THE GREAT SWINDLE

(Continued)

[1]. There is a Spirit/Mind fundament pervading the totality of REALITY. (This fundament is symbolized in the Circle of Esse by the term 'Esse').

[2]. That Spirit/Mind totality is a unity which creates physical existence by way of manifesting itself, from within itself, into discrete, individuated parts of itself within a continuum we call 'time'. (Thus, the totality of physical existence is  its parts, and the parts are  the totality. The totality and the parts are actually the same 'thing' perceived from complementary polar perspectives.)

[3]. When perceived from the polar perspective of the whole, that totality is a unity (macrocosm), which in human terms can be described as SELF.

[4]. When perceived from the polar perspective of the part, the totality is often perceived in its smaller scale (microcosm) of the part's "self".

[5]. There is a connecting link and interplay between the SELF and all the many "self"s by which the SELF manifests its multitudinous aspects in those various "self"s, and by which each "self" can be aware of its direct connection with, and role within, the SELF. (This link is symbolized in the Circle of Esse by the term 'Nexus'.)

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* Whether we conceive of this link as being a result of a portion of Esse residing within us, or as a result of our being a part of Esse, really doesn't matter, because none of us can KNOW such 'hair splitting' specifics about it, and, ultimately, they are both saying the same thing anyway. The important thing is to acknowledge that that link is there .

In actuality, the terms 'Esse', 'SELF', 'Circle' and 'Nexus' are all referring to the same 'thing'. They are simply the symbols by which we are attempting to prod language into doing what it can do to communicate the underlying message here, from the perspective of a polar part.

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[6]. When perceived solely, or even primarily, from the perspective of the polar part (each of us as a "self"), it is not possible for that part to KNOW with any certainty just what the Spirit/Mind totality is, how it operates, precisely where it is (other than everywhere), or anything else about it in any definitive details. But it can KNOW that it is there . (If there weren't some Spirit/Mind quality to reality, reality wouldn't hold together with the symmetry and beauty we can all see it does if we but allow ourselves to see  it).

We recognize that in these six paragraphs we have said a mouthful. But in essence, we have said it all  in that mouthful.

If one were to digest the message in these six paragraphs, and ponder and consider it in quiet and serious solitude, thereby activating and making use of one's own Nexus with the SELF, one would get  the Message .

It's as simple as that.

If one were to do just this quiet and serious digesting of and pondering on the message contained in these paragraphs, and thereby attuning him"self" with the SELF, by way of his Nexus with it, he would see  it.

And in seeing  it, one would begin the process of clearing away the fog of the "self" 's unawareness of the SELF, which is, in essence, the source of the Great Swindle. Indeed, that very unawareness is  the Great Swindle. (The fundamental form of IGNORANCE, and therefore the essential source of the Great Swindle, is the "self" 's unawareness of its SELFness.

This very same message can be framed in other words, and, indeed, it has been.

If one were to take a copy of the New Testament of The Bible, in which the words that Jesus spoke are highlighted in red letters or emboldened print, and read and ponder just those words  - one would find the same essential message.

We are not talking here about how Saul-Paul or anyone else who never saw Jesus in the flesh , who having had some purported spiritual communion with him after his passing from this physical world, has subsequently interpreted him as 'actually' meaning.

We are talking only of the words coming out of his physical mouth, as those words are quoted in the New Testament by way of those disciples who were right there with him, and heard his words with their own ears, and subsequently wrote down what they heard him say .

As flawed as those disciples' memories might have been as to what he actually said when they finally committed it to writing, and as flawed as the English translations and interpretations of what they did write down might be, if one reads just those words as quoted , one will find, in essence, the same message as contained in our six paragraphs.

Traditional Christian doctrine, by insisting that Jesus was the one and only Christ and Son of God, has gotten caught up in certain pre-existing and specific - and therefore superficial - 'meanings' of the allegories and symbols by which Jesus, in his words and his very life, attempted to communicate his Message. And, to the extent that it has gotten so caught up in the specifics of the allegory, it has, in effect, missed his Message.

When he said, 'I am the Truth, the Light and the Way, ' it was the SELF pole of his being that was speaking, and he  KNEW that.

That he KNEW that the SELF pole of his being didn't somehow make him  special or above anyone else, is replete not only in his direct words, but in the humility with which he consistently clothed his actions.

We all  have the I  of the Greater SELF within us, and that  was his Message .

If he was, indeed, somehow special, or above, or more 'Godly' than anyone else, it was simply in the level of the awareness  of the SELF pole of his being that he had attained. And that  is what he was trying to tell us, and help the rest of us to attain in our  beings.

Attaining the level of such awareness that he did, given the relative level of un awareness - IGNORANCE - in most other people, did, indeed, make him something special in that sense. But, having attained such an above average level of awareness of his SELFness, it didn't result in any human arrogance and Conceit, but rather in a deep sense of humility and obligation to others.

To miss the point of the SELF pole within all  of us, equal  to his, and to fail to at least aspire  to attain an ever greater level of awareness  of It within our "selves", is to miss the essential point of the Message which he CHOSE to devote his entire life to communicating to others.

Indeed, as a result of the level of his own awareness, he felt so strongly about the consequences of failing to attain such a level of awareness, that he painted those consequences in the strongest possible terms - a living and eternal death; Hell itself - and devoted his entire adult life, and the early and intentional end of that life, to getting the message over to others.

The SELF pole within him was so predominant, that he saw the situation in such extreme terms - at least extreme in the eyes of most of us more average folk - and the SELF within him cared so much about the neglected SELF in others, that he was willing to dedicate, and even sacrifice, his "self" in order to help enhance the level of SELF awareness in others. Indeed, for him (and anyone else who attains anywhere near his level of awareness of SELF) it was the only worthwhile thing to  do with his life.

Did Jesus perform spiritual healings?

Most likely.

But his words make it very clear that he did it by way of the faith  (BELIEF) on the part of the person being healed. And, where that faith was lacking, such as in his own home town, where they were simply too familiar with him, as very much a human being, to be able to BELIEVE in his having such a seemingly unusual ability, and in various other places where such faith was lacking, he wasn't able to do it.

Faith healers today, if they are not blatant frauds, and if the patient has faith  (BELIEF) in the outcome [and in that case, even if the healer is a blatant fraud], do the same thing.

And even the science of medicine does it, although it is called by a different name - the 'placebo' effect.

Did Jesus actually perform the 'miracles' of the loaves and fishes, and of walking on water?

It's hard for many of us today to BELIEVE that.

But, there are two important aspects about these 'miracles' for us of today to remember.

First, few, if any, of us today have attained the level of SELF awareness that he did. (If we had, we'd be as dedicated to doing with our lives what he did with his, in much the same way as he did it - and as genuinely  as he did it - miracles or no).

So, lacking that level of inner awareness ourselves, who are we to be so Conceitful as to think we "know" just what one of his attainment is fully capable of?

Second, he wasn't the only one reported to have walked on water. Peter did it too.

And Peter didn't sink until, according to Jesus' words, Peter lost his own 'faith' in his ability to do it. It wasn't Jesus who got Peter on top of the water. It was Peter's own faith  (BELIEF) that floated him, and his own loss  of that faith that sank him.

And, this particular episode with Peter is, itself, as graphic a presentation of Jesus' essential Message, in a nutshell, as the entire Bible provides us.

The same thing holds true with the message of Gautamma Buddha, and all other TRULY enlightened ones. If one were to genuinely digest and ponder their words , setting aside what someone else says they 'actually' meant, taking their words as the symbol  and allegory  they intended them to be, one would find the same essential message, and find his own Nexus, and awareness of the SELF, thereby.

In interpreting Jesus and Gautamma and all other enlightened ones as we have just done here, not only in their words but in terms of their very lives, we recognize and fully acknowledge that that is exactly what we have done - we  have interpreted  them.

We have set forth our own interpretation  of these matters regarding fundamental REALITY.

In doing so, we lay ourselves open to criticism from two [or more?] directions.

From the traditional Christian point of view, we can easily be charged with being one of the many 'false' prophets that Jesus warned about.

All we can say in response is what Jesus himself said - 'Judge them by their fruits  '; 'Beware of wolves in sheep's clothing  '.

As to 'judging', recognizing that Jesus also said, 'Judge not lest ye be judged  ', we take him as meaning to judge the Message  of any subsequent 'prophet' by its  fruits, and not the 'prophet' himself.

And, in determining the 'fruits' of any particular message, he provided us with a highly useful guideline. If the 'prophet' shows signs of being a 'wolf in sheep's clothing' - one who is more concerned about his own personal welfare in terms of Money/Power/Status - qualities of the "self" - how valid can his message be?

(And in that regard, would Jesus be a Christian today? Or would he be as offended by what religion today is doing in the name of the Heavenly Father [the SELF pole of Esse], whose Message he was carrying, as he was with the Sadducees and Pharisees of his own day?).

The other major criticism is that having insisted that each person should consult his own inner lights as to ultimate REALITY, rather than someone else's interpretation of it, here we are being a 'someone else' providing yet another interpretation.

To this we can only say - nothing.

Or at least nothing new.

We can only say the same things we have been trying to say all along in this writing, but perhaps in yet again different words.

The ultimate source for one's TRUE KNOWING about fundamental REALITY is within one's SELF.

All the words in this writing are language, and language can do no more than drop hints by way of allegory and symbol, and should not be taken any other way. We do not intend that our language here be taken any other way.

Our use of language can no more do what only  each individual's own inner lights can do for him, than Jesus' or Gautamma's or anyone else's use of language can do.

Our ultimate purpose in this writing is to, hopefully, help trigger within the minds of those who read it, their own inner KNOWING.

But our more immediate purpose is to, again hopefully, help clear away some of the IGNORANCE which creates so many stumbling blocks, within many minds, on the path of the "self" becoming aware of the SELF, and thereby helping those minds to see  that REALITY - for themselves .

One of the major difficulties in our world today in terms of the "self" becoming TRULY aware of the SELF, so as to be able  to genuinely and fully KNOW the things we are speaking of here, is cogently stated in the question - 'Yea, but how do you get there from here?'

It is similar to the seeming conundrum of, 'Which comes first - the chicken or the egg?'

The educated intellect says, 'Help me understand  so that I can  BELIEVE.'

And, the theologian has too often answered, 'BELIEVE and then you will understand  '.

We have said as much in this writing.

We have said that the goal is to find one's "self" within one's SELF, and the Nexus between them, and yet we have suggested that one make use of that very Nexus and SELF in order to find them.

The problem, of course, is, if one hasn't yet found something, how can he use that thing he hasn't found, to find it?

Our contribution to resolving that apparent conundrum is to point out the Great Swindle.

Because, the conundrum is only an apparent one. It isn't a TRUE paradox at all.

It is a direct, and artificial, result of the fallacious modes of thinking which underlie the Swindle.

The purpose of this writing is not to convince  you of anything. The deceptive power of the Swindle is much too great for us to convince you of what you don't already BELIEVE.

The purpose of this writing is to help you see that you have already convinced yourself  of certain BELIEFS, and that if you so CHOOSE, you can change them to more spiritually uplifting and fulfilling BELIEFS.

We hope this writing has shown that fundamental views of REALITY are, in essence, based upon BELIEF.

And, in a way which the SELF fully understands, and the "self" cannot understand, BELIEF creates  REALITY - actually creates  it - far more than our BELIEFS about "reality" are simply a result of what we find that "reality" to be.

Yes,we  create REALITY by way of our BELIEFS about it, to a much larger extent and in more fundamental ways than we (at the level of the "self") are often able to see.

If we fail to recognize this TRUTH about the nature and power of BELIEF, that failure is due to the Deception of the Great Swindle. And the "reality" that results from our BELIEF in that Deception is Swindlous.

If we focus on the "self" in our BELIEFS, that is what we get.

Jesus tried to tell us that the result of such a focus is so disastrous as to be the path to Hell.

But this can be put in less extreme terms.

Such a focus is also like taking a sack lunch to a banquet. One turns his back on the banquet of a life lived in awareness of and thus BELIEF in the SELF, and spends that life eating the stale baloney sandwiches of a life in which the focus of BELIEF is on the "self".

To have such a "self" focus soley because one is unable to BELIEVE in the very existence of the SELF, is truly a Swindle. It is  the Great Swindle.

So there is the crux of the matter.

Now, what do we do about it?

Do we just will ourselves to change our BELIEFS?

Well, maybe. But not too likely. Our Swindlous BELIEFS are pretty well entrenched.

There are some things we can do to assist our Free Will and POWER of CHOICE in effecting such changes in ourselves.

Those who have read this entire writing, and who have gotten the full meaning of what we have been trying to convey (despite the difficulties of language involved) have already taken the first major step toward making such a change.

You have provided your rational intellect with the possibility of a broader view of REALITY.

You now recognize that a very real Swindle exists; an immediate and personal Swindle within yourself, and in the world around you.

You now have a better understanding of the process by which that Swindle arose and maintains itself.

You have a better understanding of your own personal role in the creation and continuance of that Swindle, and that if it is going to be stopped, it must first be stopped within yourself as an individual.

You have already taken this first major step.

And, it is the most difficult step - the step of dawning awareness and understanding.

The next step is to acknowledge to your "self" the existence of that uneasy feeling that is probably now floating around inside you. That feeling that if you are actually going to succeed in reversing the Swindle within your "self", you are not going to be able to do it without some help. Because you can't.

Don't waste your time worrying about whether the need for help somehow makes you 'weak' or 'inferior'. It doesn't. It simply makes you human.

No one can pull off the reversal of the Swindle within themselves alone. Everyone needs some help in order to do it. Everyone! And that includes you . (If you doubt that, take another close look at your own Sense of Self. The Conceit of ego is showing.)

You are going to need the help of your own Nexus with Esse, as you understand it to be.

Give your Conceitful "self" over to it, and use  it. Lose your "self" in the SELF. (As in the words of Jesus, 'If you would have your life [the SELF], you must lose it [the "self"]').

(Don't allow feelings of embarrassment or 'foolishness' to stop you from doing this. Turning the "self" over to the SELF isn't the least bit 'foolish'. It can easily be the most important thing you can possibly do in this life.)

If you have difficulty BELIEVING in the importance and validity of doing so, just try  it. (What can you lose by just giving it a try?).

If you will just try it - you will see .

This process of turning the "self" over to the SELF is what The Circle of Esse means by Attuniment.

That 'mountain' of fundamental reality is there , spread out before you in all its awesome and majestic glory. It's crowding all around you. You have intimations by way of INTUITIVE INSIGHT about it all the time. The only question is, will you acknowledge that that is what it is, and permit yourself to see  it.

Those INSIGHTS are Esse communicating with you by way of your own Nexus with It. Develop that Nexus! There is power in it; Creative Power for your own inner development and growth.

Your own Nexus with Esse is half, and the better half, of what this writing, and you , are all about.

However you choose to go about doing this, CHOOSE to do it! And do it like it matters . Because it does !

Enhancing one's Nexus between the "self" and the SELF of Esse, by way of attuning that "self" with the SELF, is  the way to 'arrest' and eliminate the Personal 'Sting' of the Great Swindle within one's individual being.

In TRUTH, there is no other  way.

Is it worth it? We BELIEVE so.

Can you  BELIEVE it?

It is our hope that this writing has helped you to do so.

And now, youwill , fully and consciously, exercise your own Free Will and POWER of CHOICE.

If you have read this far, you cannot avoid doing so, and KNOWING that that is  what you are doing.

You will either CHOOSE to enhance your own Nexus, or you will CHOOSE to do something else.

If at this point in this writing you do not recognize the CHOICE that you will now make, and that you will in FACT make such a CHOICE, then you are still enmired in Erroneous "knowing", and this writing hasn't done for you what we hoped it would.

We have now done all that our use of words in this particular writing can do.

(If you feel it might be helpful to associate with other people who are walking a similar path of conscious  CHOICE making, that is what the Circle of Esse is all about.)

THE INSTITUTIONAL 'STING'

We have now discussed how the Great Swindle can be stopped on the level of the Personal 'Sting', by the individual himself, and without the assistance of any organization (although an organization like the Circle of Esse can be a tremendous assist to the individual in his elimination of his personal Swindle).

We shall now address the reversal of the Swindle at the level of its Institutional 'Sting'. We will first discuss the 'credibility' of the potential for even being able to do so, and then the most appropriate institution within which to accomplish it.

So, what's so new about all this?

Weren't Jesus in the Mid-East and Gautamma of India saying pretty much the same things (providing one pays heed to what they actually said rather than what others have interpreted them as 'meaning') two thousand and twenty-five hundred years ago?

Well, actually, yes.

They were being rational about the non-rational quality of life. They were, in essence, saying the same thing.

And didn't the Shamans of their time (and subsequently) pervert the meaning of what these enlightened men were saying, indeed, the meaning of their very lives, into a caricature, and build the Shamanic 'Sting' using that caricature as its very foundation?

Yes.

That is what happened.

So, how has human nature changed today, so as to allow a legitimate BELIEF that the same distorted result wouldn't come of yet another attempt to be wholly and TRULY rational about our rational and non-rational polarities?

Well, human nature, itself, hasn't changed. And, likely, it never will.

But, human 'nature' was never the problem in the first place. And, it isn't the problem now. Something else was, and still is, the source of the problem.

And that something else has been, and still is (what else!?) - There's a Swindle going on!

The Great Swindle.

And (as we hope we have now shown), that Swindle is fueled by Self-Deception which is based upon IGNORANCE.

And, the level of our IGNORANCE has   changed, and that FACT is the critical difference between our present time, and all times in our earlier history as a species.

This recent development is so critical to the opportunity we now have for reversing the Institutional 'Sting' of Great Swindle, as we have never before had, that we are going to digress here for a moment to drive home its full significance within us.

As clarified earlier on in this writing, as important a role as FEAR plays within us, it is not actually an independent element within us, or within the Swindle.

It, as with all other seemingly negative or dysfunctional aspects of us, is actually yet another sub-facet of the one actual   cause of all our difficulties - IGNORANCE.

With KNOWLEDGE we can control, and even eliminate, the effects of FEAR. Experience teaches us that this is TRUE.

Indeed, with sufficient KNOWLEDGE, we can even eliminate FEAR itself. Again, our life experience demonstrates this, at least as to our smaller fears, which we outgrow and get totally past.

And, the TRULY enlightened ones, such as Jesus and Gautamma, and many others, have told us, and shown us, that we can also get totally past even the biggest  of our FEARS (because, as they clearly saw, the absence of KNOWLEDGE - IGNORANCE - is the very source  of all our FEARS).

"KNOW THE TRUTH AND IT SHALL SET YE FREE." 

That is what Jesus said. And, in effect, that is what Gautamma said as well.

They said KNOW the TRUTH.

KNOWING. The opposite of IGNORANCE.

And by knowing  the truth , they meant full   KNOWING. They were fully aware that men have within them two complementary sources   of KNOWLEDGE - the non-rational  (SELF) and the rational  ("self") - and that both   sources are of equal importance if we are to attain full  KNOWING.

They spoke of our non-rational qualities, but they did so in a very rational manner.

So, IGNORANCE and its opposite, KNOWLEDGE, is the crucial element.

And that   has changed.

Our early ancestors who initially set up the Great Swindle were truly and vastly IGNORANT about almost everything in life. And, the vast majority of our ancestors of even just a hundred years ago weren't much better off on that score than were our earliest forebears.

But we of today, as a result of rational and scientific investigation, actually do possess knowledge about nature and our ourselves to a degree significantly beyond that possessed by our ancestors of even a hundred years ago.

And, as a result of mass education and mass communication, more of us today possess that greater knowledge in significantly greater numbers, than has ever before been the case.

These changes constitute the critical difference in the IGNORANCE factor which, as we now see, is the   fundamental element of the fuel for the Great Swindle.

Up until just recently, this IGNORANCE factor was so great, and our means for dispelling and overcoming it were so limited, that we really couldn't overcome it on a large enough scale so as to be able to eliminate the Great Swindle at its Institutional level.

For a fact, the very explosion in knowledge and technology which has brought us to the brink of self-annihilation as a species, has, at the same time, provided us with the means for not only our salvation as a species, but for the significant and lasting improvement of the total human and planetary condition as well.

But if we are going to eliminate the Swindle at the societal level, in its institutionalized forms, we must first consider which if any, of the existing institutions is an appropriate place to begin.

Social institutions play much the same role within society as do the physical organs of the body within the individual. Society is  institutions, made up of organizations, which consist of yet more organizations.

In order to have an impact on society requires an organization of some sort.

Is there any organization in society now in existence which can successfully work the elimination of the Swindle from our social institutions?

Neither government, nor any organization connected with government, nor the overall political process as a whole, can do it. They, of necessity, operate through the political process, and, its proper focus is on the practicality of the way things are , rather than upon the way things could, or 'should', be.

It is not government's role, or goal, to idealize. That should be done elsewhere if government is to do what it does best - govern people to the extent that they can't govern themselves.

If people can learn to better govern themselves by other means (eg., by eliminating the Swindle within themselves?) then government won't have to try to do so poorly, what the people can better do for themselves.

Government can play a role in the transformation of society, but it can best play that role after the transformation has already pretty well gotten underway elsewhere in society.

Let's briefly take a closer look at this.

We are speaking now of attempts to cure the Swindle, or, more accurately, attempts to correct for some of the symptoms of the Swindle, by way of political processes.

These attempts come in the form of political revolution or in the form of revolution's less violent cousins, political reform and protest movements.

Political revolutions have been known to work rather substantial changes in the structure and institutions within a society - the American Revolution being the best known example.

And, these changes can, indeed, produce some highly desirable results, again, the penultimate example being the American Revolution.

However, such revolutions always exact a high cost in lives, misery and destruction, and they never fully succeed in doing what they set out to do.

Indeed, many of them don't succeed in their ultimate purpose at all. All they accomplish is to replace one form of despotism with another, e.g., the Communist Revolutions in Russia, China and Cuba, and so many of the revolutions in South and Central America.

But even with respect to the most successful revolution - the American Revolution - it really didn't do much in terms of the Great Swindle other than to ameliorate some of its effects in some areas of society for awhile. It didn't eliminate the Great Swindle. It merely restructured it. (There would be no need for this writing if the American Revolution had actually cured the Great Swindle. It didn't. The Swindle is still with us, and in full force.)

The same thing holds true with political reform and protest movements. They may produce some positive benefits, but those benefits always come with a high price tag in social unrest and dislocation - and sometimes even death and destruction - and they are never lasting.

Sooner or later, the social reforms accomplished either become corrupted themselves, or the evils eliminated reappear in a new form, and the whole process has to be gone through all over again.

Such an approach at eliminating the evils in the world may be better than nothing at all, but it is far inferior to attacking those evils at their root cause, ie., the Great Swindle.

The reason political reforms are always costly, and never permanent, is because of the very arena in which they operate, ie., politics.

They attempt to solve the problems of the human condition by attacking some of those problems themselves, which problems are symptoms , and not  the cause .

Political processes and structures do not, in and of themselves, directly create the problems of the human condition. Rather, they are simply one of the many means by which the Great Swindle operates in society. The Swindle  is the actual cause  of the problems, regardless of the various forms in which those problems manifest themselves.

Consequently, tinkering with a political system, whatever it might be, without addressing the Swindle first, cannot, in and of itself, work any truly substantial or lasting improvement in the human condition.

Education, as an institution, can't do it. Its primary focus is on the 'rational', intellectual aspects of knowledge, which is as it should be. Its focus is not, and properly should not be, upon the non-rational ('spiritual').

Education is a result, and a tool, of our rational intellect. And in order to maintain education's integrity and usefulness in its proper area of endeavor, at least as an institution, it should remain just what it is, and not be asked to do more than it properly can do. To burden it with a role that is improper to it will serve, in the end, only to weaken it in its proper role.

In time, education, as an institution, can also play a role in the elimination of the Great Swindle. But it can do so only as an adjunct to the major burden of that role being carried elsewhere.

Private business, as an institution, can't do it, nor can any particular business organization within the institution. Despite any occasional proclamations to the contrary, its primary focus is upon profit.

In time, it will be impacted upon and affected by the elimination of the Swindle in society, and then will also begin to assist in its final and total elimination. But that will only be when the ball has developed some pretty good momentum elsewhere.

So, by the process of elimination, we are now down to the only remaining social institution available to us - religion. If the Swindle can't be eliminated here, it can't be done in any of society's institutions, and thus can't be eliminated at the level of society at all.

And, interestingly enough, as is so often the case in the process of de-Swindlizing ourselves, the place where we end up turns out to be the very place where we should have started at the outset.

Indeed, there is only one TRULY logical place to start that ball rolling in the elimination of the Great Swindle in society, and that is at the very place where the Institutional Swindle got its start - the institution of religion.

So, in order to even have a chance (prayer?) of even beginning to de-Swindlize the institution of religion, let's begin by clearing away some of the 'fog' of Deceptive (and thus Swindlous) concepts we have about it.

And let's begin this process with clarifying just what the institution of religion is, why it is, and how it functions.

In essence, the function and basis for the existence of religion as a social institution, is to provide a social vehicle through which people can join together and provide mutual assistance to one another in the enhancement of their connection with the level(s) of existence which are beyond their individual "selfs".

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* That we each, as individuals, KNOW there is a level (levels?) of existence beyond that of our individual "self", and that we each seek a connection between our "self" and that level beyond our "self" is a FACT. (We don't need to 'prove' this. We all Intuitively KNOW it).

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[That the human propensity for creating a social vehicle for the enhancement of that 'connection seeking' is a powerful one, is clearly evidenced by the arising of the institution of religion in the vast majority of (although not all!) human cultures.]

And, that's what religion is - or at least can (should?) be in its non-Swindlous essence.

However, that doesn't seem to say nearly enough, does it.

And it doesn't because religion is not  non-Swindlous today (and never has been).

That the creation of the institution of religion in every culture in which it has occured has been suffused with IGNORANCE and Self-Deception is clearly evidenced by the existence of the Great Swindle itself (at least to anyone who CHOOSES to see it), and if not by that, by the conflicted, confused state in which the institution exists in every one of its particular forms today.

So, what's going on here?

In our earlier discussion of the manner in which the Great Swindle produced the 'Sting' of the Shaman, and its impact, we simply averred to the 'hi-jacking' of the institution of religion by the institution of government. It is now time delve into that aspect of the Swindle.

Simply put, the "self", in seeking a connection with a level of existence beyond itself, can (and in our view preferably should) seek that connection primarily with the SELF.

But there is another level of existence which is also beyond the "self", but is not the level of the SELF - social groupings; social organizations - which level of human existence is properly the domain of the institution of government .

And this availability of parallel levels of existence 'beyond' the "self" for the "self" to seek connection with, has been a major contributor to the beginning and sustenance of the Great Swindle.

Again simply put, social organizations require cohesion among their individual members in order to even exist, and the institution of government has effectively 'hi-jacked' the SELF seeking aspect of the institution of religion as a means of obtaining that necessary cohesion, and thereby subverted it into the "self" level seeking needs of government.

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* For a fuller discussion of this 'hi-jacking' of religion by government, and of already existing non-Swindlous alternatives for obtaining social cohesion, see Another Last Attempt.

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This 'hi-jacking' of religion by government may have been necessary in earlier stages of civilization, but it is no longer necessary now (if it ever was).

And without question, it always has been, and to the extent it remains still is, Swindlous.

Indeed, let's put this in the strongest possible terms.

As this writing has been diligently striving to point out, the "self" 's un awareness of the SELF, and the interplay ('Nexus') between them, is not only the fundamental source of the Great Swindle, it is  the Great Swindle.

And for the one and only social institution capable of, and whose avowed purpose is, enhancement of the "self" 's awareness of the SELF (and enhancement of the Nexus between the two), to be so Deceptively diverted toward what is so far removed from that purpose as to be the exact opposite (the needs of governmental cohesion - the level of multi-"selfs" rather than the SELF), is to produce an institution as Swindlous as any institution can get. Indeed, as a result of this 'hi-jacking' and the Shaman's 'Sting', the Swindlous nature of all other social institutions combined pales beside the level of Swindle with which the institution of religion is now suffused.

So, having, hopefully, cleared away some of the fog as to what religion should be and what it has turned out to be, and both despite and because of the factors we have just discussed, what could be a more logical place within which to work the initial transformation needed to eliminate the Great Swindle, than in the institution that is supposed to be doing that very thing, but isn't?

(Again, if religion were doing what it was supposed to be doing all along - enhancing the Nexus of each individual with Esse - there would not be a Great Swindle now, and never would have been one).

Is there any existing organization within that institution, any form of organized religion, that can do it?

Every existing religion has been too deeply enmired and tainted by the Great Swindle, and for too long a time, to be able now to reverse the Swindle, and its effects upon itself, without knocking out the lattices of support that holds up the very fabric of the religion. There would be too many internal and inherent contradictions in such a process. The structure of the religion would crumble in the attempt.

And although such a crumbling of the structure of existing particular religions will ultimately be necessary in order to finally and fully de-Swindlize the overall institution of religion, to try to bring this crumbling on without something fully valid and non-Swindlous ready and able to take their place, would not only be likely impossible to accomplish, but a serious mistake even if it were possible. (The experience of Communist regimes in Russia, China and elsewhere in their attempts to destroy religion without a non-Swindlous, SELF-connecting alternative, and the ultimate futility and negative social consequences of those attempts, are a clear demonstration of this).

There is a quite prevalent view that religion is necessary in order for any society to be a 'moral' one, so as to be a 'decent' one in which to live and hopefully even thrive. Another way of stating this is that a society in which the individual members are not basically and strongly 'moral' (or at least 'ethical' and 'decent') will devolve into one of at best organized chaos, tyranny of one form or another, and a generally contentious, deceitful and otherwise unpleasant place in which to live (kind of like what we see our situation developing into today, huh?).

This view acknowledges that government, being simply an outgrowth of the underlying society, can't provide the necessary 'moral' base but will inevitably simply reflect the 'morality' of the base from which it arises; that only religion can provide that 'moral' base.

And we agree with this view. Totally.

We're saying exactly the same thing.

Where we part company with many (most?) others who are saying this, is when they look to (insist upon?) some existing religion as being the only 'right' one to do the job of instilling that 'morality'.

It is true that existing religions do manage to inculcate a level of 'morality' (by which we mean social ethics and decency) of a higher level, at least occasionally and in some instances, than likely would exist without them. And to that extent, they are better than nothing.

(Indeed, they even manage, at least occasionally, to produce genuine  instances of the very "self" - SELF awareness and Nexus we are advocating here, even despite the inherently contradictory and Swindlous nature of their concepts and structures. These occasional instances, while no validation of the religion in which they arise - and indeed are usually, if not always, accomplished by way of the individual internally rejecting within himself the Swindlous concepts taught by the religion - are yet one more encouraging indication that our fundamentally non-Swindlous nature as individuals is a powerful force within us, bubbling with desire to break free of the Swindle).

However, that's all they are - better than nothing.

And if nothing is the only available alternative, then maybe we should stick with them.

But if we wish to eliminate the Swindle at the societal level, sticking with existing religions is not an option either. As we said, they are all Swindlous, and so deeply enmired in the Swindle at their very core as to crumble in the attempt to de-Swindlize them.

So, what is needed now is a new organizational vehicle within the institution of religion - one that doesn't suffer from the deep taint of the Great Swindle from the past. And one which is set up for and committed to doing what religion is supposed to do - assist the individual in the enhancement of his personal Nexus with Esse - and do that in a non-Swindlous way at both the individual and the societal levels.

And, indeed, there is a relatively new organization already on the scene which, at least from surface appearances, might just fill the bill.

Scientology.

Their concepts of 'engrams', 'auditing' and 'clear', if gone at in a non-Swindlous manner, would, in our opinion, be a very likely candidate as the type of new organization required in order to begin the process of eliminating the Swindle in the institution of religion. There are a goodly number of people who have found much benefit for themselves within it.

However, we need not delve any further into their concepts, and their potentially non-Swindlous validity, because however non-Swindlous those concepts might be, Scientology can produce no better non-Swindlous overall result than can any of the other already existing religions, and for the same reason.

Scientology as an organization, both in its basic structure and daily operation, is, itself, Swindlous - and deeply so.

As with all other existing religions, to whatever extent it preaches the concept of the "self" seeking its connection with the SELF (which the forementioned concepts of Scientology can easily be interpreted as doing), what it does  in its daily operation (and is organized to do) is just the opposite. It enshrouds its SELF concepts in a cocoon of "self" level concerns - Money/Power/Status.

If preaching SELF concepts within an organizational framework suffused with "self" level concerns were capable of eliminating the Swindle, it would have already happened within previously existing religions, which have been doing that for centuries. And, as we have consistently pointed out here, not only does this not eliminate the Swindle, it reinforces it.

The Circle of Esse is an organization which not only is not tainted with the Great Swindle, but which is specifically structured so as not to become tainted with it, is expressly pointing it out for the debilitating force that it is in the world, and working to eliminate it.

(As one can see by reading its Compass, The Circle of Esse will either fulfill its proper  role within the institution of religion, or the Circle of Esse will self-destruct. If the Circle cannot remain true to its ideals, it will not remain to clutter the landscape as yet one more Swindlous organization claiming to do so).

It is an organization which has as its primary purpose and function the enhancement of the individual Nexus with Esse, and the elevation of the spiritual nature within each individual.

It is a new organization based upon not just the knowledge of the ancients - although ancient knowledge is very much a part of it - but also upon all the explosion of knowledge which has occurred during the past two hundred years.

We know what you're thinking.

What is this Circle thing? Some kind of a cult  ?

Well, as is so often the case, yes and no, depending on what you mean by that term. (Because, as is also so often the case, our sloppy use of language can easily lead to misleading and therefore Swindlous results).

So, back to the dictionary.

Random House Unabridged lists two relevant definitions of the term 'cult':

If by 'cult' you mean the first definition, the answer is yes (which is the same answer for every religious organization in existence to day, including every denomination of Christianity, Judaism, Buddhism, Islam). It is an organization within the institution of religion as we know it, and, thus, the answer is yes.

If you mean the second definition, with the element of 'being under the direction of a charismatic leader', the answer is no. This is the definition people often mean when they refer to a group as being a 'cult', when what they more accurately mean is a 'personality cult' (such as those of Jim Jones, Sun Myung Moon, and others, which are based upon and revolve around a particular individual).

The Circle of Esse, within its foundational document, The Compass, is specifically structured so as to not only not be a 'personality cult' in its foundation, but to never become one so long as it exists. (Such 'personality cults' are but one more aspect of the Great Swindle this writing is about, and if that is what it will take in order for The Circle to come into existence or survive, it simply won't come into existence or survive at all).

As to whether some might consider it to be 'false', no doubt there will be those who will. As to whether it is 'unorthodox' or even 'extreme', given the entrenchment of the Great Swindle today, even we would have to agree that it could easily fit within those two terms (although we would see that as more of a recommendation for it than a detraction as to its worth).

Given the entrenchment in the world of the Great Swindle, can The Circle of Esse succeed in its avowed purpose of eliminating it (including remaining true to its purpose in the doing)?

Good question.

Answer - Yes & No (again).

If enough individuals CHOOSE to BELIEVE it can, and CHOOSE to act  on that BELIEF - Yes.

If not both of the above - No.

Why would anyone make those two CHOICES?

True to the concepts we have been consistently putting forth here, our only answer to that question is - each individual must look to his own inner lights in determining such CHOICE making, for himself.

Beyond that, we can only suggest the following:

Do you REALLY have anything else better to do with the remainder of your time on this planet? (What could be a greater life's adventure than directly participating in an attempt to make a genuine and lasting change for the better in the human condition?).

[And, if you feel the need, and feel you are ready, for a more esoteric, ego humbling (devastating?) level of ratiocination in making your own CHOICES in this regard, you might try this .]