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1.3
The prizes sought on a journey of self
 
  The journey of self discovery has represented a major spiritual ambition and pinnacle of all organized societies. It is also universally considered a road less traveled. Those that we believe have successfully made the journey are often counted on our hands, compared to the Hundreds of Millions of souls that have been here before us.  
  We believe those that achieve the prize of complete self discovery hold in their minds and hearts the keys to all wisdom and the universe. Theirs is the Kingdom of Paradise. To us, lesser mortals, just succeeding in following most of what they write is hard enough.  
1.3.1 Great prizes await those who successfully make it through the journey  
  To those that succeed, it is commonly believed across all cultures that great prizes await. Knowledge, wisdom and inner peace. These understandings are not new. They have existed in the writings and practices of ancient religions for thousands of years.  
  Enlightenment, to "see and/or feel the mind of God" is said to be that state where we truly "transcend" our humanity onto something else, something more pure.  
  It is why such figures as Buddha are so revered as a person who showed an ability to transcend the riches and class beliefs of ancient Indian nobility to be one with his universe.  
  Then we have people, who simple are enlightened and beam from their own natural goodness, without associated doctrines or revelations. Such people as Mother Therasa, a woman who tirelessly worked with the poor of Calcutta and almost single handedly raised the profile of the poor of India.  
  Then we have the person, such as Michaelangelo, or Leonardo Da Vinci, or Shakespeare, Albert Einstein, the person who seems to have the innate gift to carve, to create, to conceive the divine.  
1.3.2 The saint  
  The saint is the title given to those few who we believe have reached a point of higher self awareness and spiritual enlightenment. They are the men and women who, through deeds and actions reflect a deeper understanding of self and of others.  
  While saints inspire us and while many billions of humans have and still do call on various saints to assist, intercede or simply provide comfort, the road of sainthood is one rarely traveled.  
  Considering the basic teachings within the New Testament of the Christian Bible of how to live a simple, austere and "saintly" life, less than 0.000002% or one in every five million christians that have ever lived are recognized officially as saints. Even being generous about those people who lived as saints but were never recognized, the success rate is still poor.  
  To be fair to all of us, the life of absolute poverty, of walking away from everything we have earned, from our families to be constantly living from day to day, is not something that we could or even should consider. It is simple too hard to contemplate such a radical approach to finding happiness.  
1.3.3 The mystic  
  The mystic is the label given to those who have shown an ability to tap into the wisdom of the universe and the earth, whether or not they display "saintly" tendencies.  
  Many people have lived who displayed strong intuition with the deeper levels of the dream that is life, even though they showed no apparent redeeming spiritual tendencies. The Russian Monk, Rasputin is an excellent example of a "mystic" that to all accounts lived a thoroughly unspiritual life, yet still possessed skills of prophecy, healing and wisdom.  
  Mystics are by far the most frustrating class of individuals for this reason. For their talents seem so completely unjustified when they live and behave in selfish and negative ways. Their existence seems to fly in the face of the ancient beliefs of strict discipline and selflessness taught by such religions as Buddhism, Taoism, strict Judaism and even Christianity.  
  Mystics are often labeled as hypocrites for this reason, even though they offer through their gifts hints at the inner soul of the human being. Over time, a certainly after death, many mystics have gradually been sanctified, by the sands of time and the careful editing away characteristics less "ideal".  
  The story of Confucius is an excellent example of a thoroughly worldly man, who as a mystic possessed an uncanny gift at tapping into the streams of wisdom of UCA. Today, there are many hundreds of millions of mainly Chinese who revere him as a Saint, even though his very fallible human qualities are well documented.  
1.3.4 The artist  
  The artist is a label given to those who through their expressive medium have helped and continue to help us access perspectives of life and ourselves that we would otherwise not be able to unlock.  
  Many great artists have lived, from writers, poets, painters, sculptors and sometimes all of these written into one person. Artists and figures such as Michelangelo, Leonardo Da Vinci, Shakespeare and Mozart are giants of culture. Human beings that have inspired countless millions thanks to their brilliant work. Unlike Mystics, artists are usually afforded greater latitude.  
  However, artists can and do have a profound impact on their generations when alive, as evidenced by many hundreds of brilliant artists even to this day.  
  Like mystics, the greatest of these artists seem to possess a gift to reach out and grasp ideas and wisdom without undertaking the grueling life often afforded the saint. Often, even to the artist, this gift is a mystery and in this modern world, it is not unheard of, for artists to lose this gift as quickly as it appeared.  
1.3.5 The leader of people
  Leaders of people- inspiring leaders, that showed courage and a skill at being able to tap into the conscience of their people are regarded as inspiring. John Francis Kennedy is a classic example of this. Like mystics and artists, leaders often lead double lives compared to their public profile.
  Like mystics and artists, leaders are often regarded as gifted people, who by some quirk of fate possess the skills to inspire others and lead their people. However, unlike artists and mystics, the expectation is that leaders perform their public and private lives consistently.  
  Despite this double standard, in demanding others lead homogenized lives, the public of many countries have shown a grave dislike to those leaders that indulge themselves while in office, no matter how great their skill at leadership. In Democratic countries, there are countless examples of great leaders losing office after successfully leading their country through great periods of turmoil.  
  In contrast, the public often shows an unswerving devotion to leaders who managed successfully to exclude their private lives from view, or who showed themselves to be consistent to the point of extreme. The figure of Adolf Hitler is a classic example. A man revered by Germans during his period as leader of Germany, not necessarily for his policies, but because of his "seeming" consistent habits. Elizabeth I demonstrated the model several hundred years earlier, by adopting the external persona of avoiding permanent married relationships and instead being "wedded" to their country.  
     
 
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