tomorrow. Faith that I can help others with my love. Faith that I am doing what I should be in the moment, no matter what. Faith does involve the suspension of logic, which I know is extremely hard for many people to give up, and why such a block is inserted at a young age. Faith is "riding the wave".

I think faith is deeper than a 'belief', as beliefs can change. Faith can change, too, but I think the idea is to have faith as a constant and beliefs in flux.