Inner Michael

June 25 comes round again, making it 8 years now since Michael Jackson died. A lot has happened since that fateful day Michael Jackson took his last breath on this planet. Some feel like it’s eons ago and some still mourn like it was yesterday. Some old fans have relegated him to memory and have moved on in and with their lives, new fans have come on board, countless old fans have given up on trying to teach new fans what Michael Jackson stood for, some new fans haven’t looked into the history of his becoming and ending or are ignorant of African American history, some fans have fallen out of favor with others and some still hold grudges against others for what they believe and whom they support or feel loyal too. A great deal of this is conduct unbecoming. Unbecoming of someone who claims to be a Jackson fan or supporter.

This space, Inner Michael, was born to comfort those deeply grieving the loss of, not just an icon, but someone who stood for the world vision they were born with. It was also designed as a meeting-up place for those who understood the real Michael Jackson and what he stood for and what he asked of his fans. Michael Jackson was the one person on this planet who held that vision and reminded us all that we were part of the Original Vision and we were the army of love that could, through our actions, bring that vision into reality.

Michael referenced that Grand Vision countless times and in everything he did. It was what he stood for. It was the hope that he held for the world and for us, as humanity. He said it over and over in all of his work, in all of his interviews, in all of his actions. In fact, from the time of he was a toddler, his mother tells stories of his incredible empathy and compassion. “Someday I will help them,” he said as he watched public service announcements of children starving in Africa whose sweaty faces and mouths attracted swarms of flies. And “someday” he did just that—he was involved in “Hands Across America” and in U.S.A. for Africa and countless other charitable works that he organized, led and performed in.

Did he know he was special? Well, some of us know our life missions and some are still searching for it and others have yet to discover they have one. Michael thought everybody was special and had the ability and power to change the world. He preached it often enough. Was his dream any different from ours? No. And here’s why…

Each of us is born into this world with that same Original Vision. It is the imagery of perfection, of brotherhood, of peace, of Heaven on Earth. Everyone is born with it but many forget it or don’t remember, or fail to re-remember, the “picture” they were born with. Everyone comes in with potential and from my wide reacing and esoteric religious studies, I understand that our souls are imprinted with a mission—the task we came here to do. It’s the thing that our souls long for, the impulse to make the world a better place by contributing to its advancement, and humanity’s advancement inbred in us. There is a unique contribution that we, alone, came to make. Yes, we come into this world with a mission melded into the architecture of our soul and it is our job to find out what that mission is and to accomplish it in this lifetime. This mission, once grasped and acted upon, expands the soul and the knowledge and in an instant, glimpses the greater plan for humanity. Once glimpsed, this plan can never be ignored. It haunts similar to a near-death experience. When one knows, one can never “unknow.” The understanding comes of what it means to accrue good karma, and to advance the enlightenment of ourselves and humanity. “Enlightenment” once glimpsed is never forgotten nor abandoned.

It is said that even the thought of “enlightenment,” should you stumble upon it in this lifetime, is a blessing that is rare and elusive to most humans. The idea of enlightenment, while it is the goal of every soul incarnated, is known to few and it can take many lifetimes to achieve even the knowledge of such a concept (Many religions include reincarnation in their teachings. Some will balk at the statement for they do not believe that humans live more than one life. Actually, reincarnation was once part of the Christian Doctrines but was taken out by the Emperor Justinian in 553 A.D.) It’s an ancient concept.

Enlightenment is one of those things, like the shard of the soul that holds the key to life mission, to Self,  and “God’s work” here (by whatever name you call that god or whatever way you worship.) There is a way to establish a communication portal to that internal knowledge. For example, mediation is one way; Shamanism is another.)

So what holds us (you!) back from discovering our (your) inner Divinity, our (your) purpose? The human ego. The ego is the false pride, the false identity, the false Self that resides within the human psyche and is formed, and becomes cumulative from the moment of birth.  We “unlearn” what we know at Birth. Birth, it is taught, is a forgetting process; your soul knows what you came for, the “mind” forgets. The personality believes itself to be “all there is” to human existence, and the identity considered the “self,” is but a sliver of the true Self.

Freud and others identified the Id, the Ego and the Superego and it serves adequately here and for this purpose, to describe the processes if the human mind and its functioning. We have all have these three components. Simplified, the Id is our infant self—the young, naive, immature and self-centered part of us that says: “me,me,me!” has tantrums and is selfish, demands, is insolent and jealous of others who get more attention than self. The Ego is the part of self that is identified as the self—it is the “me” that thinks, reacts, negotiates, manipulates, navigates, and believes itself to be all that exists of “me” and becomes the very definition of “me.” It is the “I” that lives and moves and has being.

The ego also has a dark side—the “shadow,” as it’s called. It is the part of self that forgets others in favor of self and gaining for self, and uses less-than-ethical means to get its needs met.

It’s the part of us that judges, shames others, excludes those who are “different,” banishes “them” from our tribe, hates, assumes ownership of something that is not ours or of another human being, demonstrates envy and jealousy, disrespects another, doesn’t respect sovereignty of other people and their decisions for themselves and their own lives, remains rigid in ones values, is unkind, forgets compassion and forgiveness, disdains someone else’s religion, abuses, bullies, gossips, throws shade… you get the picture. And then we’re likely to project our own shadow characteristics onto others because we can’t bear to acknowledge them in ourselves. “I hate her voice” may really mean “I wish I could sing that well.” We can’t find a negative trait in someone else unless we carry it within. If we don’t have it, we don’t recognize it in others.

Everybody has shadow in their Ego. When we resist our selfish desires because they may cause harm to self and others, we are said to “sublimate” (make sublime) the ego or in other more simplistic words, “keep it on a leash.”

The “Superego” is the self that is formed when the Id and the shadow side of the Ego is kept in check, is disciplined and is made to consider consequences for self and others from its affects. (“Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.”) It is the mature self that emerges when impulses of the id and shadow are kept in check through practice and repetition. The Superego can be said to thoughtfully act instead of impulsively react. All this is greatly simplified for our purposes of discussion here.

Did Michael Jackson have this knowledge? Signs point to the fact that yes, indeed he did. His dialogue, his practice of gratitude and his faith, his work in music, lyrics and videos and especially his books indicate that he was indeed, very well aware of the components of self and that he was infinitely aware of the concept of enlightenment and the knowledge surrounding it. His work with Spiritual Adepts and Gurus punctuates it. He also knew how elusive this information was; he knew how rare it is in culture; he knew that some people would be turned off to it if he “preached” in the normal or religious sense of the term.  So he “preached” through his work as an artist.

How do we know he knew all this? The evidence is clear in all his work and words. One particularly clear time, he spoke of it being “out there” in the ethers and referred to himself as plucking it from where it already existed; in another clear moment, he referenced it with Kenny Ortega who asked him if he could rest a bit while working so hard in the studio to capture the music and lyrics for his work. “No, he answered, “God will give it to Prince!” It was clear that Michael believed that his work didn’t come from him but came thorough him. David Nordahl confirmed this to me in a conversation saying “You have to understand his music came from some other realm; he only took a kind of ‘dictation’ and he worked hard to approximate it as closely as he could to what he heard in his mind.” All of Michael’s music came from that same place. All of it came in a “download” to him from somewhere he recognized as a soul space or soul source. He acted quickly as he could so as to not to let the download slip away or so as not to “contaminate” it or confuse it with stuff in this realm.

Many great composers have said that same thing. And Thoreau once said “there was music in all sound;” whom does that sound like? Michael Jackson liked to wear corduroy because of the sound it made. He incorporated all sorts of sounds in his compositions.

The song “Can you feel it?” is the first evidence in Michael’s work that he was in touch with… let’s call it “the force” because that is a reference most all of us can identify with. The question then is… “Can you feel the force?” Jackson felt it his whole life. And he tried to convey the feel, the sound, the knowing, the existence, of the force to all of us. “May the force be with you” is not an idle or frivolous blessing or conveyance of Divinity. It is a real force of Force.

So why do I bring this all up on the eighth anniversary of his passing? Because, number one, it bears repeating and number two—something is coming. There are plans forming in the mysts of Avalon (check the reference) that will become clear as the path is discerned while it unveils itself. Something haunts and demands to be born that those in the know of this prompting by Spirit will recognize and understand.

To prepare for this new unveiling, we must necessarily examine Self for the characteristics of soul that a portal and emergence in to a new space or new work demands from a spiritual warrior—integrity, honesty, compassion, forgiveness, loyalty, steadfast humanity, maturity, generosity, magnanimity (not withholding from others or claiming territory—unearned or unentitled to you,) reverence, endurance, and Esprit de Corps. This state of mind and being must tolerate differences, eschew any kind of violence or bullying, and embrace diversity.

May I suggest that if you want to be part of this new birthing that is not a worshiping, but a paying homage to Michael Jackson, a recognition of what he taught and what we are—and know ourselves to be—including Michael Jackson, that you begin the work of self-reflection that it requires of you. May I also suggest that “may the force be with you” and that you watch this space for further instructions.