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The message and meaning of
LukeyoutheU
For much of my life, I have wondered what the point of life is. I think I an now beginning to understand. I had the question backwards. Instead of asking, "What is the point of life?" I now see that life Is. It IS the point. Life is the point of Life. Not, in the final analysis, just my one individual life, but Life.
Life Is. Life has been, is, and what will be. Life wins and has won. Life, Spirit, God, That Which Is, whatever you want to call the spirit/ energy of the Universe, this, our individual and communal experience, cannot lose. The answers not yet known, that we are playing out even this day: for how long will humans play a role? What are my particular roles, your roles, dear reader? Will we live and work toward the higher quality and betterment of ourselves, our species, and nature, which surrounds and includes us? I believe we have the opportunity. It is because of these beliefs that I write, have podcasts, send tweets. That Which Is speaks through everything, is everything, every glorious and mundane and horrible thing. It speaks, waves of energy and consciousness not separate from but also in and amplified through us, and, if we wish, by us. I do not paint, I myself have not experienced, a life that is always clear, or easy, or comfortable. Do not get me wrong: I like clarity, and ease, and comfort at least as much as the next person. But they are not the highest goods. There is more to life than me. I am undeniably a part of something more than me; you are, too. What I search for, and sometimes realize, what I sometimes experience, is the good. It is the work of LukeyoutheU to present examples of beliefs, of understandings, which are helpful, useful, and good. These beliefs and their specifics are required for no one. I present them because I find them good. I offer them with the thought that, be they for you or not, they can assist you in finding, deciding, and creating beliefs that are good for you. That are good for all of us. Podcasts The Consciousness Shift podcast Metaphysicians take an active, conscious role in the continuing development of reality. You are one, in at least some way, and can add, too. Heroes of the Quran and the Bible podcast Great religions, and what we can learn through them, serve not only the past but can also serve the present and future. They help can add to the good. And speed up our learning curve. Luke's Perspective, and Ours podcast The Bible grapples with the "what is the point?" question and offers many suggestions on how Life could possibly be better. It has extraordinary understandings for those open to it, for those willing to consider its figures and messages. Conversations with Marc podcast Personal experience and reflection can be great teachers if one is open to learn; and ready to apply; and willing to grow. Marc is one such person. We talk about what comes to our minds. Straight from a Scientist podcast Science looks at how physical realities typically connect and present themselves now. The practice and results of the scientific method can be powerful and useful tools in Life. Writings essays Life is an Invitation 4min essay The quality of your life is, in many ways, up to you. The Most Important Thing 5min essay What is the most important/ better action for you to be taking right now? books Seven Ways to Think and Feel Better book A practical look into how to improve one's life experience by actively choosing what you think about. Drawn from my time and growth in Palm Springs. Deciding What You Want book A Bible study of two of Jesus' parables. The stories point out that there would be no party on earth, and not as much rejoicing in heaven, were it not for the "lost" sheep and coin. Wander and Explore LyU Website mystery p1 p2 p3 p4 A bit about LukeyoutheU LukeyoutheU is an approach to life which believes that good exists. That good not only exists but that it is the measure and meaning of Life. That good is. That good is the reality, the fundamental building block of Life, the basis and truth of it. Even when, as it may in your life or in our communal/ specieal life, sometimes or often, appear that much that is less good (that which we call, or is, "bad" or"evil") seems to predominate. Or, somehow, equal ("balance"), the good. Living in this world, as it is now, with pollution, climate change, unstable politics in some nations, the potential of nuclear war or economic recession, massive wealth inequality, people dying and/ or suffering every day who need not, animal and plant species at risk of extinction, you might ask how can you say this? How can you, Jake Knight, believe in the idea of good, and the idea of LukeyoutheU, and promote them? I answer: because. Because, in the very biggest picture, what is good is life (good=Life), and Life is winning. Because Life cannot but win, and has, in fact, already won. For how much longer, to what degree we humans will participate in Life, individually and/ or collectively, those are the questions. The duration and quality of participation are, I would say, largely up to us. We have good within us. We can be a part of Life for millennia or, perhaps, eons to come, if we constructively, purposely add to it. Add to Life. We are currently bound to a single planet, a not particularly large chunk of rock and energy hurtling through space. We are tucked, even in our motion, among untold trillions of other moving planets. Hate to tell you, but if you or I die, when you or I die, Life will continue. If humanity itself is wiped out, if we wipe ourselves out, even if we take earth down with us, Life will continue. Life may then no longer exist in a form like us in the universe, or appear in a form, in forms, we understand. Ever again. What we humans might have potentially added to Life could be, forever, lost. But Life itself will continue. So we need not worry about Life. Need not worry about good. It will, they will, persist. We would be smart, however, in my way of thinking, to be working toward making life better. Better today, and better for the future. For humanity's continued existence, for the good of all the other forms of life with which we share this planet, for increased joy and purpose in our own individual lives, let us live life fully by participating in it addingly. Which brings us back to you. LukeyoutheU asks, I ask, questions, and sometimes bluntly. Here comes one right now: are you going to go through life passively, taking what comes, just enjoying, or enduring, the ride, as if you have no part in its path or creation? Or are you going to grab all you can from life, for yourself, for your kin, so somehow you yourself and only you will "win," the rest of the world be damned? Or are you going to actively participate in life, in Life, to make your life and, especially, that of those born after you, even those not your kin, or even your species, better? Sports, art, music, politics, physical well-being, and a host of other ways of looking at life, all of which can provide a further awareness of Life, are not going to be talked about much on this site. They are not my forte. I instead talk about, talk through, use areas of particular interest to me to try to get to Life. Namely: metaphysics, religion, the Bible, belief systems including business, science, and that which is present for everyone, our own individual, personal experience. Life does not require belief in any of these or other understandings. I talk about them because they matter to me. They can be used by you as avenues to better know yourself and Life: in considering them, your thinking and decision making will be expanded/ made more. Will be, I promise. Even if my modes of understanding are not exactly or close to the same as yours; or are even, in some ways, seemingly opposed to yours. Life which I sometimes, as useful, also understand, as the nature of God/ Source/ Universe itself. Thank you for looking in. Jake Knight You are a searcher, an investigator; you are willing to go through at least some times of unsureness and seeming nothingness to find out if there might be more. Good. Good for you, and good for us. There is always more. The universe continues to expand, and we can be/ are part of that expansion. In LukeyoutheU, I am asking you to assemble, to find and create, and to imagine with your mind. These are the three parts of LyU: the past, the now, and the future. Assemble and make good use of the good from your past, and from The Past. Remember and recall the things you have learned that work and help you, those that help not only you but others, too. Bring those things forward into your consciousness and practice them. Practice them until they become habits. Until they move into your being and become your natural way of life. Find and create what is useful and good from that which exists in your life, in the world, already, right now. Concentrate, focus mostly on those things. Work toward, give mental time and physical energy to them. Do not deny the bad or difficult or wrong; learn from them. Find, but, more importantly, decide, the good even (perhaps especially) in unwanted situations. Do not try to escape the wonder and good of your physical reality on this earth. Take up the responsibility and power you have. Grow into greater responsibility, power, and love to bring more. The good that exists now includes you, your being alive today. You have good within you, and an ability to add to the world. I ask you to use it. Imagine with your mind. See that what exists now is real. Understand that the physical world is very real. It is real and meaningful, the result of the greater mind, including human ones, from days and centuries and millennia and eons past. This mind, of which we are a part and contributor, got us to where we are right now. Know, at the same time, that all that is physical will pass, eventually or soon, every mountain range of it. The continual process of change does not make it or you or me an illusion or, necessarily, insignificant. It makes it, us, the now. The now serves as a blasting off point, is the lifting off place for the what-will-be. Seek and find the useful and good, actively create, evolve it, and yourself into the what-will-be. Imagine it and you in your mind. Believe in it, and yourself. Believe in it with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength. Make it a full-bodied, your fully embodied belief. Start with mental assent, internal agreement; add to it, bring life to it with your actions and work. Understand and use your individual power and ability to shape your world, the world, and bring good. I am asking you, dear reader, to do nothing less than to make Life. To bring more and better Life into your individual life, and to Life itself. To feel and experience the connection possible when you live in accord with the universe. This is a tall request and I know it. It is also an ambitious and worthy one. I am asking us to become more. More of our better and truer selves. The changes are made by turns of the head, a big vision, tiny steps, and blinding leaps. I have particular practices and theories. Some may fit you like well-made gloves. You may disagree in part or whole with others; they, too, can serve you by spurring you forward by taking you to other/ new thoughts and ways of doing things not talked about here. Onward, if you so dare, and please do. Go on to a greater you and a greater us. Many pages have header photos. I took all of them and all except the one at the top of this page have left unaltered. The colors were saturated and a painterly effect was added to the original photo.
Why this image to represent LyU? |