Minimally Harvestable

[Aion]

I like your point about unconditional love. I seem to struggle with that. I seem to only feel love for others that show vulnerability and weakness. But when people seem to only want to get their way and could care less about others, I struggle with feeling love for those types of people. Even when they are people that are from an "oppressed" group.

If you ask me, that is more like sympathy or empathy, which is of course related to love but as you say not always 'unconditional love'.

Consider this:

All seeking for power is rooted in powerlessness.
All seeking for love is rooted in lack of love.
All seeking for wisdom is rooted in ignorance.
All seeking for beauty is in feelings of ugliness.
All seeking for control is in a feeling of being out of control.

You see then, that those who only want their way and could care less about others are the ones who are most intoxicated by the illusion. Those whom need the most sympathy for they are consumed by their lacks and their desires. I am fascinated by villains and anti-hero types so I always look at their motivation. Pretty much all 'evil attitudes' are rooted in some kind of perceived lack - whether that lack is a result of something the person sees missing from themselves, or a lack of that which one feels entitled to. In the end, these people are the greatest slaves for they have enslaved themselves.

Have you ever watched a film with a villain whom became a villain because of horrible things that happened to them? When you think of the villain, do you only think of them after they 'became evil' or do you consider 'why' they are doing what they are doing? There are opportunities for compassion everywhere, not just in the obvious, the meek and the mild, but truly even the hardest of hearts are holding on to the deepest levels of pain. It is these hearts that I feel could use some love.

I also am fascinated by villains, but I'm not sure if I've deconstructed their motivation in quite the way you have. After reading the Ra material, I seem to always struggle with this question: how does one differentiate between someone who is harvestable STS and who is sane with someone who is a negative-type of person who is sick and most likely had a traumatic event happened to them that influenced them to be that way? If the harvestable STS person has consciously decided to serve themselves, wouldn't that make them sick in universal, greater terms? My case for them being sick in greater terms is because they have chosen to delude themselves with the idea that they are separate from everything.

I just get so confused when I think of Ra's concept of STS. I can easily understand STO, but I get easily caught when I try to understand the essence of that which is STS. I find it hard to understand what makes it a viable concept. I think that when I finally come to understand it, I will have unlocked the door to something greater within myself.

Well, according to Ra, from our perspective, you can't make that differentiation. I believe this is actually a key point for the STO path because you can't necessarily make that discernment you instead have to trust your love, your wisdom and your light.

No, a harvestable STS person is not 'sick', and this I believe is one of the fundamental issues with the way, especially 'STO folks' view STS is that they almost always view it as something which is anti-thetical, which is undesirable to the universe. I don't believe this is the case, I believe the universe fully accepts and allows the STS path and does not view them as aberrations but rather as part of itself. This is what is perhaps is most baffling is that the STS path is fully accounted for. It is viable because it is something chosen.

This might make it a little clearer. The STS entity has not chosen to delude themselves in to thinking they are separate, although it is easy to make this assumption from the outside. In truth, the STS entity actually simply believes there IS NOT (hence the "path that is not") anything other than themselves. It is not that they view themselves as separate from everything, it's that everything IS themselves. Thus, there are not 'other-selves' in any true sense, they are just part of the self. From that view, infringement of free will doesn't really exist because everything is seen as solely the self, others are just the self.

So, trying to gauge the STS or STO by how they view the universe as unified is not entirely effective as I believe both STS and STO believe in unity, the actual difference is in how STS and STO make use of and acknowledge free will.

This is actually where it gets kind of interesting because it is, I believe, backwards from what most people think. I think it is STO that actually comes to accept separation because it is STO that acknowledges and respects the free will of other selves. In STO, we view ourselves as One, unified, but we also acknowledge everything and everyone as a unique individual entity which has free will worth respecting. Thus, STO actually needs to accept a degree of separation in order for us to be of service to others because without that sense of separation there simply is no other or sense of other-self.

In STS, there is only the self, no other. Thus there is no need to respect free will, because there is no difference between wills. Shifting or manipulating the will of the other is seen as purely an exercise upon the self. This is because the STS path all starts with the self. The first control is exercised upon the self before it is exercised upon others. This is, however, why the STS entity actually promotes separation because this allows them to elevate themselves. It is generally seen that although everyone is the self, the true self is oneself, the true self is the one they are. Hence, they usually teach that others are merely reflections or just parts of yourself. STO teaches this as well but again, the use of this knowledge is different.

Ra says that the difference between the paths is use of catalyst.

STO accepts catalyst for what it is.

STS controls or manipulates catalyst to turn it in to what it desires.

This in turn comes back to how we deal with an digest our experiences. The STO based entity may experience trauma, accept it, and then move in to strength and greater acceptance. The STS based entity may experience trauma, try to control it, and then move in to strength and greater control.

The STO strives to accept things as they are, positive wisdom. The STS strives to control things to be as they wish, this is negative wisdom.

The question of why both paths exists and how both are viable I unfortunately can't offer more than this vague quote.

19.17 Questioner: Can you tell me what bias creates their momentum toward the chosen path of service to self?

Ra: I am Ra. We can speak only in metaphor. Some love the light. Some love the darkness. It is a matter of the unique and infinitely various Creator choosing and playing among its experiences as a child upon a picnic. Some enjoy the picnic and find the sun beautiful, the food delicious, the games refreshing, and glow with the joy of creation. Some find the night delicious, their picnic being pain, difficulty, sufferings of others, and the examination of the perversities of nature. These enjoy a different picnic.

All these experiences are available. It is free will of each entity which chooses the form of play, the form of pleasure.

This is a whole other mystery I have pursued for many years, the question of - why do some love one thing, and some love another?

I, personally, am one who finds both the sun and the moon appealing, one who can equally walk between light and darkness and find the beauty in each. I daresay I would make a proficient 'STS' individual, just as I feel confident in my ability to be of service.