Transformation

[John Star]

<table>
>~~~ "what a little caterpillar calls, 'the end of the world' ~ the master calls ~ 'a butterfly' ~~~ richard bach
>
>a little caterpillar does not become a butterfly by endlessly accumulating more stuff. sooner or later, the little caterpillar has got to let go of all the stuff it has accumulated since the day it was born, and be born all over again ~ into a whole new kind of awareness.
>
>as long as the little caterpillar is endlessly striving to become a butterfly, there will always be a little caterpillar, endlessly striving to become a butterfly ~ the butterfly will never happen. it is only when the little caterpillar gives up completely, all of its searching and striving and clinging that the magical transformation occurs ~ a marvelous being emerges that is very different from anything that the little caterpillar could ever imagine or strive for.
>
>why is it so difficult for so long, for the little caterpillar to let go of all the material emotional and mental stuff it has accumulated in the past, and simply let the butterfly happen?

[sol72us@...]

the angel of death can teach us how to be truly alive...
to live every day as if it is the last day of our life,
...we can begin each day by saying, "i am awake,
i see the sun. i am going to give my gratitude to the
sun and to everything and everyone, because i am still
alive..."
...the angel of death comes to us and says, " you see
everything that exists here is mine; it is not yours.
your house, your spouse, your children, your car, your
career, your money - everything is mine and i can take
it away when i want to, but for now you can use it."
if we surrender to the angel of death we will be
happy forever and ever. why? because the angel of death
takes the past away in order to make it possible for
life to continue. for every moment that is past, the
angel of death keeps taking the part that is dead and
we keep living in the present...when we live in the past,
how can we enjoy the present? when we dream of the
future, why must we carry the burden of the past? when
are we going to live in the present?


from
the four agreements
a toltec wisdom book
by don miguel ruiz
amber allen publishing, 1997


--- in asc2k@y..., "john star" <energie3@n...> wrote:
> ~~~ "what a little caterpillar calls, 'the end of the world' ~ the
master calls ~ 'a butterfly' ~~~ richard bach
>
> a little caterpillar does not become a butterfly by endlessly
accumulating more stuff. sooner or later, the little caterpillar has
got to let go of all the stuff it has accumulated since the day it
was born, and be born all over again ~ into a whole new kind of
awareness.
>
> as long as the little caterpillar is endlessly striving to become a
butterfly, there will always be a little caterpillar, endlessly
striving to become a butterfly ~ the butterfly will never happen. it
is only when the little caterpillar gives up completely, all of its
searching and striving and clinging that the magical transformation
occurs ~ a marvelous being emerges that is very different from
anything that the little caterpillar could ever imagine or strive for.
>
> why is it so difficult for so long, for the little caterpillar to
let go of all the material emotional and mental stuff it has
accumulated in the past, and simply let the butterfly happen?

[sol72us]

"god bless us everyone"
tiny tim in
"a christmas carol"
by charles dickens, 1843

the story of scrooge is one of personal transformation.
scrooge is shown the folly of his ways and is brought
to his knees by the spirits of christmas past, present,
and future. he emerges transformed.

there's a connection with another work,
"the four agreements". scrooge lives in discord
with them before transforming and in harmony afterward.
the "angel of death", who enables us to drop the
dead past and live more fully in the present,
also reminds me of this beautiful christmas story.

transformations can happen at any time.
for me, a pivotal point was the answering of
john star's post after an episode with a
tiny caterpillar. this reply is below.
it is from september of this year.

i forward my deepest thanks to all involved:
for these distinctions and that event.

god bless us, everyone!
-pat




--- in asc2k@y..., sol72us@y... wrote:
> the angel of death can teach us how to be truly alive...
> to live every day as if it is the last day of our life,
> ...we can begin each day by saying, "i am awake,
> i see the sun. i am going to give my gratitude to the
> sun and to everything and everyone, because i am still
> alive..."
> ...the angel of death comes to us and says, " you see
> everything that exists here is mine; it is not yours.
> your house, your spouse, your children, your car, your
> career, your money - everything is mine and i can take
> it away when i want to, but for now you can use it."
> if we surrender to the angel of death we will be
> happy forever and ever. why? because the angel of death
> takes the past away in order to make it possible for
> life to continue. for every moment that is past, the
> angel of death keeps taking the part that is dead and
> we keep living in the present...when we live in the past,
> how can we enjoy the present? when we dream of the
> future, why must we carry the burden of the past? when
> are we going to live in the present?
>
>
> from
> the four agreements
> a toltec wisdom book
> by don miguel ruiz
> amber allen publishing, 1997
>
>
> --- in asc2k@y..., "john star" <energie3@n...> wrote:
> > ~~~ "what a little caterpillar calls,
> > 'the end of the world' ~ the master calls ~ 'a butterfly'
> > ~~~ richard bach
> >
> > a little caterpillar does not become a butterfly by endlessly
> > accumulating more stuff. sooner or later, the little caterpillar
> > has got to let go of all the stuff it has accumulated since the
> > day it was born, and be born all over again ~ into a whole new
> > kind of awareness.
> >
> > as long as the little caterpillar is endlessly striving to become
> > a butterfly, there will always be a little caterpillar, endlessly
> > striving to become a butterfly ~ the butterfly will never happen.
> > it is only when the little caterpillar gives up completely, all
> > of its searching and striving and clinging that the magical
> > transformation occurs ~ a marvelous being emerges that is very
> > different from anything that the little caterpillar could ever
> > imagine or strive for.
> >
> > why is it so difficult for so long, for the little caterpillar to
> > let go of all the material emotional and mental stuff it has
> > accumulated in the past, and simply let the butterfly happen?