Classroom
Jun 20th, 2007 by Jack Lhasa
This page contains all of the Developmental Theology Lessons in number order. The way they were meant to be read. The idea is to read a lesson, and give it thought and/or meditation for at least 1 week before moving on to the next lesson. But it would take you forever to get caught up that way, so start going through the back, but pay attention when new lessons are posted.
Lesson #00
There is a dreaming memory in my spine, seeping through the cracks of my consciousness.
I come down the Shaman’s path, following the first, Old Odin-One-Eye.
“Developmental?” I once asked Othin.
“Yes, people have forgotten the basics.” Woden looked very sad at this thought.
“So, Theology, then?”
01.21.08
Lesson #1
Sometimes even God settles for less.
03.05.07
Lesson #2
Rain is God’s way of cleansing the world. Bless the rain that falls upon my head.
03.17.07
Lesson #3
Homework assignment : Answer this one question. You will not have to share with the class.
When did you stop remembering?
03.19.07
Lesson #4
What word can quench desire?
03.20.07
Lesson #5
Loss is, perhaps, the single most important element involved in the process of deifying any person, place, thing, or concept.
03.21.07
Lesson #6
The feelings in your gut can be more important than anything the brain thinks up.
03.22.07
Lesson #7
Thus starts the founding principles of many major religions. Starting with a more obscure religion : Thelema.
“Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the law.”
- Aleister Crowley The Book of The Law
03.26.07
Lesson #8
Today’s religion is Buddhism.
“All formations are “transient”; all formations are “subject to suffering”; all things are “without an Ego-entity.” Corporeality is transient, feeling is transient, perception is transient, mental formations are transient, consciousness is transient.”
— ((The Eightfold Path), Buddha, the Word (The Eightfold Path))
03.28.07
Lesson #9
Many of you out there are up in arms about “The Secret.” Well, it’s never been a mystery to me. “The Secret” basically boils down to a writing called The Emerald Tablet, attributed to Hermes Trismegustus. Some people doubt he ever really existed and say that the translations of The Emerald Tablet are false, made up, writings of a medieval occultist. The point it all comes to is this:
“Like attracts like. As above, so below.”
-Hermes Trismegustus, The Emerald Tablet.
Whether it existed or not, truth remains true. The hardest part is accepting that truth is based on perspective. We make our own truths. And then we have to live our lives with them.
03.30.07
Lesson #10
“Don’t walk with the Devil if you can’t run with him too.”
-Seven Mary Three : Don’t Walk With the Devil
04.01.07
Lesson #11
Despite centuries of searching and learning, the human race has yet to learn and adhere to the most primitive of morals : Don’t kill people.
04.15.07
Lesson #12
“I am wise because I know I know nothing.”
-Socrates
04.19.07
Lesson #13
“The truth knocks on the door and you say, ‘Go away, I’m looking for the truth,’ and it goes away. Puzzling.”
- Robert M. Pirsig : Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance
05.10.07
Lesson #14
Love is the marker of all human progression.
06.05.07
Lesson #15
“We all bleed the same.”
- Seven Mary Three: Headstong
06.13.07
Lesson #16
Finally, as requested, something from the Protestant Bible.
“Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Blessed are the meek: for they shall posses the land.
Blessed are they who mourn: for they shall be comforted.
Blessed are they that hunger and thirst after justice: for they shall have their fill.
Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy.
Blessed are the clean of heart: for they shall see God.
Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God.
Blessed are they that suffer persecution for justice’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. “
- Jesus Christ, The Gospel of Matthew Chapter 5, Verses 3-10
It should be noted that in the Gospel of Luke, they are slightly different.
06.20.07
Lesson #17
“Never Knows Best”
- Written on a cigarette in the anime series FLCL(Fooly Cooly, or Furi Curi)
06.22.07
Lesson #18
“If you never did, you should. These things are fun, and fun is good!”
-Dr. Seuss
06.23.07
Lesson #19
Take out a thesaurus and look this up. How many words are synonyms for ‘love’?
06.27.07
Lesson #20
“That’s why it’s still a mystery to me
Why some people live like they do
So many nice things happenin’ out there
They never even seen the clues”
-Jimmy Buffett: Migration
07.31.07
Lesson #21
Good things take time. Great things happen all at once.
08.04.07
Lesson #22
“A religious man is a person who holds God and man in one thought at one time, at all times, who suffers harm done to others, whose greatest passion is compassion, whose greatest strength is love and defiance of despair.”
-Abraham Joshua Heschel [New York Journal-American, April 5, 1963]
08.23.07
Lesson #23
“At least two thirds of our miseries spring from human stupidity, human malice and those great motivators and justifiers of malice and stupidity, idealism, dogmatism and proselytizing zeal on behalf of religious or political idols.”
-Aldous Huxley
08.25.07
Lesson #24
“There are only two ways to live your life: One is as though nothing is a miracle, the other is as though everything is.”
-Albert Einstein
08.25.07
Lesson #25
“Do not believe anything simply because you have heard it. Do not believe in anything simply because it is spoken and rumored by many. Do not believe in anything simply because it is found written in your religious books. Do not believe in anything merely on the authority of your teachers and elders. Do not believe in traditions because they have been handed down for many generations. But after observation and analysis, when you find that anything agrees with reason and is conducive to the good and benefit of one and all, then accept it and live up to it.”
- Siddhartha Guatama(Buddha)
08.28.07
Lesson #26
“It’s a poor sort of memory that only works backwards”.
-The White Queen to Alice in Lewis Carroll’s Through the Looking-Glass
08.28.07
Lesson #27
“If you couldn’t find any weirdness, maybe we’ll just have to make some!”
-Bill Watterson: Hobbes (Calvin and Hobbes)
09.08.07
Lesson #29
The best thing for soothing a troubled soul:
New Love.
-Loki.
09.18.07
Lesson #30
“Die, and let die.”
11.13.07
Lesson #31
“Won’t you help to sing
-these Songs of Freedom,
‘cuase all I ever had
was Redemption Songs.”
-Bob Marley: Redemption Song
11.16.07
Lesson #32
I need to be redeemed.
When did that become our anthem?
12.01.07
Lesson #33
Speak what you dream.
12.02.07
Lesson #34
Whenever you think something is too complex, just remember: At some point in time the horseshoe was considered a very complex idea.
12.04.07
Lesson Asterisk
How much of what I say makes you laugh? If you didn’t say, “All of it,” you may need to rethink your sense of humor, as well as your view of this class.
12.05.07
Lesson #35
“The Path of Excess leads to the Palace of Wisdom.”
- William Blake
12.16.07
Lesson #36
“Only thing I’ll ever ask of you: You’ve got to promise not to stop when I say ‘when’.”
- Foo Fighters: Everlong
01.02.08
Lesson #37
You know how they say, “Hindsight is 20/20?? Well, that’s bullshit.
Think about your past. Is it a bit murky? We lose memories everyday. That’s why you have to try so hard to make new ones.
Just felt like that needed to be said by someone. That’s today’s Lesson.
If you don’t like it, don’t believe it.
01.14.08
Lesson #38
Remember:
It is the Buddha who contemplates us.
01.23.08
Lesson #39
At some point in the process of your enlightenment you will be asked to give up something very dear to you. Emotions can become murky, and this will probably be the beginning of a new life for you.
All things balance. If you wish to be ‘reborn’ you have to die first.
“Ask and you will receive.” Pretty common quote. Apply that to your thoughts for this class. The first step to finding the religion that is inside you is to ask for it.
01.26.08
Lesson #40
Let’s talk a little more about the idea of modern shamanism. You see, there’s a problem with religion as it currently is. It’s not personal anymore. It’s social.
The Shaman always views ideas of spirituality, religion, philosophy, metaphysics, etc, from the most personal view that he can grasp. If you become one with the question, the answer will make itself known. Make your beliefs a personal practice, and a constant exploration. Look through the eyes of The Shaman, see the world beyond, before, and after.
There is another path. This is it. Can you really handle religion on a personal level?
01.31.08
Lesson #41
“Religious freedom constitutes the very heart of human rights. Its inviolability is such that individuals must be recognized as having the right even to change their religion if their conscience so demands.”
-Pope John Paul
02.02.08
Lesson #42
I have chosen a riddle that’s chosen me.
We are constantly unraveling each other.
Developing the Developer.
02.13.08
Lesson #43
There was a problem with the way I saw life.
I liked it.
02.14.08
Lesson #44
There is only one thing that causes unhappiness in humans:
Cognitive thought.
02.21.08
Lesson #45
“Whoever’s calm and sensible is insane.”
-Rumi
02.26.08
Lesson #46
I’m gonna ramble on about shamanism in a moment, but I’d like to dedicate this one to Nic and Beth, who have been so great to me, and are probably my only fans! haha. So, let’s start!
——–
Odin saw that the storm was getting closer. He looked me in the eye, grabbing my chin.
“You’re our only hope, my son. Show them what you know to be true. Show them magic. Show them dreams. Show them shamans!” Odin was screaming at me by the end.
“Show who?” Dangling by one foot, upside down on the ancient, gnarled tree, Yggdrasil. The blood was full in my face. I was fairly certain I had an eye hanging loose(This is something that often happens around Odin-One-Eye).
“Dammit all! Show them, boy! The ones that have forgotten!” He held his arms wide and I could suddenly see the people of the world with my dangling eye. Odin was gone completely now. Disappeared as fast as he showed up. And I’m sitting in front of my computer, a little cross-eyed, but no worse for the wear. I’ve gotten kind of used to being the Hanged Man.
———————————
I’m stepping things up a bit with DT089 because I believe more and more people are starting to grasp these concepts. So things may get slightly more complex. As your hopefully soon-to-be spiritual leader(j/k), I have faith in you. 
I speak of Odin a lot, by many different names, and I encourage you to do research on the themes I talk about.
So today, we’re gonna talk about some basic stuff. Very basic. But somehow we never seem to get it right. It’s time we changed that. The Chamber of Guf is almost empty. There is very little time left to make this the world we need.
1. Don’t Kill People! This is the most basic law, yet we have not been able to master it.
2. Don’t Kill People. See above.
3. Friends are found where we need them most. Soul Magnetism is a profound thing.
4. Don’t ever give up! (The hardest one of all.)
5. Time does not exist. It is a human concept for measurement. Without humans there would be no Time at all.
6. Laugh as much as you possibly can! If you cannot laugh at a situation that situation does not exist!
7. Just be fucking nice people. Come on.
8. There is no Tragedy and there is no Joy. Only impressions of emotional highs and lows.
9. Pick up a book! Read. Knowledge = Power.
10. Listen to good advice. Listen to bad advice. Try your best not to take either.
That’s all for now. I’ll expound upon these ideas more in the future.
02.27.08
Lesson #47
We break down walls every day. Communication walls, intellectual walls, emotional walls, spiritual walls. Consider it a part of your job to destroy a wall every day. If you are to take the shaman path, this is your duty.
We cannot forgive those that have never reached for something greater. That is the basis of the shaman’s power and ability, constantly striving for something more. There is something out there. Can you dare to reach for it?
03.12.08
Lesson #48
So, what I’ve always tried to do with this series is to help individuals awaken that shaman on the inside that they have forgotten culturally.
An important lesson here is about community. Many people think that the shamanic journey is an introspective, private one. And it is. To an extent.
You see, once the shaman has mastered his inner self, he can begin his truly great work, and start building bonds within a community. Now this social aspect of the shaman does not mean telling everyone you’ve found God and you are completely right. Just the opposite really. The shaman should never force beliefs or ideals on others. They have their own shamanic journey that may be entirely different from yours, and that’s ok.
A shaman builds healthy bonds and relationships with the people he or she cares about. Shamanism is not solitary. You must go into the world and help. Make this a stronger place. Make this a better, cleaner place. Make this a spiritual place again. Our old Mother misses her children.
Use the green darts. Connect the dots.
03.22.08
Lesson #49
I AM : Self-Realization and You.
You are almost finished with your early path. The path of the shaman is long and hard, and stretches far beyond the confines of my little class. With this lesson you will become all that you are and all that you ever shall be: Infinite. Speak these words with me. Don’t let desire overcome you. Speak with me as I drum.
- I AM.
- I am a shaman.
- I am the source of all dreams, including this one.
- I am the universe, and the universe is me.
- I am the rain, and all that it cleanses.
- I am the sin in every man.
- I am the salvation in every heart.
- I am the shaman.
- I am all that is forgotten.
- I am all that will ever be remembered.
- I am my Dreaming.
- I am Zen.
- I am the flow of synchronicity.
- I am the river and the mountain, the ocean and the beach.
- I am so much more than I could ever list.
- I am a shaman.
- I am free.
- I am.
Be the Shaman. Be free. Show your faith in your determination. This can be a better world. This already is a better world. Self-realization. What are you? I am.
04.05.08
Lesson #50
In today’s lesson I want to talk about community, and it’s place in your theological development. What role should the shaman play in society? You see, shamanism is very personal, but at some point the Shaman-To-Be must begin to interact with the community.
You see, a shaman’s primary role is a connector. The shaman sees relationships where there are none, and connects the dots, bringing people together who may have never met any other way. A shaman’s duty is to build a family, or tribe, and to help others to do the same. Putting the right people together is the ultimate goal of spiritual connection: Human Reconnection.
We separate ourselves from others in many, many ways every day. Unity is the only answer to conflict. Sharing, cooperation, understanding; these are the things that move us forward, not conflict and battles. Today, talk to someone you’ve never talked to. That is your assignment. 04.19.08
—–
Supplements and Asides
DT089 - Supplement #1
She said she just saw Jesus in the parking lot. I believed her. 02.28.08
Asides
1. A Shaman’s Prayer. “Oh, Most High, let me reach Thy light. Let me know the grace and the glory that is Thy union.”
2. I just need my soul to shift a little to the left. If you’ve been keeping up with the lessons, you should know the feeling.
3. I’ll never lie to you for any reason. The truth is too damned beautiful.
4. Where can we go that we have not already been?
——–
-Loki.
Additional Readings
Lesson #1
11.21.07
A child asked me today,
“What is God?”
I am not a Christian, nor do I believe in their deity.
I responded by opening the newspaper in my lap to the obituaries.
“This is God.” I said.
I then found a picture of a couple with a new born child.
“And this is God.”
“Really?”
“It’s as close as you’ll get without being thought crazy by others, little man.”
Lesson #2
11.21.07
Belief in a higher power should come second to belief in yourself. - Cheshire
Lesson #3
11.22.07
I weep for those who have no tears, just as I speak for those who have no voice. I live for those who have no life, and die a thousand deaths a day in a million different ways.
And when the sun sets, I sit, red-eyed and weary, wondering…
Who will dream for me?
Lesson #4
11.24.07
Suffer the children to live, so that they too may see the world as hell rather than think for themselves…
Suffer the children to live, so that they too may feel the pain we will cause them.
Suffer the children to live, so that they too may bring more into the world.
Suffer the children to live, so that we might die without remorse…
“The Enemies’ gate is down.”
-Orson Scott Card “Enders Game”
If all I am is a statistic, what use is my name?
~01000011 01101000 01100101 00100100 01101000 01101001 01110010 01100101 (Che$hire)
Evolution. It happens.
Success is counted sweetest
By those who ne’er succeed.
To comprehend a nectar
Requires sorest need.
Not one of all the purple host
Who took the flag to-day
Can tell the definition,
So clear, of victory!
As he, defeated, dying,
On whose forbidden ear
The distant strains of triumph
Burst agonized and clear! - Emily Dickinson
—
——————-
I hope you are learning.
-Loki.
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I still need one more run on all things… I guess it is hard when you yourself think it is hard… goes well with one project and you haven’t started it yet but you already think negatively, i guess the project will never happen at all… I need more readings:)