Like the flight of the butterfly, graceful and at ease; life moves ever onward. It is only the starvation of inspiration that limits motivation. Free your mind, and your rewards will follow:
The difference between the human being and the beast is that the beast is governed by it's nature. When it is time to eat it eats with little thought for selection. Whatever becomes available, that is part of the beast diet, becomes the focus for consumption. When the animal is in a mating period it mates, with little thought for selection. It does not consider breast, leg, or hip size; any beast of the same species and opposite gender that is in the same condition becomes the focus. This is because the beast is governed completely by it's nature. It is not in the beast nature to make judgements or distinctions, merely to act upon what it's nature instructs it to do. They can no more deny these natures than they can voluntarily proprel themselves up into space.
The human being, on the other hand, is just the opposite. The human being governs it's nature. We have been given the ability to make distinctions and judgements about how to address the natures that are inate in each of us. The human even has the ability to deny it's nature.
The forces of nature are powerful. They have the potential to improve or destroy life. If not governed properly, they can alter the course of life (both the individuals and those around them). With power, comes the responsibility to use that power in a manner that improves rather than destroys life.
The fulfillment of natures deals with the acquisition of some material or physical object. When the human being places the value of material or physical objects over the impact it has on the quality of life, such that those choices result in death instead of life; then that individual has degenerated into a beast in human form. Each of us must choose to govern our natures, or allow our natures to govern us. So the question remains:
There is evidence that much of man's social, technical, and spiritual development has been modeled on the images of nature. While the human being is responsible for governing it's nature, these images of nature can be used as a guide to what it is to be in alignment with nature or that which created life. If the intent is to improve the quality of life, then it is wise to understand the principles of life by using an example of that which is in alignment with life as defined by the principles of that which created life. Let me say that when our natures are in alignment with the principles of life, as defined by that which created life; then there is not a problem with following the instruction of our natures. It is when that nature is motivated by perverse incentives which are not in alignment with the principles of life, as defined by that which created life, that the quality of life is destroyed.
The transformation of the human being, through the various stages of life, can be compared to the butterfly. A butterfly lays a fertilized egg. Within this egg, in a coded form, is the entire ancestral contribution to this new life form. In this egg is a nature which has the life process to grow, however it must have the proper growth environment in order to realize its potential. Under the right conditions the egg begins to open. Careful observation reveals that it doesn't really open, but rather dissolves or disintergrates into another form. It is a rather non- descipt form, changing rapidly as occurs with all the decay processes in what appears to be death. In short order, this dissolving formless blob becomes a worm looking creature with well defined structures and mobility. This new creature is what is "affectionately " referred to as a "hairy worm". The egg that was laid by a beautiful adult butterfly comes into life, not in the appearance of it's lovely, colorful parent, but as a creepy, crawly, slimy, "hairy worm" or caterpillar.
The worm has an important function and an important tale to tell about our development as human beings. The worm has a very crucial function for the life of the insect. It establishes the foundation for the survival of this life form. The caterpillar has one essential function, and that is to feed. It is selfish, greedy and all consumed by its physical function of feeding itself. The worm is consumed by consumption. In fact, it doesn't even sleep but eats throughout the night and day. They eat large multiples of their body weight in the course of a day. The major concern of the worm is feeding the physical being. His very form and his natural orientation is to effectively take care of the job of the physical and material needs of the entity which is coming forth.
As a result of so much eating, the little hairy worm begins to grow rapidly. In a few days, it sheds one layer of skin after another as a larger and larger worm emerges. Even thoughthe caterpillars appetite and capacity for consumption, the caterpillar does not eat indiscriminately. Its nature directs it to the proper leaves with the proper nutrition to feed its growth. It stays away from those things that are not conducive to its growth and survival. Because it consumes well and correctly, it expands materially and becomes very successful as a physical being.
After a while, the caterpillar has eaten so much that it begins to regurgitate a substance which forms a fine and elegant fiber. It wraps itself in this spittle (the fiber which comes from its mouth). It rolls itself in this new covering known as a cocoon. After a short period of time, it completely encloses itself in this small pouch. The voracious and mobile eater is gone and another inanimate form appears, wrapped like an ancient mummy. It show every indication of being lifeless with neither mobility nor observable life activity. for the second time in this life process, we see a resemblance to what we call death.
What is to be learned from the cocoon. First, the quality of the cocoon depends on the nourishment obtained through the eating, of the worm. Failure to introduce the right type of substance results in the inability to produce the fine quality fiber which will insure a well-formed cocoon. If the cocoon is not properly formed, it could disentegrate and the development process will be terminated. A proper cocoon must be able to protect and support the developing life as it goes through the necessary process of transformation. The character of the cocoon depends on the what was consumed during the physical stage. Though apparently guided by greed and appetite in the worm stage, its conduct determines the future life which follows it.
Within the cocoon, death begins to shed its illusion and a new life begins to form. Althoug life can be maintained for weeks and sometimes through multiple seasons, it is the nourishment from its consumption that insures life during this stage. In time a new life form emerges as a big, beautiful butterfly. This beautiful butterfly started as an egg, emerged as a hairy worm, went into a cocoon before it became what it was originally designed to be. While the life has remained the same, its expression has sytematically changed until it became that which it was created to be (taken from Natural Psychology and Human Transformation by Na'im Akbar, Ph.D.).
In life, the human being at various stages resembles the growth process of the butterfly. At birth we are mentally shapeless. Anyone who has ever spent time around a child during its development stages, one thing that is consistent is its quest for knowledge. They consume with their senses everything around them much like the caterpillar during it's early stages of development. As they reach the next phase of their life, from child to young adult or teenager, what they have consumed is then regurgitated in their actions. Just as the case with the butterfly, what was consumed will form the surrounding cover that will either protect them from what they encounter or leave them vulnerable and exposed with the potential to make poor choices. What has been consumed forms the foundation for what they will become. It represents a mental "database" from which they will draw information to be used to make the choices that confront them. If the proper information is not input during consumption, then their database will contain information which does not prepare them for what confronts them. Conversely, the opposite is true. If the principles of life, as defined by that which creates life, are input then the individual will have all that is needed to face any challenge that confronts them. Then it will only be a matter of recalling the proper data to fit the proper situation towards becoming what we are created to do and be.
It is important to feed the mind positive, truthful thoughts. As stated at the top of this page; as a man thinketh, so is he. Improper thoughts, motivated by perverse incentives fill the "mental database" with information that does not adequately prepare the individual to face the difficult challenges of life. So free your mind, and your rewards shall follow.
ClickThe Cipher to return to title page.