1.1. What follows is dedicated to, and in praise and support of You, whoever You may
be, and whatever may have been Your experiences in life. You are entitled to the highest praise,
honor and respect, not only from others, but most importantly, from Yourself; and it is the
purpose of the following text to give You the praise and honor You deserve, and to help You gain
a fuller appreciation of exactly why You merit such honor and praise. You may think of Yourself
as "merely human;" and that it is virtuous humility to acknowledge Your supposed faults and
depreciate Your merit. But to represent Yourself, either to Yourself or to others, as anything
other, whether greater or lesser, than what You are is not virtue but merely mistaken.
And what You are is so far beyond the scope of what You think You are as to be completely
off the chart and utterly out of sight. To say that You are "great," or "brilliant," or
"handsome," or "beautiful" ... or any of the conventional adjectives of praise, were totally to
understate the case. Mere words are entirely inadequate to describe You; yet in conventional
communication among human beings, only words are available. So it will be necessary to use them
somewhat liberally.
1.2. What follows is a venture into a major paradigm shift from that of "consensus reality,"
and is addressed to those who are actively searching for an alternative to the smorgasbord
conventionally available in the marketplace of ideas. Consequently, You may possibly find much
of what follows to be incomprehensible, for it runs contrary to almost everything that
"everybody knows" to be true. Therefore by proceeding further You will be challenging Yourself
to reexamine Your most fundamental beliefs about Yourself, the universe in which You find
Yourself, and Your inmost concept of reality.
1.3. Be forewarned that what follows is not necessarily for everybody. It is a love offering,
purposed to be available to one and all, in deep humility and gratitude, and with malice toward
none. But by presenting a way of looking at things that is in many respects quite different
from any "consensus reality," it may be seen by some as a challenge to their cherished beliefs,
their faith, their heritage, their very being; and consequently as a threat. That is far
removed indeed from its aim, but there may be those who will take offense where none is
intended.
1.4. Disclaimer: It will therefore be expected that those who take exception to the
contents that follow will be responsible for their own faith, beliefs, moral standards, etc.
and exclude themselves from this text, if they find it objectionable, and seek elsewhere for
whatever it is they seek. What follows is a statement of opinion, and an expression of a unique
point of view. It is an honest attempt at formulating into words that which can never be
adequately so formulated; for nothing set in type, or expressed in language, or apprehended by
the senses, can ever be entirely and unequivocally true. Accordingly, no warranty or
claim, either express or implied, is made as to the validity or value of what follows for any
objective or purpose; nor does the author represent himself to be an advisor or authority in
any domain. What follows are suggestions addressed to Your inmost Cosmic Self.
Although every effort has been made to insure that statements of verifiable fact are verifiably
factual, the major gist of what follows can neither be proven nor disproven. Therefore
You are the sole arbiter of its worth to You. If it speaks to You, You
will recognize it. If not, then evidently you are not the person to whom it is addressed at
this time.
1.5. A note on the usage of You and you: You with a capital
Y are the greater Self and the cosmic Being this text seeks to address; as opposed to
you with a lower case y, which merely designates your "ego identity." The former
is real, unlimited and sublime beyond description; the latter is illusory and bound by
limitless limitation. You will be made uncomfortable by what follows if You are inflexibly
unable to relinquish Your illusory attachment to your ego identity; but You will be rewarded
with numerous liberating thoughts if You allow Your mind to expand sufficiently to embrace
them.
1.6. The text that follows has its feet in two contradictory worlds, for it addresses not only
the concerns of Your limitless, Cosmic Self, but also e.g. in Sections 4., 5. and 6., some of
the more mundane, "practical," though illusory, concerns of your ego identity, such as money,
law, taxes and war. Although the overall scope of the text is infinite and boundless, it was
necessary to drastically narrow its focus in considering these issues, so as to deal
meaningfully with specifics. Accordingly, that part of the discussion deals with matters of
"practical" concern specific in particular to Citizens of the United States of America; but it
is hoped it will be of interest to a wider audience as well.
1.7. A note on gender and its representation in the English language:
contemporary civilization bears a traditionally patriarchal bias, which in recent years has
been a source of aggravation to a growing constituency of women. This patriarchal bias is
reflected particularly in English usage which, lacking a gender-neutral third person pronoun,
typically uses he or him in overwhelming preference to she or her
when denoting a person of indeterminate sex. In response to mounting pressure from the feminine
element, many contemporary writers have taken considerable pains to compensate for the
patriarchal bias by using such awkward constructions as he/she or him or her or
s/he in attempting to deal with what is after all a shortcoming of the language. Or they
have interspersed masculine and feminine personal pronouns in their texts, perhaps overcompensating somewhat on the side of the feminine. It is simply an awkward fact that there does not exist in the English language a third person gender-neutral personal pronoun; therefore it has been found necessary to invent one:
shim, a simple blend of she and him. In the text that follows the personal
pronoun shim and its derivatives will be used in all instances where the gender of the
person referred to is of no moment.
1.8. A note on priesthoods: Another word that will be used from time to time hereafter
in a somewhat idiomatic way is priesthood, which will be used in a more generic sense
than is conventionally customary. The term usually denotes an ecclesiastical body; but as used
here its meaning will be enlarged to include any body of recognized authority in any domain. In
what follows You may encounter references not only to an ecclesiastical priesthood, but also
to, say, an academic priesthood, a scientific priesthood, a government priesthood, or a legal
priesthood.
1.8.1. Similarly, any organized body of any description may be referred to as a
priesthood; not in a pejorative sense, for priesthoods are instituted by people to serve
numerous useful and beneficial ends. A priesthood may provide social structure that would
otherwise be lacking; or information or a body of lore to which its constituents would not
otherwise have access; or guidance, by example and doctrine, without which its constituents
would feel deprived. Indeed the prototypical priesthood is that of parents in relation to
their children. In general, a priesthood fulfills a need felt by its constituents, the sole
source of its authority. Even the priesthood of parents in a family derives its authority from
the children: for if children do not value the authority of their parents, because it is
abused, they will not respect it; and so it will not exist.
1.8.2. All priesthoods share the common property of being composed of people who are not
fundamentally different from their constituents. They may share a body of information not
commonly disseminated outside the priesthood or outside its constituency; but there is no
fundamental difference between members of the priesthood and its constituents, or even complete
"outsiders." This is a fact with which many priesthoods are uncomfortable, and are careful to
obscure, for they see it as threatening to their authority. There is therefore a broad tendency
among many priesthoods to create the deliberate illusion of specialness and separateness, and
even awe and mystery, in relation to their constituencies and outsiders, most commonly by means
of such devices as arcane language, peculiar costumes and secrecy.
1.8.3. None of this is either "bad" or "good" in any absolute sense; but because of the
pervasive influence of priesthoods in all human societies it is important for the person
seeking shim's own true identity to understand what a priesthood is, what it can do for shim,
and what it cannot do. A priesthood bestows a semblance of order upon a semblance of chaos; yet
You will never discover the limitless scope of Your own power and potentiality so long as
You continue to vest any portion of Your authority in any priesthood. Which is not to suggest
that You should eschew all priesthoods, or that every priesthood is Your enemy. That is
for You, and You only, to decide. Whether You allow others to establish values or make decisions
for You, or take it upon Yourself to be entirely self-governing, or any blend or shade of gray
in between, ultimately everything You think or do or say is inescapably a product of Your
decision, and is consequently nobody's responsibility but Your own.
1.8.4. Thus a priesthood is by nature neither sacred nor profane, but is always subject to
the evaluation of its constituents. No priesthood or priestly doctrine is explicitly affirmed
or opposed within this text; nor is any suggestion intentionally made or implied as to what You
ought or ought not do in any circumstance. If You find a conflict here with Your belief
or doctrine, You are urged, with one exception, to hold with Your doctrine. The one exception
is the case in which You are no longer satisfied with Your habitual doctrine, or the
priesthood(s) of Your accustomed loyalty. In the event You are in the process of altering Your
opinion, the doctrine here expressed stands ready to bear Your scrutiny beside any other.