IN SEARCH OF SELF

Do you know the meaning of the words you speak or think? If you do then you are among the exceptional. Most people have no idea what the words they say mean. The original meaning of a common word often becomes changed through translation or by design. Today the words boss and cool have different meanings from the originals and come under the heading of slang. This is a method of changing the meaning of words. History is filled with many changed words.

When Christianity began spreading throughout Europe many pagan words and celebrations were altered to bring the pagans into the fold of the Church. One such celebration is Easter. Originally Easter or Eastre was the name of a pagan goddess of spring and the church officials turned the celebration into a celebration of the resurrection of Jesus. However this is another topic to be explored.

Some years ago I attended a talk given by Ramtha, the hierophant of the Ramtha School of Enlightenment. His teaching was titled Ignorance is the Mother of Devotion. I remember that when I left, the connection between ignorance and devotion had not been clear to me. As with many of Ramtha’s teachings not all the i’s or t’s are dotted or crossed. I came to the realization that he wants us to find the dots and discovered the connections for ourselves.

This pulled at my mind for a few years and I finally began to research the meaning of devotion. It didn’t take much research. All I had to do was go to my trusty New World Dictionary, Second College Edition and look up the word. The archaic or original meanings for devote was entirely different from the common usage today. The meaning I found said: to curse or doom.

That was ominous. This led me to seek further. I knew de is the prefix meaning separation or away from but what was vote? Vote came from the Latin word vatum meaning a wish, a vow or a prayer. I began to see that the original meaning was changed and used to bring the conquered pagans into the fold – so to speak.

I began to note how the change affected our evolution. We (I am using this collectively) now became devoted to our church, our children, our family, or our whatever. The frequency of the original meaning was still contained within the word. We had been programmed to give our attention to something or somebody outside of ourselves. We became ignorant of our true purpose and the knowingness that god is within each person regardless of religion, culture, race or creed. In essence, we were hi-jacked into giving our power away to something outside of us. We became ignorant and therefore ignorance is the mother of devotion.

In realizing this, I began examining my own perceptions of what I was devoted to. I realized that there were some and I quickly began changing my attitudes and reactions when I became aware of the word’s true meaning. My realization is that when I was devoted to something outside myself whether it be children, husband, politics or a cause then I was giving away my power of self. Self is always seeking to be known. I did not give up my children or my husband. I changed my mind.

I also learned that love is not attachment. I gradually began weaning myself away from my attachments to become detached. By being detached, I could love and allow those in my life to develop their own self. My deceased sister was a devoted woman to her family, her church and her clubs she belonged to. She developed carpal tunnel syndrome in both wrists and was told to rest and restrict her activities. I spoke with her and told her it was a marvelous opportunity to get to know herself. She responded that she didn’t like to be alone with herself because she didn't like herself. I didn’t argue with her however I was saddened that she felt she needed outside activities to strengthen her worth. It indicated to me that she really had no self worth and this beautiful woman died of cancer of the liver. Cancer denotes self-hatred.

Too many people give away their attention and their power to what they are devoted to whether it be television, movies, family, religion, hatreds, prejudices, anger, sports or anything where one's attention is always projected outside of self. I have learned that self-contemplation is the seed for creativity and I can love others without being devoted to them.

Our journey in life is one of self or Self seeking self recognition. A journey is filled with many twists and turns with a gift in each one. It is up to the individual to discover the gift. The gift is never recognized when we are devoted to something outside of ourselves.