Parables

Transcript

http://www.michaelsharp.org/ Parables The parables that I write are designed to expand on the information contained in my books. In the parables I talk, in metaphoric form, about the ascension and the “end times” and the purpose of creation and so on. These will be cute little stories to you if you haven’t read my books, but if you have read my books, these parables help tie everything together and help move your understanding up to a “higher” level. The parables are easy to read and I write them as I see a need. In a recent interview I was asked the question: How did you get the inspirations to write your interesting parables? My answer was: Well, my parables serve two functions. On the one hand they are insertions in the collective consciousness of this planet designed to alter, in a purely positive way, the “high level” creation templates of this planet. On the other hand the parables are also attempts to explain complicated spiritual concepts and processes, like ascension (i.e., The Parable of the Room), or the end-time awakening process (i.e., The Parable of the Ships) or the purpose of creation and preparation for ascension (i.e., The Parable of the Garden) in a way that everyone can understand. As such, I write a parable when I see a need for it. So if I see my readers struggling with a key concept or set of concepts, I’ll write a parable. Thus, there isn’t really much “inspiration” involved. My parables are strategic and designed to fill gaps and build understanding. Anyway, here they are, take them or leave them. If you take them, make sure to let people know where you got them! Michael Sharp http://www.michaelsharp.org/ Parable of the room Imagine for a moment that we are all sitting in one huge room. The room that we are in has doors and windows and is like any other room that any of us have been in except for the fact that the room is freezing cold. In fact, it is so cold that everyone in the room has several layers of warm clothing on: hats, gloves, and parkas to insulate us from the bitter cold. And so there we are huddled in the freezing room, desperate for warmth. Nobody really knows how long we’ve been in this room. We just know it is a long time. But suddenly, after what seems like an eternity, one among us looks up from her huddled crouch and realizes that there is some kind of strange contraption on her back. She strains to see what it is but cannot quite make out the details. After a few moments of examination, she notices that there is a string attached to the contraption. After a moment’s hesitation, she pulls the string and a soft humming begins to emanate from it. Nothing else happens for a moment or two and so she sits back down and huddles against the cold. While she is examining her contraption and pulling her string, a few people notice her activity and stand to watch. After seeing what she is doing, they too notice a contraption on their back and an attached string but they do not pull the string. Instead they watch the girl as she pulls her string. http://www.michaelsharp.org/ They watch to ensure no harm comes from this. They watch as the girl sits down. Nothing happens and they immediately lose interest and settle back down to resisting the bitter cold. After a few moments, however, the girl who originally pulled the string notices something. Something has changed in the air around her. “What is it,” she thinks to herself. And then she realizes! The air around her seems to be warming up, and rapidly. She can no longer see her breath and her body is becoming uncomfortable under the extra load of clothing. She strains her neck to look at the contraption and immediately realizes that the contraption is some sort of personal heating system. Surprised, she looks around and notices that everyone else is also wearing one just like it. Incredulous, she wonders why nobody has seen this heater before or never pulled the string. Perhaps they were concentrating too hard against the cold and simply did not see beyond the frost in their breath and the ice on their clothes. Perhaps they simply believed that no other existence was possible. No matter, after a few minutes she is becoming decidedly uncomfortable and she now, with some degree of excitement, begins to remove her clothing layer by layer as the air warms around her. The people huddled immediately around her have now looked up and noticed her excitement. What is more, those closest to her are also noticing a change in the air temperature. As it turns out, the heater on her back is so powerful that she has now affected the temperature a few meters all around her. People have noticed. People are warming up. People are becoming uncomfortably warm. They ask her what is happening and she explains about the heater on their backs. She suggests that if they turn on the heaters, they could warm up the room even more. She also advises that they should start taking their layers of clothing off because once their heater is on, their bodies will quickly become uncomfortable beneath the layers of fabric. Some, but not all, of her immediate neighbors take her advice and pull the string. A few moments pass and the air around them rises a few degrees. Feeling uncomfortable, they also begin to take off their clothes. Now, there is a small bubble of excitement in the room. A few more people (this time a little farther away from the center) are beginning to look up and wonder what all the excitement is about. There are even people standing off away in the corners who have heard the bustle and are straining their eyes and ears to see and hear. A buzz begins to move through the room and a few people here and there, perhaps the ones who are most resistant to the cold, look up, stand up, and wonder what is going on. They ask those around them but most of the freezing people they ask are too cold to worry and too bitter to care. Still, people are talking and the word is spreading. They’re saying something about warmer air and the availability of some kind of heating system. http://www.michaelsharp.org/ Some are even saying that people are taking off their clothing but the skeptical ones laugh at this. However, the braver ones, the ones who are tired of being cold, the ones who trust the rumors, the ones who can see the small island of people beginning to dance in the warmth, strain to look at their backside and lo and behold, they see a string attached to a contraption. Getting swept up in the rising excitement, they pull the string and the air around them immediately begins to warm. They begin to feel uncomfortably warm and they begin to take off their clothes. Now as we pause and look around at the room we notice islands of radiant heat in a sea of bitter cold. Here and there, dotted throughout this huge room of individuals, people are starting to realize that the bitter cold is not something they have to live with. More and more see that within their grasp is all the heat they need to get warm and stay warm. Still, and at first, it is only a few people here and there. The ones who are more adventurous, the ones who are tired, the ones who are desperate for a new world, these are the first ones to pull the string. Of course, they talk. They point out the rising heat. They excitedly exclaim “look, we don’t need too many clothes!” But most people in the room are too busy trying to keep warm to give them much thought. “Crazy,” they think to themselves. “They’ll all just freeze to death.” For a while, it seems, little progress is made. More and more turn on and heat up, but against the huddled masses, it seems like a drop in the bucket. However, the heaters are powerful; far more powerful than we initially think. And after a certain point, it is not just the local temperature around the individual heaters that is affected. When enough have turned on their heaters, and when the heaters have been running long enough, a shift occurs. Instead of localized islands of heat, the entire room is impacted and the ambient temperature begins to slowly rise. Once The Shift has occurred, everyone, no matter how inured against the cold, no matter how tightly huddled against the arctic blasts, begins to feel the rising temperature of the room. After a certain point is reached, nobody can ignore what is going on. At this point individuals in random locations in the entire room begin to look up to see what is up. Hundreds and, soon, thousands now notice the excited activity of a handful of their once frozen compatriots. They ask, with some confusion, “what is going on.” They are told, “there are heaters! There is warmth. It takes only a moment. Just pull the string.” They see the excitement, they feel the heat, and now, swept up in the growing excitement, waves and waves of frozen room dwellers pull the string. They don’t even wait to start taking off their layers. Even before they pulled the string, they felt the warmth and were becoming uncomfortable beneath the clothing. Of course, now that so many are tuning in and turning on, the rise in temperature is no longer subtle. Now the thermometer rises a degree every few minutes and the consequent discomfort rises fast as well. It is at this point, as we gaze at waves and waves of people jumping to their feet, turning on their heaters, and stripping their clothes, that we begin to see the problem. Fear has http://www.michaelsharp.org/ begun to cascade in waves through the huddled masses. Many people, whose only experience had been to huddle against the bitter cold, stare around in total dismay. The room is now heating so fast, and people are stripping so quickly, that they are confused and befuddled. Questions flood through their minds. People all around them are staring and smiling and pointing and stripping. Some have even reached the point of total undress and are now running bare naked around the room jumping with the sheer joy of freedom. They are confused. “What is all this about?”, they wonder. What is worse, all this confusion is compounded by the pain they are in. The room is so warm now, and their clothing so thick, that they are literally beginning to bake inside their clothes. It is a crisis, but it is one the people in the room seem able to handle. There are many who have already weathered The Shift and they understand the process. They reach out, they explain, they help, they calm, they smile, they respond and there are so many individuals with lightened layers of clothing that there is lots of help, lots of support, and lots of reassurance. Most people respond. Most begin taking off their clothes. Some even turn on their heaters, but at this point there are enough people with backpacks on and heaters turned up that it no longer matters if the newcomers are turning on their heaters or not. In fact, at this point, people are starting to advise against it. The temperature is a perfect 28 degrees. The Shift has occurred and no more heat is required. Still, there are problem areas. A few, a small handful of people, cannot cope with the rapidity of the change. They have to assimilate information too fast and they cannot. They see the frenzied dancing and the smiling faces. They see the naked people and, amidst all the odd sensations they are experiencing, they cannot process the pain in their body. Some are mad. Some are shouting and still others experience total panic, snap, and run screaming out of the room. The others react calmly and with assurance. Those that can be restrained are gently held until they are calm. The new reality is explained and their clothes are gently removed. Those that cannot be restrained, or who flail too violently, are left to themselves until they exhaust http://www.michaelsharp.org/ their reserves. When they are silent, they are approached and assistance is given. Those who “leave” too soon are lost, but only temporarily. Eventually, they will return without clothing and everything will be ok. How fast will the process unfold? How many will panic? How many will need to be restrained? How many will “leave the room.” How quickly will we restore calm? It is hard to say. It will all depend on the action and initiative of those in the room. Just remember, there are no unknowns here. There is no chance. It is all up to you and the decisions you make. If you are one of the ones that has gone ahead, reach back and help others. If you are one of those that remain beneath the layers, reach out and accept our assistance. Trust us. There is nothing to fear. A new reality awaits if you will just reach out your hand. I am Michael Sharp. Welcome Home http://www.michaelsharp.org/ About Parable of the garden Our current belief systems, our current faiths, our current spiritualities, are riddled with justifications for hierarchy, inequality, poverty, injustice, and woe. Science, religion, or spirituality, it doesn’t matter. Whatever your particular dogma, you are told you suffer (”we” suffer, “they” suffer) because we deserve it. You suffer because you are unworthy, because you ate a bad apple, because it’s your “karma,” or because you are weak and the strong deserves the reward. Whatever the excuse is, it doesn’t matter. When you boil it right down to essence, you are told the world "is the way it is" for some divine/natural/genetic/spiritual reason. Frankly, that’s all bullshit. The world is the way it is not because of some divine plan or cosmic karmic machine but because of the choices that people like me and you (and most importantly the people with power) make. It is you and I, the ones who follow and go along, the ones who rule and set the course, and the ones who make the choices, that create this world. It’s us who do it, not God or nature. And frankly, the Truth is, In the divine world of Spirit, there’s no reason for suffering, there’s no reason for poverty, there’s no justification for war and it should all end, right now. So where do we start? Well, we need to start with a new story that doesn’t justify suffering or qualify the terrible condition of this world. We need a new story that doesn’t let us off the hook by speaking about sin or karma, hierarchy or entitlement. We need a new story that speaks to us about our unity, our divine purpose, and our magnificent power in Spirit. We need a new story that empowers each and every one of us to make a difference and change this world. What follows in this Parable of The Garden is such a new story. Herein you will find an entirely new theological foundation for existing in this world (you'll also find this foundation extended in my Song of Creation). As impossible as it might seem, herein you will find no justification for inequality, poverty, hierarchy, war, hatred, violence, or evil whatsoever. Here there is no deep philosophical support of “darkness,” there is no biblical justification of divine madness, and there is no way out of the fundamental truth of your primary responsibility for creation. This is a new story, a true story, and a transformative story that puts the power of God and the power of change directly into your hands. The story is presented in video form (and also appears in my book The Great Awakening). You’ll need about fifteen minutes of quiet solitude, and a nice glass of wine, to get through the story. The story is suitable for anyone over the age of 10 years old. You can also read the text version linked above. I hope you enjoy it! http://www.michaelsharp.org/ Parable of the garden Allow me to tell you a story about The Garden. Imagine a garden unlike any garden you have ever seen on this earth. Imagine a garden full of flowers and trees, of brilliant sights and sounds, of sparkling diamond water, and clear emerald forests. Imagine a garden of unbelievable fertility, variety, and bounty. Imagine a garden where life flourishes in peace, love, and joy. Imagine a garden where the only emotions are contentment, bliss, happiness, and love. Imagine a garden where only beauty exists. http://www.michaelsharp.org/ Call this garden The Garden of Eden, Shambhala, or even Heaven if you like, for indeed it was all these and more. Imagine, and when you can imagine all these things at once, put them together and multiply them a million times and you will have The Garden. A place of unimaginable splendor and glory. … Now let me be crystal clear here. In The Garden there is no pain and no suffering. In The Garden, there is no sadness. There is no war. There is no hatred. There is no “sin.” The Garden is perfect in every way and will always remain so for this is the way The Lightwalkers, the beings of pure love and light who inhabit The Garden, want it. Ah, The Lightwalkers. Shining, glorious suns of creation. Brilliant and blinding to behold. When they created The Garden, they created it as a reflection of their perfect, Light-filled, love filled nature. Each heart’s desire fulfilled. Perfection in every way and a mighty great place to live, let me tell you. But you know, things get boring and so one day a few of the Lightwalkers (let us call them The Explorers) thought to themselves that maybe, just maybe, a change was needed. “Maybe things could be better?” they said. “Maybe we could have more beautiful flowers and trees, more brilliant sights and sounds.” “Maybe we could have more love and more light and more glory.” http://www.michaelsharp.org/ “Maybe!” So, they put a plan together and submitted it to The Elders, and they said with great excitement… “Look at our plan.” “Isn’t it cool?” “Isn’t it wonderful?” “Isn’t it amazing?” And of course, The Elders had to agree for The Plan was beautiful and amazing and glorious and if it worked… “If the thing could be done…” the thought. “It would be something completely different.” “It would mean more of everything that The Lightwalkers loved so much.” “Of course, The Plan would require a lot of work and effort,” The Elders thought. “The Plan would require mucking around in the darkness outside The Garden and that was cause for pause,” said The Elders. “It would be no picnic,” The Elders said. “There would be no partying.” “It would not be a holiday in paradise.” “You are,” after all, “descending into darkness” The Elders said. “It’s not going to be fun.” “There is nothing in darkness,” the elders warned. “There is no love.” “There is no light.” “There is no power.” Ah but the pups who brought The Plan didn’t seem to mind so much the sacrifice and so the Elders said, why not? http://www.michaelsharp.org/ And besides, if The Explorers could pull it off, what a “wow” that would be… And so the explorers packed their bags, bid their tearful goodbyes, walked the long walk out past The Garden Gate and into the darkness, and disappeared from view. * poof * Which worried The Lightwalkers who stayed back more than a little bit. It was kinda dramatic, after all. It was kinda abrubt. It was like being suddenly cut off from a part of yourself. And it was without precedent. It was disturbing. But they trusted, and tried not to worry. They waited and they watched. They watched and waited, and when they had waited and watched to the limit of their patience, they started to talk about sending out a search party. What else was there to do? Something had to be done. What if something had, inconceivably, gone wrong? But, just as they were about to form the search party “It” happened. All of a sudden, the silence and the blackness of the darkness was broken by a flash and a sound. Then, there was another flash and another sound. Then another. And another and pretty soon the flashes were like lightning and the sound was like thunder. And the Lightwalkers breathed a sigh of relief. The Work had begun. http://www.michaelsharp.org/ And thus did the work go on. While the Lightwalkers continued to exist in Joy and Bliss, the Explorers worked hard in the darkness. There were flashes and there was thunder, there were crashes and there was rumble and every once in a while a crackle of fire danced across the skin of the darkness. It was an exciting light-and-sound show like never before seen. The raw energy of it was contagious and soon, many of those who had stayed behind just couldn’t stand by watching anymore. They packed their bags and ran off into the dark to help. And that fed the fire. And the lighting flashed brighter, and the thunder crashed louder, and a fire crackled over the skin of the dark until… All of a sudden… Nothing. Suddenly… All the flashing and all the thunder just stopped, just like that. One moment chaos and the next, nothing. At that point the Lightwalkers who had stayed behind looked at each other. They were puzzled. They waited, but the silence continued. “What could have happened?” they asked themselves. “Has something gone wrong?” they wondered. They waited, and they waited, and they waited to the limits of their worry and when they surpassed their limit, they formed a search party. After all, this was highly irregular, unusual, and worrisome. This was without precedent. Something could be wrong. But then, just as the search party was getting ready to leave The Garden, with a flash of lightning and a sound of thunder, the chaos began anew. http://www.michaelsharp.org/ Just like before, lightning, thunder and fire crackled over the dark. The work had begun once again. And thus did the work go on. There were flashes and thunder and fire and the Lightwalkers gazed in fascination and amazement. It was a show unlike any other. And much more exciting than before. More energy. More power. More vibration. It was a pulsating energy ball… Like an oscillating star going Nova… And it was very exciting. In fact, it was so exciting that wave after wave of Lightwalker, overcome by a childlike exuberance, jumped into the darkness without even bothering to pack. As they did that, they fed the fire. And lightning flashed and thunder rolled and fire crackled and then, all of a sudden… *FLASH* …and then… …DARKNESS… …and then… …SILENCE… …and then… NOTHING… The Lightwalkers were startled by this. They looked at each other, they were puzzled. http://www.michaelsharp.org/ They waited and wondered and worried only this time… This time it was obvious. Something had gone wrong. So, they called for volunteers and sent a search party out into the darkness and just as the Searchers disappeared from view, the Explorers came screaming out of the darkness. “Did you see that?” they said breathless. “Wasn’t it awesome?” they exclaimed with excitement. “Did you see that?” they said over and over again, shaking all over. “DID YOU SEE THAT?” “We almost did it,” they laughed. “We almost had it.” “But we need your help,” they said, shaking shoulders. “There was too much,” they gasped. “There was too many,” they exclaimed. “And it was too soon!” “WE NEED YOUR HELP!” And of course the Lightwalkers who remained in The Garden agreed. What else could they do? The Explorers were obviously onto something big and exciting. So they said, “How can we help?” And at that the explorers paused and thought about it for a few moments and then said, “Well, let’s see.” “As you can see,” said the Explorers, “it is extremely black down there and we have a hard time seeing.” “Sometimes we get lost in the darkness.” http://www.michaelsharp.org/ “Sometimes we get confused.” “So it would be great,” said the Explorers, if some of you could act as guides for us.” “You know, point us in the right direction if we seem to be stumbling around too much.” Now at hearing that, hands shot up everywhere. Volunteers, let us call them The Guides, jumped at the chance. After all, who wouldn’t? Who wouldn’t want a special role in this divinely inspired plan? “We will help,” said The Guides. “We will provide assistance as required and we will walk with you in the shadows and the valleys.” Hearing this, the Explorers smiled and nodded. Then they turned and paused and scratched their chins and after a few moments they said, “there is something else.” “As you know, there is so no light down there in the dark and it is really hard to see what we are doing.” “What is worse, when things start to get real crazy, we start to forget what we’re doing and get all turned around in the chaos.” “So it would be great,” said the Explorers, “if some of you could hold a light for us. And of course, hands shot up everywhere. Volunteers, let us call them The Lightholders, jumped at the opportunity. Seeing the enthusiasm, the Explorers smiled and thanked them. Then, they turned and paused and scratched their chins and after a few moments they said, “there is one final thing.” “As we keep saying, its awfully dark down there, and there are so many working on The Plan now, and the energy levels are at such fantastic levels, that it can easily get out of control.” “We have to prevent that from happening,” said the Explorers, “until everything’s ready. “What we need,” they said, “is someone to keep the lid on until its time.” http://www.michaelsharp.org/ And of course, there was no shortage of volunteers despite the difficulty of this particular job. And so, the Explorers, the Guides, the Lightholders, and the new Energy Keepers went out into the darkness to work. Those who stayed behind watched and waited and for a long time they saw nothing move but this time, they didn’t get worried. They knew everything was under control and so they waited, without a limit to their patience, until a shout sprang up. “THERE!” someone screamed. “THERE in the darkness.” “Did you see that?” “Did you see that?” “SPARKS!!!!!” Everybody looked and sure enough, they could see sparks in the darkness. To no one’s surprise, these sparks quickly grew and soon, lightning, thunder, and fire crackled. The light and the energy were intense. The power expanded and grew and then, just when it seemed like the energy and fire had reached their ultimate, the energy started to hum and pulse, expanding and contracting like some giant cosmic egg. The energy would expand outward, reaching a raging crescendo of intense flame. Then it would back off from the peak. Then, another cycle with a higher peak. And then another cycle, a higher peak. And then another. And then another. It was like a giant pulsating balloon of energy being puffed up and then deflated, puffed up and deflated, each time the balloon straining against some unseen barrier that kept it contained within its own boundaries. http://www.michaelsharp.org/ The Lightwalkers watched the undulation in fascination. Wide-eyed. Awe filled. Never growing tired of the spectacle. But then… After what seemed like an eternity (but was really only a few moments in the creative consideration of Spirit), “It” happened. Just as the crackling ball of fire was at its most intense ever, just as it seemed as if the heat from this “forge of creation” could not get any more intense, “It” happened. The Lightwalkers saw it happen. There… In the heat of an already intense fire… In the cracking of an engorged cellular balloon, There…. A single brilliant explosion of light… And then, another. And then, another. And then ten more, And then a thousand more. And then ten thousand. And then a million. And then six billion. And then… A crack on the surface…. http://www.michaelsharp.org/ Then, tendrils of fire racing over the skin of the darkness. Then, an explosion. Then, eyes widening. Light. Love. Wonder. Beauty. Glory. Power. Happiness. Joy. Bliss. Glorious. No words. Weeping. And then, just as it seemed the Lightwalkers would be overcome by the glory, The Procession began. Amongst cheering and laughter and celebration and glory, those who had entered into the darkness began to emerge. The Explorers… The Energy Keepers… The Lightholders… The Guides…. Even The Search Party… Even though they had gone in only a moment before it happened. They all started to return and they did so in chariots of magnificent, brilliant gold, like angels of fire in an undefeatable Army of God. And with them, with us, comes The Fire and the transformation and, in fulfillment of The Plan, a new Garden more glorious than anything we have ever imagined before. View 15 minute video of The Parable of the Garden at Google Video http://www.michaelsharp.org/ Parable of the ships Imagine for a moment the vast ocean. Clear and blue. Crystal and calm. Imagine yourself gazing out upon this ocean of vast stillness. Breathing deeply, you are calm and serene as you watch the waves roll across the surface. For a time you gaze, watching, breathing, but then you see a speck on the horizon. You breathe deeply, excited by the vision, and watch as the speck rolls its way towards you. It comes from a long distance and draws towards you leisurely. You squint at it wondering what it is. Soon enough the outline becomes clear and you see that it is an ocean liner, a passenger ship, steaming towards you. It continues to approach and as it does you see, it is not just any passenger ship. http://www.michaelsharp.org/ Even from a distance you sense its magnificence. The curve of the hull. The silhouette of the multiple smoke stacks. You watch it approach in great anticipation but as it gets close, your anticipation turns to disbelief and shock. You can see, there’s something wrong here. This ship is far from magnificent. It is decrepit, rusted, run down and dilapidated. It is banged up, crusted with gunk, and rusted so bad that holes are appearing in the hull. As you gaze at the ship in horror you think to yourself, “it is so bad that it must surely be in danger of sinking” and sure enough, as your eyes dart to the water line you notice, the ship is going down. It’s at this point that the original excitement you felt evaporates. Fear overtakes you. With a feeling of grave danger you wonder, “are there any people on this ship.” You gaze at the deck and sure enough there’s people standing on it. “At least ten thousand,” you think to yourself, “maybe many more.” Your heart skips a beat. You wonder how they are handling their sinking ship. You whisper to yourself, “what are they doing to avert disaster.” You focus on their faces and become confused. “My God,” you exclaim, “they are smiling, laughing, eating, and drinking.” “They are having a party!” you realize as your eyes widen in horror. “This can’t be true,” you cry. “Can they not see their ship is sinking?” “Do they not care they will drown in the ocean?” You squint at the deck, looking for some explanation and then your heart quakes with fear. There are children on the deck. http://www.michaelsharp.org/ And lots of them. “Oh my god,” you say as your consciousness leaps ahead to the time when the ship sinks and the children drown. The thought of it brings tears to your eyes. You cough and choke. You brace yourself for the end but then just as despair threatens to overwhelm you, you notice, for the first time, another ship following not far behind. You take a deep breath. “Could it be?” you say. “Is there hope?” You turn your gaze to the new ship. At first, and from a distance, it looks much like the old ship. For a moment you die inside thinking about the possibility of another disaster but then, as it approaches, you see it is not like the first ship at all. Unlike the first ship, this one is not run down and dilapidated. On the contrary, this one looks brand new, just out of the docks. It is shiny, bedazzling, and glorious with brilliant and elaborate gold trim. What a glorious and wondrous sight it is, and lucky for those on board. As you think this, your gaze travels to the decks of the new ship where you expect to see people laughing and enjoying themselves but, to your surprise, you find no one. You peer into the portholes. You scan down the hallways. You wonder, who is steering the ship? Your eyes scan forward, looking for the bridge of the new ship and when you find it, you peer inside and sure enough there’s a helmsmen, a captain, and a few others but besides this small crew, there appears to be nobody else on the ship. “Curious, but fortunate,” you think as the fear begins to evaporate from your body. Here is another ship that is big enough to accommodate all the passengers of the old ship in splendor and luxury. And what’s even better, the captain of the new ship seems fully apprised of the situation. As you peer into the bridge you can see he is gesticulating wildly, pointing at the old ship in front of him, and giving orders to those around him. http://www.michaelsharp.org/ A feeling of relief floods through your body. You watch as the gesticulating captain bolts out of the bridge and down onto the deck below with megaphone in one hand and a flair gun in the other. He runs forward to the tip of his ship, waits until his vessel is as close as possible, and then begins firing his flair gun but the revelers don’t notice right away. The captain becomes more agitated. He looks confused, but he keeps firing his flares and shouting through his megaphone until finally a few individuals standing in the stern of the old ship look up and see him jumping up and down, gesticulating, and pointing down at the hull of their ship. “There’s another ship,” they exclaim. They jump in greeting and watch the captain jump around. Most of them smile turn back to the party right away but a couple of them sense the captain’s agitation. They break away from the group and walk towards the railing. When they get there, they look down at the hull of their ship where the other captain is pointing. Their eyes widen in horror. Like people waking up from a dream in a house that’s on fire, they finally see the danger. Their ship is sinking and if they don’t do something right now, they are going to die. They gasp for air. They look at each other. They fight the panic that threatens to overwhelm their reason. They take a few deep breaths. They assess the situation. “There’re lifeboats on this ship, and there’s another ship close by,” one says. “Everything is going to be ok.” “We just have to find the captain of our ship,” they exclaim and as they realize this, they bolt towards the front of their sinking vessel. They run as fast as they can, climbing stairs to the bridge finally they burst through the bridge doors and find, to their utter horror, an empty room. Their mouths drop to the floor. “Where’s the captain?” they gasp. “Where’s the crew?” They pause for a few moments, turning in dazed circles, before they stop, look at each other, and bolt out of the room. http://www.michaelsharp.org/ “We have to find the captain,” they exclaim as they dash down towards the decks. Thankfully, it doesn’t take them long. After only a few moments of searching, they find the captain lounging around at the bow of the boat, surrounded by a big crowd. They run up and try to talk with him. They notice he’s drunk. They begin shaking and slapping him. He struggles under the blows for a moment and then abruptly finds his composure and brushes them away. “What is the meaning of this,” he bellows. The two who were hitting him point to the railing. In disgust the captain walks over to the railing, sees the new ship, looks at her captain, looks at his hull, and quietly turns pale as a ghost. He looks over at the captain who, seeing he has succeeded in getting the attention of the other captain, is already running back to his own bridge to stop his ship. The captain of the old ship understands immediately. He turns to the other two and says “we can’t use the lifeboats unless we stop the ship.” You watch as the captain of the sinking ship bolts back to the bridge. He bursts into the room and gives the order. He stands there for a moment, waiting to be sure the ship is slowing, then runs back down to the deck to the nearest lifeboat and begins tugging at the people around it. “Wake up!” he says, “the ship is sinking.” “Wake up!” “Wake up!” “Wake up!” He, and the two who originally woke him, begin to shout and shake people’s shoulders, but to no avail. The people on the sinking ship simply aren’t listening. In fact, they don’t seem to care and what’s worse, they seem to be resisting. In fact, the more agitated the captain gets, the louder the panicky calls to awaken become, the more resistance there is. But the captain and the others don’t give up. They don’t stop trying. How can they? The ship is sinking and besides, they can see that the captain of the newer ship has already stopped his vessel and has lowered all his lifeboats. Everything is ready. If they can just get these people to wake up, everything will be ok. http://www.michaelsharp.org/ And so, they keep trying. Desperately they run from group to group trying to wake people up, trying to get them to notice. They grow weary of pushing through crowds and tired of all the resistance, but they stick at it and they do make progress. A few people here and there wake up and realize their ship is sinking. Their reaction is predictable. When they finally see the state of their ship, when they finally realize that the ship is sinking and there is nothing they can do, they start to panic. Their faces turn white. Some scream, some grasp at their families, some begin weeping, and some snap under the fear and lose control, but in most cases the disorientation and panic doesn’t last long. The captain and his crew are standing by reassuring everyone, pointing to the lifeboats, and repeating over and over again “there’s enough time to save everyone.” The message slowly gets through to them. They’re scared, and they know there’s a danger, but as they see the truth of the situation, as they see the lifeboats in the water and the captain of the new ship waiting to take them aboard, a calmness passes over them and a few begin orderly movement towards the lifeboats. Curiously however, you can see that most of the people who wake up do not immediately begin moving to the lifeboats. In fact, even though they have the opportunity, most stay to behind to help. You can see why immediately. They have family, after all, and friends. They have a responsibility and they want to help, and that’s great because there are thousands of people on the old ship still oblivious to the reality of their impending doom, so all help is appreciated. Unfortunately, even with a growing army of determined passengers, it is slow going. People continue to resist and lash out. Still, the work goes doggedly on until finally “it” happens. Finally, the old ship has sunk so low in the water that its deck is now at water level. Now, the bow of the boat dips gently below the waves and water comes splashing up onto the deck. When that happens, things change dramatically. Like a little emotional atom bomb suddenly pushed into chain reaction, the sudden and ship-wide realization of imminent disaster sends energetic ripples cascading throughout the sinking ship as it literally explodes with fear. Standing back from ship you can sense how momentous it is. http://www.michaelsharp.org/ The energy from the fear is raw and potent, like nothing you’ve ever experienced before and you are certain, as the raw energy of the fear blasts past you, that it will spell doom for those on the ship. There will be mass panic and collapse. Once again you look over at the ship expecting to see chaos, but are surprised to find none. You ask yourself, “how can this be?” and then you see the reason. Not only do lifeboats from the new ship totally surround the sinking old ship, but no sooner do people wake up and panic than there is somebody there to calm them and direct them to the nearest boat. You can feel the energetic ripple of fear, but the energy never manifests into the descending spiral of panic and chaos that you expect. The ubiquitous lifeboats, and the kind hearted individuals who stayed behind, ensure that all the passengers from the old boat are safely transported to the new. Time passes and the rescue operations continue. Finally, as you watch, the last of the survivors are lifted to the new ship. They stand on the deck watching the now empty and derelict ship silently sink beneath the waves. There is deep sadness at the losses, but also serenity and joy. The ordeal is over. A new journey, and a new world, lies before them. http://www.michaelsharp.org/ Parable of the blindfold Dedicated to all the prophets of the world. May the people of this earth find no more use for you. Imagine for a moment a society, a civilization, like none that you have ever seen before. Imagine a civilization of love, peace, and compassion where nobody goes hungry, nobody wants for anything, and everyone is loved and equally valued. Imagine a perfect society with few worries, no wants, minimal suffering, and a wise and shining population living out their days in peace, prosperity, and happiness. Imagine a garden paradise, an Eden, perfect in every way, populated by smiling, shiny, and radiant children of light and love and then imagine that one day, for some inexplicable reason, everybody in this civilization starts to wear a blindfold. One moment they are enjoying the chromatic colors of nature, and the next they are stone blind. http://www.michaelsharp.org/ … Now, as you might guess, being blindfolded like this made life a lot more difficult for our shiny people. With the blindfolds on, the people couldn’t see a darn thing and that made everything a lot harder. They started to bump into each other, they crashed into walls, they dropped stuff and broke things, and pretty soon they were hurting each other, yelling at their kids, and becoming, because of all the extra difficulty, bitter, grumpy, angry, frustrated little ogres who no longer had the time or the energy to care about anything, or anybody, other than themselves. Now you would think that as things deteriorated (and they deteriorated quite far) they’d take off their blindfolds, but for some reason they didn’t. No matter how bad it got, the people left their blindfolds on and pretty soon they forgot they were wearing a blindfold at all. And when that happened it was a sad, sad day because at that point they forgot that life could be anything other than the pain, suffering, and confusion they had become used to. And when that happened, and as the generations flowed into each other, these once shiny children of light became the offspring of ugly darkness. Still, and no matter how many generations passed, there were always stories. Some of the older people, the elders, would tell tales of a shiny, happy place that had once existed where the people shared visions of color and glory, where nobody got mad, nobody went hungry, there was no poverty, war, or disease, and everybody smiled all the time. But most people thought these were just stories you tell the children. Everybody knew, and everyone accepted, that life was a dark, bitter, grind and the best you could do was protect yourself from being knocked over. Still, even though most accepted, many did wonder. “Why was everything so dark and confusing?” they would ask, and “why are we always bumping into things?” “Did something happen to us?” “Has it always been like this?” “Why is the world this way?” These were big questions to be sure and the blindfolded people had different answers. Some people, let’s call them the existential depressives, had no explanation. They simply accepted things the way they were because “that’s the way it was.” In their typically depressive sort of way, these folks droned on about how the universe was empty and dark and how it would always be this way and so we should just accept it and have whatever fun we could manage before we were extinguished by the horrid inevitability of death. http://www.michaelsharp.org/ Horrible and depressing, I know, and thankfully not too many people were satisfied with this perspective. In fact, most people weren’t happy with the depressive explanation at all and so most people kept right on looking for answers and some of these people, let’s call them the priests, came up with different answers. Of course, the priests had blindfolds on just like everyone else so the answers they came up with weren’t particularly accurate or insightful. In fact, a lot of what they came up with was downright ridiculous. For example, some of the priests, perhaps after being picked on once too often in school by the other blindfolded children, said that people were stumbling in darkness and confusion because they deserved it. They said this was the way it was because people were foul, rotten, unworthy, barely worthy of redemption, and fit only for an existence of pain and suffering. Shudder. Other priests, perhaps because they had been punished once too often by their blind parents and teachers, said that it was the way it was because the people had done something wrong and now they were being punished for it. These priests expressed their youthful imprinting by suggesting that people had committed some crime and had been thus banished from paradise and expelled into the darkness. Still other priests were even more bitter and angry and they said that the people were simply too stupid to make good decisions, and that darkness, confusion, and pain was a way to school them. According to these ones, pain and suffering were not the abuses that would lead to damage and scarring, but “lessons” that would eventually lead back to light and paradise. And if that wasn’t stupid enough, some priests even talked about some time in the future where, if we hadn’t learned our lessons, we’d all be annihilated as cosmic trash in some divine (or evolutionary), reckoning. Still other priests were so scarred and fearful and paranoid that they suggested the people had all been tricked by an evil and powerful being who would pretty soon spring a trap and torture people for all eternity. Yes, the priests said a lot of different things but to be honest they all basically echoed the same empty untruth. Since they were all blindfolded like everybody else, and since they didn’t know the real truth (i.e. that people were wearing a blindfold), all they could to explain the darkness was to blame the people. “Yes life was pain and everything was harder because of the darkness,” they would say, “but that’s your fault. “ “If you would just be kinder, or more loving, or more evolved, or more service oriented, and less stupid and imperfect, it wouldn’t have to be this way,” they would say. http://www.michaelsharp.org/ And while I know these answers sound silly and easy to see through to you and me, the people with the blindfolds on didn’t see it that way. They accepted these answers! What other choice did they have? They could either believe it was all random and meaningless, like the existential depressives said, or they could listen to the priests—and frankly most people chose the priests because at least the priests were offering meaning. And this was great… …at least for the priests, because not only did having “the answers,” even if they were the wrong answers, make them feel special, powerful, and privileged but, as they quickly learned, the people were willing to give them money and buy them castles in exchange for the meaning and the answers they provided. And what was the harm in that? The priests may not know the real Truth, and they may not offer real solutions, but at least they were offering meaning… and that was ok, for a while, but eventually a few of the people, let’s call them the prophets, grew unsatisfied. They looked at the priests in their beautiful castles, and they looked at their own lives of quiet desperation, and they couldn’t accept. “This can’t be right,” they said. “All we do is struggle, suffer, and bump into each other.” “How can this be our fault?” “We’re not stupid?” “We’re not unworthy.” “We don’t deserve this.” And they were right of course. It wasn’t their fault, they weren’t stupid, nobody was punishing them, and they didn’t deserve it. But then, they would ask, “why all the suffering and confusion? http://www.michaelsharp.org/ These would-be prophets wanted answers and so rather than buying what the depressives were saying, and rather than slurping up what the priests had offered, they kept searching. And it was a hard search, to be sure, and so most of them left their families and abandoned their jobs. They went into the desert, drank of the clear stream water, and ate of the available fungi, and one day, totally by accident and completely unexpectedly, the blindfold fell right off and the would-be prophets got a full on, unobstructed, uncensored view of reality. Which, to be honest, wasn’t as great as you might at first think. In fact, it was terrifying. One minute the prophets were walking around in total darkness just like everyone else and the next they were blinded by the light. One minute you couldn’t see a darn thing, and the next everything is revealed. It was information overload like you’ve never seen before and a dramatic shifting by any standard. There was simply no reference point and what’s worse, nobody to talk to. Out there in the desert, all by yourself, with the blindfold suddenly off, you were alone with your vision—and no matter who you were, or how strong and smart you thought you might be, it was terrifying all the same. And so… Every time… And without exception.. Every single one of those “prophets in the desert” snatched the blindfold back on as quick as they could. There really wasn’t anything else they could do. They had been in darkness for so long that not only could their eyes not adjust fast enough, but they couldn’t understand all the new information. It was a jumble and a blur and it confused them and they panicked. In an instant they were shown a reality unlike anything they had known from birth, and totally different than the priests had talked about. Basically, their eyes were made to see, but nothing they saw made any sense. Their mind was in danger of overload and their body made the decision automatically. Or at least, that was what you hoped would happen. http://www.michaelsharp.org/ It wasn’t always that clean though. Sometimes, not too often mind you, but sometimes somebody would panic or lose control. They would freak out and scramble for the blindfold in fear but before they could get it back on their mind, overwhelmed by what they had seen, would snap. Either they’d be so overwhelmed with fear that they’d become paranoid, or their capacity to reason and understand would be undermined, and they’d become crazy from their vision. I know it sounds bad, and it was. Had somebody been there to explain what had happened to them and help deal with the fear and confusion, the trauma could be overcome. But the truth was, usually the only people around were people who also had blindfolds on and they couldn’t help at all. Priests would recommend exorcism, psychiatrists would provide pills, and friends and family would screw up their noses and worry and fret and all this made helping these poor individuals much, much harder than it needed to be. Thankfully however, that sort of thing didn’t happen too often and most of the prophets got the blindfold back on quick as a wink. Of course, that didn’t mean they weren’t profoundly affected by their experience. They had seen a reality unlike anything they could have dreamed of and to say it was shocking and disorienting would be an understatement of biblical proportions. They had got a glimpse, that’s true, but they understand hardly anything of what they had seen. It was so different than what they had expected, and what they had been taught, that they simply couldn’t integrate their experience. Even though they got the blindfold back on they were scared, and confused. It was just too much for their damaged egos and so most of them decided they could never go back. They looked at the people who had snapped and they said “look how dangerous it is.” They looked at their own confusion and they said (replacing “I” with “people”) “people just aren’t ready for the truth!” Of course, that didn’t stop these prophets from talking. They saw how the priests were treated and they wanted some of that so, despite the fact that they had got only a glimpse and really didn’t understand things much better than the priests, they talked as if they did. http://www.michaelsharp.org/ They talked about “the light” and about “presence” and “the veil” and about “being in the now” and darkness and illusion and the greater reality that lay “just beyond” and people ate it up ($$). After all, there were a lot of people who were not satisfied with the explanations of the priests, and the prophets provided something different. It didn’t seem to matter that the best the prophets could do was give up partial truths and mystical sound bites, people loved it because it gave them hope that there was something more than the darkness they had born into. And of course, this was great for the prophets who bought BMWs and California mansions with the money they received. However, it wasn’t so great for the people who, when they started to ask the difficult questions like “how do I get my veil off” or “how do we end the darkness and suffering,” couldn’t seem to get a straight answer, no matter how much money they doled out. And if the people complained about that… If they said to the prophets, “tell me the answers you say you have…” Well, that wasn’t a problem. The prophets had lots of things they could do to avoid providing direct answers to questions they had no clue how to answer. For example, the prophets could start “mystery schools” where they could hide their ignorance behind complicated mazes of twisted verbiage that went nowhere, but that could have kept the people (and their pocketbooks) occupied for decades. Or, the prophets could do what the priests did and blame the people. “You’re not ‘good enough’” they would say, or “you have too much karma,” or “you’re not pure enough” or “you’re not evolved enough” or “it takes many lifetimes” and on and on and on they would drone. And yes, the people would grumble. People weren’t stupid after all and some of them figured out that the prophets were blowing it out their arses, and the people got angry. But when that happened the prophets always said the same. They said… “Smile, and be happy, for the grumpy person is far from Truth and God.” And that typically shut the people up. And so that’s how it went and of course even though a lot of people knew the prophets weren’t providing the real solutions or the real answers, people accepted because at least the prophets were offering meaning, and a glimpse. And besides, no real harm was being done (according to the profits). http://www.michaelsharp.org/ But sometimes, you know, things could get out of hand. Sometimes the prophets did really bad things. Sometimes, maybe because they had a lot of hate inside, or maybe because their egos were damaged from years of abuse, the prophets used the knowledge they had acquired from their glimpse to manipulate and control. They created fancy sounding names for themselves, used deep and mystical symbols, developed complicated “magical” rituals, and sometimes even manipulated people into picking up deadly instruments. And sometimes these prophets-turned-messiahs harmed only a few people. (manson, coolaid), But sometimes they harmed millions. And that was bad. Fortunately, however, that didn’t happen too often. Most of the time the priests and the profits provided impotent meaning and harmless mystical sound bytes, and this helped relieve the depression, but not everybody was satisfied. Eventually, a few of the people, let’s call them the visionaries, grew unsatisfied. These visionaries looked at the priests in their castles and the profits driving their BMWs, and they scratched their heads and they said “this can’t be right.” “All we do is struggle in darkness, suffer, and bump into each other.” “We follow their directions, we listen to their advice, we meditate, we sit in lotus, we smile, we accept, but nothing changes.” “Things are still deteriorating and we are still bumping into each other.” “Something,” they said, “is not right with the priests, the prophets, and their explanations.” And of course, they were right. There was something wrong with the prophets and the priests. Their explanations were partial, confused, and tinged with fear, ego and greed and the visionaries could sense this and they couldn’t accept and so they walked out into the desert and ate and drank and one day the blindfold fell off and when that happened they got a full on, unobstructed view of everything. And just like the prophets before them, they were scared and confused and they put the blindfold straight back on. http://www.michaelsharp.org/ However unlike the prophets, they didn’t let fear, confusion, greed, or ego get the better of them. Instead, the visionaries took the time they needed to deal with their fear and work through their confusion and when they had controlled their ego and integrated their powerful vision, they tried again. Off came the blindfold only the second time, they weren’t so overwhelmed and so the blind fold stayed off a little longer, and that allowed them to get a better look. Of course, even the second time around they were still scared and confused by what they saw. It was still information overload and some of them gave into the fear and confusion, dropped out, and became either priests or prophets. However others stuck with it and they took the time to process and deal with their ego, confusion, and fear and they tried again. Off came the blindfold only this time they kept their eyes open a little longer, and got an even better look and so, on it went until eventually some one or another of these hard working visionaries managed to get comfortable enough with a full dose of reality that they could take the blindfold off permanently! And that was cool because with the blindfold off, and with full vision restored, the Truth was as obvious as slap in the face. No longer did the visionaries have to guess, like the priests, or confabulate, like the prophets. Now they simply knew. It had nothing to do with “sin,” nothing to do with evolution, nothing to do with karma, and nothing to do with anything that the priests or prophets said at all. The Truth was obvious and the problem was simple. People were wearing blindfolds and all they had to do to make everything better was find a way to control their fear, integrate reality, and take them off. It was that simple and so that is exactly what the visionaries told the people. As soon as the visionaries realized the truth, they started to talk and no matter who they were they all said exactly the same thing. They said “hey, it’s not hard at all!” “Just take it easy and take your time.” “Don’t be afraid.” “Integrate, process, and pretty soon you’ll have full vision back.” “It’s easy, beautiful, and wonderful and when you finally get it,” they would say, “everything will change for the better.” “Just like that!” and they snapped their fingers. http://www.michaelsharp.org/ … Now you have to admit, it was an exciting message however, unlike what you might think, the people didn’t buy into it as quick as all that. There was skepticism and doubt and who could blame them. After all, they’d been listening to the priests and the prophets provide partial Truth [snakeoil] and no solutions for so long that they doubted whether anybody could ever offer them real Truth, real solutions, and real change. But the visionaries knew the Truth. They knew they were right and they were very persistent. They kept repeating the same messages over and over and eventually a few people started to take them seriously, and they followed their advice and pretty soon, they overcame fear and confusion and lifted their blindfolds off. And that started a buzz because the people had finally found a way forward. And that was great for them, but not so good for the priests and the prophets who were threatened by what the visionaries were saying. After all, the visionaries were offering full capital “T” truth and real blindfold removal solutions and frankly, that made the priests and the prophets look silly, uninformed, and even a little greedy. People were starting to see through and that made them uncomfortable, so uncomfortable in fact that they all realized that if they were going to be able to protect themselves and their lifestyles, they’d have to stop the visionaries from talking and stop the people from taking off their blindfolds; and sadly, there were a lot of things they could do towards that end. For example, seeing that people almost always experienced fear when they first tipped the blindfold off, the priests and prophets could stoke that fear with stories of demons, apocalypse, rapture, death, destruction, and woe. Or, seeing that the people always experienced confusion when they first tipped the blindfold off, the priests and prophets could heighten that confusion by using lots of big words, complicated sentences, illogic, and contradiction. They could also teach wrong technique! Not really wanting the people to be free of darkness, the priests and prophets could teach people expensive and showy, but ultimately impotent, methods of removing the blindfold. But that didn’t stop the visionaries. http://www.michaelsharp.org/ Not only were they persistent, but they could see exactly what the priests and prophets were trying to do and they pointed that out, and while a lot of people were turned away, or turned around, or taken in, some weren’t and they listened to the visionaries and they removed their blindfolds and the buzz grew louder and louder and pretty soon it was clear that the priests and the prophets were losing their struggle. And that got them really upset and so they got together and they attacked the visionaries. They tried to discredit them and ridicule them and when that didn’t work, tried to tempt them. They offered them power and money and sex and stopped at nothing to get them to stop talking and change their tune. And truly a lot of visionaries gave in. Hurt by the name calling, shamed by the ridicule, or wooed by the temptations and power, they either stopped talking altogether or became like the priests and the prophets. But not all visionaries succumbed. Every once in a while a visionary would prove stronger than the ridicule, and unsusceptible to the name calling, and immune to the temptations. They would talk, the people would listen, and the buzz would grow louder. But that got the priests and prophets even more upset and when they could see that nothing else would work to stop the buzz, they murdered the visionaries and started wars to kill all those stupid enough to have taken the blindfold off. And that really put a kybosh on the process because whenever that happened it took a long time before anybody could summon up the courage to try again. But, of course, eventually, someone would try again. It might take a decade, or a generation, but eventually new visionaries would emerge and they would teach and the people would listen and the buzz would grow with results so predictable that the priests and the prophets could wave their plastic wands, poof their smoke machines, roll out their Hollywood Blockbusters, and reveal everything that was “destined” to happen even before it actually did. You have to admit, it was a bit of a quandary which was made even worse by the fact that as each generation passed, conditions in the once utopian society got worse and worse. The blindfolded people kept bumping into things and breaking them and they just got meaner, and uglier and the whole situation went straight down the tubes. People were being raped and abused, children were dying of hunger, war and killing had become a permanent fixture, and the environment was slowly being destroyed by the blindfolded denizens of our once proud society. But that didn’t stop the visionaries. http://www.michaelsharp.org/ Even though they knew the risks, even though they saw their colleagues succumb to fear, confusion, temptation, and even murder, they kept coming and they kept building and one day a visionary was born that did not give in to fear, and would not be confused, and could not be tempted. And, looking back on the mistakes and failures of those who had come before, this visionary constructed a message that was pure and powerful, with advice that was strong and true, and it made visionaries out of everybody who listened. And that started a buzz that spread like a wildfire that quickly overwhelmed the priests, prophets, and everybody else too greedy, frightened, or confused to take their blindfolds off. But that was ok because as more and more people took their blindfolds off it didn’t take too long for spontaneous rejoicing and celebration to break out and frankly, when that started to happen, the fear and the confusion and the greed and the anger all began to melt away like ice in the noonday sun and the priests and the profits and all the others who had failed to get their blindfolds off in the past, well they scratched their scalp and they turned their heads and they took of their blindfolds. And when they did all they saw were the open arms of the smiling, shiny, and radiant people welcoming them back and asking them, humbly but with forgiveness, love, and peace, to help rebuild a world that had once been their home. What’s the buzz, tell me what’s a happening What’s the buzz, tell me what’s a happening JC SUPERSTAR http://www.michaelsharp.org/