What would you have done?

[vexstar]

i have been striving for spiritual purity for many years now. i recently was sent [note from moderator: email for the book name if you are interested-it is not on david's book list] and completely soaked it up. i was also sent david's session with ra, "jesus and the negative elite" these two works have completely changed my every thought and i am now enlightened as well as striving for spiritual purity. for a few years now i have been trying not to tell even the smallest of lies or exagerations and if i do, i have been known to go directly back to that person and tell them the truth and let them know that i am sorry and don't know why i lied in the first place. i also have stopped speaking like a sailor and try not to even think the ugly words i use to speak so freely.
well, this morning something occurred which i have been trying to justify in all the realms of my awareness, as well as all the realms of the one. my life is very sychronistic and as i was about ready to leave for work earlier than usual and was about to turn off my xm radio station, i heard the words, "you're leaving too soon." i was leaving earlier than usual because i had to buy gas, in order to reach work. so i turned off the radio station and daudled a bit, just so i could stay in the flow. then i drove to the gas station and tried to use my debit card, but the pump would not acknowledge it. so i went into the store and gave the man a twenty and said, pump 11. as i stood there having to hold the pump handle because it would not latch and peeked at the total sale rise ever higher, i did not experience that slowing of the flow of gas as it approached $20.00. by the time it was well on its way past my purchase, just a few thoughts came to mind. perhaps the first was words that i had been trying not to think in my mind, about the gasoline companies. then it was, how much will the tank of my truck hold? since i had never found it neccessary to carry the extra wieght of a full tank of gas. buy now the numbers were realing higher then i personally had ever seen them go. i was now topping off and a bit for the ground as well. 16+ gallons and 1 1/2 times my purchase price, at $2.99 a gallon. i knew he had turned the pump on and did not register the twenty and i also knew that i did not have to make a quick gettaway, so i calmly drove to work with a smile on my face, even though i knew when it came time to cash-out he would be short. here is my quandry: did that exact moment and incident occur because i believed i took the words on the radio as quidence from the universal will? was my karma so in a need for balancing, it came as a full tank of gas? was the attendant's karma so outta balance that i came along to help balance it? am i so angry at the gas companies and this inept employee deserves what he gets? or have i simply sinned? my answer to all of these questions is: "yes!" what would be your questions if this happened to you? and when would you have stopped pumping?

[MOONSHADOW]

what does your "gut" tell you? your internal compass?

[eyez4096]

the comment about the "gut" is all too true. when you're in touch with yourself, as it sounds like you have been, your "gut feeling" can very often serve as an accurate guide. this is your intuition and potentially your connection with the so-called "higher self."

as such, the most important question to ask yourself is: did you do what your intuition suggested? or did you lose yourself in the excitement and thrill of free gas and ripping off the corporations who would waste no time ripping you off?

by my understanding, the depth of complexity in the world exceeds even our super-computers' abilities to fully solve -- one may "think" of the world as a real time simulation of the complex dynamical systems we call reality... and because the computations are so complex it behooves our conscious awareness to try to fully analyze the system whereas our subconscious has access to the various data points and can provide such information to our awareness.... of course this is all just a story to explain it but there's a point: you have access to the deepest information of the universe, pseudo-holographically, from your own subconscious. acting on this information will rarely if ever lead you astray.

in closing, i would recommend that you not obsess over this issue beyond your own need to fully utilize the experiential catalyst to learn what it is you need to learn. hopefully i haven't overstepped any bounds with this post and i hope it will help you.

-charles

[vexstar]

my gut tells me when i'm hungry. my spirit told me today on the way home from work, (the day after.) many others would have immediatly stopped the pump as they should have. a few others would have not been so greedy. others would have filled up the spar gas cans in thier trunk. in my case, i sinned and am sorry for it, but the synchronisity of it all was so incredibly worth it. the only thing running through my spirit right now, as a mantra is:

"only by the glory and grace of the lord i'm saved and that's all that matters."

but, and i ask again: "what would you have done?" being aware of the synchronistic moment or not.

[FooSnik]

could be any or all of those things. i drive myself crazy analyzing all the numerous possibilities that could be. i can tell you that i am a server in a high volume restaurant and sometimes i am so busy that i give the wrong change to a customer and i am always very appreciative when/if they give it back. i have lost my wallet a couple times one of which it was returned and it made my day. so my point is that you can not worry about other people's karma, you can only really worry about your own. you may have balanced his and lowered yours a little at the same time. just try to make people happy and have a good day. or else you, as i, will drive yourself crazy trying to work out all the angles.

[vexstar]

the both of you are certainly on the right track. all you have said has already filled my persona, since this one event happend, except my need to know what you would have done. are you afraid to search that deeply into youself in the one. if you would not take advantage of these events, why would you not just say so?

at not one mega second, did i feel i was ripping off the #%&#$# oil company.

[Chris Hamilton]

for everyone reading this thread, vexstar is cody. he has signed in under two names. chris

[billybobbutterball]

i work part time in a gas station. i never realized how difficult it is to handle the other side of the counter until i unexpectally ended up behind a cash register. surprise! the pace sometimes gets hectic. if something goes wrong, breaks the smooth flow of transactions, mistakes can follow.

generally, customers are helpful and considerate. i'm very grateful when i'm told that i've given them too much change. when it turns out that i've accidentally short-changed them i feel dreadfull... then i have to be carefull not to dwell on my glitch or more mistakes will naturally follow as part of my mind is still stuck several transactions behind. the point is, i'm not dishonest, merely incompetent at times

ripping off the #%$@# gas moguls? hardly. my store is independantly owned. the profit margin is so tiny that just one drive-off will require many dozens of fill-ups following to break even. the owner bought the gas. his loss at the pump doesn't translate back to the petro giants since they just get to sell him more.

i don't try to be a nut on being "honest" to a fault. if i find, after the fact, that i've received a extra few bucks i'm not going to drive back 20 miles to square thing away. i've helped people, caught in a bind, to get enough gas to get home -- so i figure it all works out in the end.

billybobfillerup?

[FooSnik]

a few years ago i wouldn't have thought twice about getting away with a little gas. but i have changed a lot since then and now i truly think it is more valuable to return the money and make that guys day. he would be grateful and it would put him in a good mood and it would start a ripple effect of happiness. sounds corny but i have felt the meaner side of things and i don't like it, so i much prefer to be corny and happy as opposed to mad and miserable.

[vexstar]

foosnik,

that is the one reply i have been waiting for. i do have a witness, i have already e-mailed one of you, the fact that when the synchronistic moment arrives and believe you me, it will. i am going to return and hopefully he won't be to upset to take the money back.

thanks

[Krista White]

when faced with an ethical decision like that i try to imagine what the possible consequences of my actions will be. then i ask myself if i'm okay with the eventuality of me myself experiencing that very consequence. if the answer is no, then i need to question carefully my decision to engage in whatever behavior i'm contemplating. karma is very objective and totally self-inflicted, whether it's positive, negative or neutral. peace, krista

[eyez4096]

[note from moderator: eyez left it to my discretion to post this publicly or not. i feel all opinions are relevant, barring obvious negativity :). so, here is eyez post to cody/vexstar.]

ignore this message if it offends you, however i would offer you the opportunity to reconsider your expressed obsession with "sin".

i'm neither going to provide logical nor theosophical arguments to try to persuade you to this end; but should you choose to entertain the process of analyzing your biases toward what constitutes "sin" and/or what "sin" really is or is not it has the potential to benefit your development greatly....

i'm trying very hard to present this without violating your expression of free will which is partially why i choose not to present the above-mentioned "arguments"; to me, directly violating another's free will is roughly equivalent to what you refer to as committing a "sin". to me, offering another person the opportunity to grow, even through questionable means, so long as it is true growth, could never be a "sin".

good luck and don't bother rebutting these statements should you find that they are discordant with your paradigm; i offer them to you and should you reject them i will not be insulted.

-charles

[eyez4096]

one addition then, to address your actual question (exact not implied): i would have followed my intuition which i suspect would have illuminated one of two paths; either i would have stopped filling it and proceed to initiate a conversation with the pump attendant, or i would have filled it to its fullest and left myself with the plethora of catalyst resulting. why i cannot pin down exactly what i would have done returns to my first reply. there is a complexity to this, and any, story which behooves a simplistic "i would do this and only this" answer for all but the least aware person. this is my opinion.

-charles

[jeremy6d]

cody, i don't understand your point here. what exactly are you asking the group? what *we* would have done? why is that relevant?

i would not have stolen gas, but really, what does that matter? what matters is what you, the person who was presented with the ethical choice, did. you were the one who was to learn any lesson inherent in the situation, not us.

as for this whole business of engineering synchronicities by returning money you knowingly stole, well, all i can say is that i find synchronicities in my life manifest in a bit more subtle, less contrived way. to do something you know is wrong - which it sounds like you did - is simply not honest, regardless of any greater spiritual significance that might possibly transcend the event. i think you're fooling yourself if you think the lesson here is for the gas station attendant.

sorry if that comes off as hostile, but somebody had to say it.

[vexstar]

nothing to be sorry about. hostile is good. you are completely right, except for me putting it all on the attendent. as for waiting for the perfect moment to make amens to him, that moment will come when i can aford it. i am currently in a state where i would not have to stoop to walk through that eye of the needle. :d

[soup]

there may be a message about energetic blockage in there somewhere. for example, there may be a metaphoric symbolism at work - as if circumstances arranged themselves upon a stage in a person's life to reveal something to them, as if the subconsious is being reflected in a way where a person may better integrate whatever's fractured, like dreaming. okay so if this was simply a dream, a gas tank may be a vessel that holds life energy and its fill level may talk about its state, i.e. of lack or abundance? the trade may suggest some disparity - is there ever truly an equitable energetic trade - or are they all simply free-will agreeable trades that we make? there could be a concept of greed in there, the fear of lack, and the energetic blockages that can impose that may directly correspond to a person's energetic blockages. my impression of people who devote themselves to a spiritual path and are able to come to points of mastery seems that they free their energetic blockages so there is neither a high concentration of energy at points within them, nor points of low energetic concentration. the energy flows through them unencumbered and they enjoy degrees of health and happiness as a result of that devotion.

[jeremy6d]

nothing to be sorry about. hostile is good. you are completely right, except for me putting it all on the attendent. as for waiting for the perfect moment to make amens to him, that moment will come when i can aford it. i am currently in a state where i would not have to stoop to walk through that eye of the needle. :d

i don't understand. you're poor, so that entitles you to deceive people? how would you have liked it if the gas attendant had taken your money and not given you gas, waiting until such a time when it was convenient for him to deliver it to you? that would be no more synchronous than what you experienced, because it was not a spontaneous, nor honest.

it seems to me that living a spiritually aware life doesn't discontinue any of our responsibilities to one another, whether they are tacit or explicit. rather, it augments them.

[Cynlor2012]

a few weeks ago, i was in a situation similar to cody's. i was returning a fan that i had bought. to make a long story short, i exchanged the fan for a more expensive yet likable fan. in the process of the exchange, i was given back more money when i should of owed money. i had two chioices:

option one: tell the clerk that there was an error, and pay the difference.
option two: walk out of the store a few dollars richer and nicer fan.

does the loo discriminate between the two choices?

in my opinion, sto is more aligned with option 1 and sts is more aligned with option 2.

if i chose option one, i have just taught that clerk honesty with out affecting her free will and with little effort. if i chose option 2, i only served myself and possibly created a dominoe effect of negative events. (clerk may have been fired for money being short in her register)

just my two-cents.:)

[vexstar]

jeremy,

dude what is your problem? you understand i'm poor? i'm not rich, but if you think i'm poor. lol i simply took enough time off to wtrite a book and the royalties haven't hit yet. i have sinned and cofessed it to over 400 people. i have no intention of explaining anything further to you. seems you think you are the voice of reason on these boards. telling me to stay on subject, on another posting, did your post telling me this, stay on the subject? i would be the last one to get personal on these boards, but back off! yup! when i can sychronise my finances and find thirty extra dollars in my pocket i'll just see if i'm in the mood to confess to one more person. (convient sychronicity. lol )dude!!! were you my younger brother and abused by me in a past incarnation?

[jeremy6d]

honest students of the law of one can disagree on the polarity of an action. that doesn't concern me. so long as one is honest with oneself, one can find out what one did and start the balancing process

what i have a problem with was this statement in the original post:


here is my quandry: did that exact moment and incident occur because i believed i took the words on the radio as quidence from the universal will? was my karma so in a need for balancing, it came as a full tank of gas? was the attendant's karma so outta balance that i came along to help balance it? am i so angry at the gas companies and this inept employee deserves what he gets? or have i simply sinned?

this isn't balancing - it's excuses. which is fine, we're all in that space sometimes, but let's be honest about it. we're all students of the law of one here; we can be honest and direct with one another. and i know i'm not the only one who found that statement a bit twisted.

we don't have to convert the law of one into something so exotic!

[Vince]

i like when ra said that there are "no mistakes in the law of one". to me this is higher wisdom that i think i might not be able to fully grasp in a 3d body, but think it is important to know that you are loved the same no matter what decision you make.

i am sure another opportunity will present itself to you, like it does for all of us all the live long day.

love,

vince

[vexstar]

no! it was an experience lived by me and shared with oters in an effort to get you to think and exchange ideas. i found this forum and i had a life time of experience on this magical little planet provided us, to grow beyond even my wild imagination. and my story is one of a sychronistic bliss, i know when i've made a wrong turn. the flow lets me know, i only made one wrong turn today. i turned on my wippers instead of my headlights. besides bascally we have just started our eternal together. want fight little brother?

[tphunter]

i actually believe that we have a limited number of occurrences like this in a lifetime, where everything "lines up" (such as you getting some free gas). occasionally, i've had the benefit to recognize this and take a pass on the triviata in hopes of something bigger coming along—usually, it does!

[vexstar]

a karma balancing, update.

i had to spend three hours and thirty dollars yesterday, to replace the water pump on my truck yesterday. was this a balancing of my karma, or just a 13 year old waterpump breaking when it did. well yesterday after work it gave me and my nieghbor the chance to laugh and help each other in oh so many ways. but i must tell you of my nieghbor coming out of the back yard with flashlight in hand and laughing. he said i can't believe what he just did. he said and i quote, "i came back and was looking for my flashlight, then i noticed i was looking for it, in the dark with the flashlight i was looking for." oh my god. i haven't laughed that hard in years and am still laughing. regardless of a synch moment, balance of karma or just the material world breaking around me. it was all worth it for an eternal belly laugh and the lessons learned. lol

[soup]

i went to the gas pump yesterday. after a lot of hassel, frustration, and waiting for the attendant for help - well i learn its out of order. so i go to another gas pump...same thing.

and so finally when things are flowing, i'm like hoping the thing breaks in my favor and flows me some extra free gallons - to compensate for all the baloney that i've had to go through. i figure that my hourly rate for tolerating so much frustration is up in the $200/hr range and that this gas station has literally ripped me off in more ways than one.