DAY 4 · Part IV: Reflections & The Horizon
CHAPTER 22
About This
Philosophy
Gary What is philosophy, and how is this body of information a philosophy?
Jim A natural philosopher should answer this question.
Carla Well, philosophy tries to address the questions that cannot be answered in any linear way. Why are we here? Who are we? What do we know? Where are we going?
It is not necessary in order to live a good life to have a philosophical nature. Many people who are not of a philosophical nature are just simple, good, hardworking people, and whatever they follow—their church or whatever—it works for them, and that’s all they need to know.
There are lots of other people who wake up intellectually as adults and realize these questions really bother them. They would like to know where we’re going, why we’re here, what’s going on, what’s the nature of life? What’s the nature of us? How can we know what we know? I mean, these are fascinating questions, and they have their place in the universe of arts and sciences—and always have had since before Greek times—but certainly we are all familiar with the Greek philosophers.
One who seeks philosophically is attempting to answer these questions, and is not necessarily hungering for a religious experience, but simply hungering to find the answer to these questions. Therefore our material would be slotted as philosophical rather than religious, although those two both take a lot of the same questions as their purview. We’re not trying to make anybody believe this, or to have faith in this, or worship this. We are trying to engage in finding out what the puzzle pieces are, how they all fit together.
Gary And to provide people with the tools for walking their own path.
Carla Helping them to seek for themselves.
Gary Would you say that this information, which you guys have spent your lives offering, is infallible in any way? Or free of error and mistake? Is it always right (whatever that word means)?
Jim It’s an attempt to find the truth, to find the self within, the nature of reality. Ra addresses the notion of right and wrong, saying that there really is no right or wrong; there is unity.
Now, I guess people could say, “Well, is that true?” And I think you have to have the call within your own heart to try to find out the answers here. And together we all help, you know, on that journey. That’s the journey we’re all on: the pilgrim’s journey, the long, dusty road.
And it’s more of a feeling of rightness than an intellectual, provable rightness. And it’s in that inside part of you that vibrates YEAH! when you know you’ve heard the truth; and it says, “Oh, you’ve got to be kidding me,” when you haven’t heard the truth.
Carla But it’s not like we’ve found the truth and it’s spelled TRVTH like in the comic strip piece, B.C., and we’re standing up on a little stool in the park on Sunday and addressing the crowd about truth.
If this material may be helpful to some, we have it available. It’s ridiculous to think that there will be one truth that would make sense for everybody. It’s not that kind of a world. People are various, people are individualistic; some find comfort in thinking of truth one way, some find comfort in another.
I think that concepts like honor, and ethical probity—uprightness—have a meaning that is eternal. But, I think that it comes out differently for different people. I think it’s something you could say for truth forever: that it’s good to be honorable. It’s good to try to do the right thing. It is worthwhile to behold things of beauty and to have them around you.
But we can’t then define what things you have around you or exactly how the truth goes, because you’ll fall apart every time. On some level it will not work for one person, whereas it worked fine for another. You have to let people find their own way.
Gary While each seeker will, of course and of necessity, form their own unique relationship with your work, what is the general hoped-for ideal relationship between the information and the spiritual seeker?
Jim That it becomes a part of their seeking; that they incorporate what is helpful in this information into their overall philosophy—I guess you’d say—their reason for living, the thing that draws them forward, the impossible dream.
Carla [Carla sings the chorus of “The Impossible Dream.”1]
Gary Is there anything distinct about this channeled and human-authored body of information, the Confederation philosophy? If there is anything distinct, what is it?
Carla Je ne sais quoi. There is a quality to it that is very specific and very memorable in its own way. Whether it’s the depth of the information or that it has the tendency to strike at the heart. Some people think that’s very notable. It happens again and again. And there’s a definite flavor to all things produced by this group, and it’s a beautiful flavor! I like it a lot.
Gary Though I and other readers never ceased to be amazed at the profundity and the positivity and the purity and elegance of this information, most on this planet would quickly dismiss this information as invalid. Any speculation as to why this is?
Jim Well, other things are more important in their journey at this time. At some point this may make more sense.
Carla Yeah. It’s not our goal to try to figure out what makes everybody tick. We just want to offer the material—to be redundant in our redundancy—offer the material to those who find it helpful. I don’t think we need to think further than that.
Ken Just a quick comment. One thing that I noticed about the material is that it was helpful in reading it to say: even though people may be at a point where this material isn’t valuable to them, that’s perfectly okay. There’s no judgment from you, or shaming of anybody for not being interested in it.
It was like, you don’t want to read it? That’s totally okay. Don’t read it. It’s perfect, you know. Follow what you want to follow, do what you want to do.
Carla I remember one very memorable thing: the one time Don was on the television camera. The interviewer said to him, “For the person that says that they don’t believe in UFOs, what is your argument?” Don says,”I have no argument. I don’t care whether people believe me or not. If they are interested, I’ll tell them everything I know.” You know? He was totally indifferent. I think it’s a beautiful energy there.
It gives people freedom. It gives people dignity. It makes them not stupid, even if they don’t agree with you. You don’t agree? Fine, it’s alright. See ya later.
Jim I think the one thing that needs to be realized is that people are doing what they need to be doing, whatever they’re doing. And it may not look like it makes sense, or like it has any value or service to others when you’re looking from your point of view. But people are all the Creator. They are all here learning something important. We can’t say when a certain step has to be taken. Everything you are doing is important. Do it.
Carla What he said.
Gary Jim likes to say that L/L Research’s work is located somewhere “between obscure and unknown.” Why do you think this is, and do you think it will ever appeal to any but a small, niche demographic?
Jim I really don’t know why that is . . . and there is not a very big chance it’s going to appeal to a lot of people, because of the mystery of why it doesn’t. [laughs]
Gary Yeah, back to the previous question.
Jim Yeah, see previous.
Carla Well, it’s not useful. It doesn’t make anybody money. It doesn’t make them prettier or more attractive to the opposite sex. It doesn’t have any earthly goals whatsoever. People that don’t understand why anyone would study philosophy will have the same problem with this.
And then there are people who are starving for information that really speaks to their soul, and they’re thinking on a different level. They’re a different cat. If this appeals then great, we’ve found a match.
But, it’s one person, in, probably a hundred who really, really needs this information. And that’s the way the world wags. I don’t have any argument with who everybody is, or why they are not like me. It’s okay.
Gary Those who identify as wanderers seem drawn to this information. Is there any particular reason why the profile we call “wanderer” seems so common among those who enjoy this information?
Jim I think a lot of wanderers have a kind of a soul-memory where this information makes more sense. It has a unifying feel and factor about it that speaks to the wanderer who has come here to be of service. It is sort of like a letter from home.
Carla Yeah. People remember a better way, and then here, here it is kind of outlined. And that’s what they’ve thought, but they haven’t been able to find any support whatsoever. They write in and say finally, you know, this is home. I’ve found my home, and I’m so glad that that’s possible for that one person in a hundred.
Gary L/L Research has received and been honored by many of what you’ve long called “wanderers’ stories,” and many other messages from people who have crossed paths with this information. What sort of effect has it had on people’s lives?
Jim Oh gosh, people keep writing in saying it has changed their lives, and that’s just amazing. That’s what we would hope, you know, because it’s certainly changed our lives, and to know that other people are being changed too is amazing. Very gratifying.
Carla Yeah. I think that every time a wanderer tells his story it generates a lot of joy—the joy from the heart of the person telling his story, the joy from people who hear it and are able to go, yes, yes, I’ve had that experience myself! I thought I was all alone. But here is somebody else . . . The joy from all the fellow travelers that we have in unseen worlds, both in our planet’s inner worlds and from elsewhere. There is just a lot of joy generated when people open up and say, “This is who I am.”
Gary Do you see a certain commonality among those who are drawn to and aided by this information?
Jim Sensitivity, open hearts, intelligence, good will . . . they’re really good people. I’m so impressed, some of the niftiest people I’ve met in the world come through our Homecomings.2
Carla All different kinds of walks of life and ways of expressing themselves and all that, but hey, they all are interested in listening to each other, because they are all good, good people. And that is one beautiful thing about people interested in The Law of One, they’re just good people. So glad to know them.
Gary Do you think that a dogma can be developed around this information, or does it elude the fundamentalist’s mindset?
Carla Oh, a dogma can and certainly has been generated about this information, and you just gotta watch that, man! [laughs] Really, gotta watch that.
Jim Ra said when they walked among the Egyptians there were at least thirty different distortions for every word they spoke. 3
Carla Yeah, it’s a problem. People want to make a dogma out of things. They want to be right. They want to shrink it down to where—you know, one size fits all. And it just doesn’t. Ra made a big barn for all kinds of considerations and ways of approaching the understanding of the Creator, and made all those ways right. We need to preserve that freedom by refusing to accept a dogma.
Gary To your awareness, has anyone tried to build a church, so called, around this philosophy, or turned towards proselytism?
Jim Not to my knowledge. [laughs]
Gary Nobody has come knocking on your door to share the good word of Ra?
Carla No, not to my knowledge.
Gary I think that speaks both to the information and to the seekers attracted to the information.
So among those who study and love this philosophy, there is a tendency to hide this material and their feelings about this material from public view, and if they speak of it at all, they do so only through a veil.
There is, of course, good reason to exercise discrimination and not proactively broadcast one’s belief system everywhere and anywhere. As you guys noted, we can only serve to the extent it is requested.
But because this information is seven orders of magnitude outside of the collective box, many who study it hide their love of this material due to fear of rejection, ridicule, or judgment from others.
You two, on the other hand, have always been quite candid and fearless in being open about the work you do as channels and operators of L/L Research. How have you maintained this confidence and relative freedom from concern for the potential ridicule or judgment of others?
Jim Well, we don’t advertise it. I mean, in the sense of talking freely with everybody about it. Really, it’s just going with feelings when we’re with people who may ask a question that could lead to sharing some more information about The Law of One. Then drop a little hint. That’s what we have done in years gone by. Some of our neighbors are a little more understanding. Some, I have a hunch, really don’t grasp at all what goes on here. [laughs] You have these meetings on Labor Day, what is that about? The Homecomings. [makes playful sound of confusion]
Carla I never did care what people thought. I’ve always gone my own way.
Jim And Carla talks to spiritual seekers about her Christianity, and talks to Christians about her spiritual seeking. [laughs] We don’t go into great detail. But we leave a door open and see if somebody may walk through. Very seldom do they walk through. They stand at the doorway and have a conversation.
Notes
[1] Dale Wasserman and Joe Darion, “The Impossible Dream,” in Man of La Mancha by Dale Wasserman (New York: Tams-Witmark Music Library, Inc., 1964). ↩
[2] Homecoming is an annual gathering offered to seekers interested in The Law of One. It is held at the L/L Research “headquarters,” as it were, in Louisville, Kentucky. ↩
[3] In discussing their attempts to answer the call to service in Egypt, Ra says that in one particular instance they manifested in physical form but that: ↩
RA We discovered that for each word we could utter, there were thirty impressions we gave by our very being, which confused those entities we had come to serve. After a short period we removed ourselves from these entities and spent much time attempting to understand how best to serve those to whom we had offered ourselves in love/light. 23.6