Maybe…

Posted on October 28, 2019 by Author Richard F Holmes

There was once a simple farmer who kept a horse in his field. One day the horse got loose and ran away. A neighbour heard this news, and on crossing paths with the farmer said, “such bad news about your horse.” “Maybe”, said the farmer. A few days passed and the horse returned, bringing with it two more wild horses. Again the neighbour heard this news and on meeting the farmer in town said, “fantastic news about the horses.” “Maybe”, said the farmer.

One day a few weeks later, the farmer’s son was breaking in one of the new horses and it threw him, fracturing his leg in the process. The neighbour came to visit and on hearing what had happened said, “such bad luck with your son’s broken leg.” “Maybe”, said the farmer. Soon after this incident some officials from the military came calling. They were drafting young men into the army to go and fight in a war. On seeing the son’s condition they didn’t bother with him and went away. Again the neighbour heard and on seeing the farmer exclaimed, “such great luck that your son does not have to go to war.” “Maybe”, said the farmer.

This lovely little parable aptly illustrates several things that can be the cause of pain and suffering if we remain unaware of our true nature (consciousness). The farmer was obviously accepting of “what is.” He also understood that good and bad are simply personal judgements, and that the nature of the phenomenal world is cyclic.

He did not judge each situation as it occurred. He simply accepted each scenario in the understanding that the natural flow of nature would soon carry it on its way. Had he not accepted the seemingly unfortunate events exactly as they were, and instead formed a judgement that they were “bad”, the story playing out in his mind would have caused him to suffer. Equally, had he allowed the seemingly good fortune of events to carry him off on the crest of a wave, the judgement made by the egoic mind when the fortunes were reversed would have also caused him to suffer. In consciousness there is no relativity, no phenomena, nothing to judge. Instead of becoming embroiled, the farmer remained “the witness” to the dramas playing out before him on the stage we call life.

A Life Lived

Posted on November 14, 2018 by Author Richard F Holmes

It has occurred to me that we humans are a very strange species indeed; as if we didn’t already know that. We are very quick to judge and be suspicious of people who have lived a bit, and maybe committed what society deems to be “crimes”. But, it has been said many times before; the world is paradoxical and we also have a thing called relativity. We only know things that we judge to be “good”, because we have also judged other things as being “bad”. This is the nature of relativity and judgement.

Hypothetically, if you lived on a council estate in South London and you had a couple of kids in their early teens, who would you want guiding them at the local youth club? Would you want someone who can describe what a cream tea tastes like and who may be able to describe what the inside of a church looks like? Or, would you want someone who has been down the rocky road of life, experienced dark times; maybe even gotten on the wrong side of the law, but who has come out the other side? Someone who can apply their life experience to the lives of others and help them in the process. Someone who recognises that look on the face of a youngster that says, “help me”.

The thing with life is that it is meant to be the way it is; our world couldn’t function any other way. The Divine play of life is a complete process; we cannot filter out the things we judge to be bad or wrong. All is experience and all experience has relevance regardless of the way things may seem to be on the surface.

In the above-mentioned hypothetical situation, I know who I would want guiding my kids; but then again, that’s just my judgement.

Red Snappa And The Mothers Of Reinvention

Posted on September 27, 2016 by Author Richard F Holmes

Yes, your eyes are not deceiving you! It’s a spoof title; and why not? My first spoof title since the heady days of Aliens Ate My Grandmother etc. at the time of the so-called “shift”. I thought it was about time I spoofed things up a bit and gave you an update in the process.

You may remember that some months ago I said I was in the process of reinventing myself. I also announced that I’d unpublished all my books and took my CDs out of circulation. I still don’t know exactly what form the new me is going to take, but it seems that the wheels have started to turn slowly, so here I am. I have felt for a long time that I urgently need to broaden my horizons; and the best way to do this is to travel to different places. Up to now the stumbling block has always been the cost involved; travel being so much more expensive than it used to be, but now the means has materialised to enable me to see a bit more of the world. I’m starting fairly close to home, with a trip up to Northern Scotland. After that, there are so many options. I have he following itinerary in my head: Iceland, Cyprus, as many countries in mainland Europe that I can cram in, India (two trips) and Nepal.

In the meantime I have republished three of my books, (two as eBooks and paperback and one as a paperback only), and I’m in the process of reissuing two of my CDs. I’m also still doing my work as a medium, but this is something that I will be doing very little of in the future. The truth is that for many years now I have seen mediumship for what it is, and it has become nothing short of a chore. I simply cannot get excited about churning out the same old mundane messages anymore. I’m finding it more and more difficult to motivate myself as each demonstration rears its head in my diary. You see friends, the process of mediumship takes place at a very low level of spiritual understanding, and it simply does not resonate with me anymore; it no longer serves my soul.

Friends say to me, “ah yes, but it gives them comfort”, or, “it gives them hope”. That is true, but people have to realise that comfort and hope are “of the world”, and subject to relativity. You can’t go through life clutching at straws and expect it to get you somewhere; and when I’m the one offering the straws it gets downright boring. I feel that my creativity is being stunted. The comfort you get today will surely turn to discomfort before you can blink, because you are looking in the wrong place for what you seek. The only thing a medium can promise you is that all the fear, grief and pain that was torturing you when you awoke this morning, will still be torturing you tomorrow morning regardless of whether a medium gives you a message or not.

Spiritualism as a religion is sill puffing and wheezing its way towards the 21st Century and is not able to bring people out of the spiritual wilderness they find themselves in. Spiritualism relies on the existence of something that does not exist for its own existence; namely the separate self. If there were no messages the Spiritualist churches would be empty, and I don’t feel that I can continue to “feed” a lie. I intend to honour the bookings I already have for the rest of this year and next, but I will also have to cancel a few to accommodate my travel plans. I imagine that I will continue to serve a small handful of venues as long as I remain in the area. However, they will be the venues that have always been very supportive of me and where I have maintained excellent relationships.

It is also true to say that these days mediums are ten-a-penny, and there are plenty of them around to give people the kind of stuff that is craved by the “false self”. Whether we like it or not, the day must surely come when we have to accept that we are God and that there is only One of us!

As for me? Who knows? The doors of my life adventure are open, it’s just a matter of me having the vision to see this so I can enjoy the ride. Watch this space!

Promises

Posted on August 15, 2016 by Author Richard F Holmes

The sort of promises I’m referring to here are more what you would call vows; the type you make when you get married for example. Have you ever wondered why many people find these vows so difficult to adhere to, and why (if we continue with marriage as the example here) so many marriages end in divorce these days. The answer, quite simply, is because the human race as a collective, still does not really know what love is and therefore puts conditions on it. We ask of those we claim to love what love itself would never ask of another.

Our very nature as a species is that of evolution. The individual soul experiences life in the world so it may know itself in its own experience. Or, so it may know experientially what it otherwise only knows as concept. It is these experiences of life that instigate the growth and evolution of the individual soul. As the soul evolves its perceptions and outlooks change. This means that our very nature is that of change; we do not stand still. Love would never ask another to restrict and impose limitations on itself by not changing when the very nature of life is change. A vow made today may be relevant to the person you are today. But six months, a year, five years or ten years down the line, you are not the same person; you have evolved, therefore your vow may no longer serve who you are and who you are choosing to be. In this world of relativity there is no right and wrong there is only that which serves you and that which doesn’t; right and wrong are simply relative and a matter of individual opinion.

Instead of expecting someone to “love, honour and obey”, what about “I honour your right to explore and express your individuality and I also honour your right to continually recreate yourself in the grandest version of the greatest vision you ever held about yourself”. This would be love in action, not superficial love with conditions. If this principle was applied more often to relationships of all kinds the world would be a much better place.

Torn Between Two Lovers

Posted on January 4, 2016 by Author Richard F Holmes

First of all I’d like to thank all followers of my blog for your continued support, and wish you all the very best for 2016. Now…

When we are completely lost and have no idea of our true nature, we constantly crave the things and people that we believe will make us happy. There is nothing wrong with that, as such, because it is a completely natural thing to want to be happy. However, what we do not realise is that “the world” can never, ever give us the everlasting joy that we desire. In our spiritual blindness we are completely oblivious to the relative nature of creation and that it is constantly moving in cycles; thus, any joy we find will inevitably, eventually make way for grief.

As we start to awaken and we develop a thirst for spiritual knowledge and a desire for spiritual growth, we slowly start to realise how the world functions and we come to understand relativity and how life is cyclic. We learn that we have to look in the opposite direction from the world in order to find the bliss that we crave. We learn to look within ourselves for the answers to life’s mysteries. We revel in delight as truth starts to reveal itself, and we become as kids ripping open our presents on Christmas morning. For a while life becomes a roller-coaster of self-discovery. Then…

Life can be quite lonely for the spiritual aspirant on the verge of awakening. Old friends and acquaintances start to fall by the wayside as they no longer resonate with us. Old habits and attachments are discarded because they no longer serve us. We suddenly realise that we have done a lot of shedding but not much attracting, and find ourselves in a kind of no-man’s-land. We start to have doubts, and look over our shoulders at all the old stuff disappearing from view, and then it happens…

It’s as though we are torn between two lovers. We know that we must let go of our previous way of life because it no longer serves who we have evolved into. We know that we are eternal bliss personified, but… The new stuff is taking its time in arriving; our “new” life is dragging its heels in taking shape. We start to look back and crave all the old stuff again; forgetting that it never brought us lasting happiness then, and that it is not going to now either. Hesitation, procrastination, feelings of self-doubt and vulnerability; like an old lover who just will not go away, the old stuff grabs us by the ankles and will not let go. So, two things to realise here.

Firstly, there is no need to be alarmed; this is just the ego clinging on for dear life. It knows its days are numbered and in desperation tries to get us to revert back to old ways and mind sets. Secondly, we already have eternal bliss; it’s who and what we are. In our humanness we believe we have to bust a gut to achieve something that we already have. The truth is that all we need to do is just allow ourselves to “be”, and let the universe flow naturally. Yes, the ego will continue to play its tricks in an effort to disrupt, but the power that we are will always win the day.

I’m torn between two lovers at the moment and I’m sure there are many of you reading this who will know exactly what I mean.