Dealing With Insanity Near the Latter Days - Part Two
Just as you
are caught up in a contradiction in which the spiritual tradition in which you believe
teaches principles and values that are not reflected in the social/spiritual milieu of
which you are a part, so, too, am I faced with the same sort of problem. In all of this,
the only thing which makes sense to me is my relationship with my spiritual guide.
In reality,
the guide is none other than Divinity. But, just as Divinity manifested Reality through
various historical loci in the form of, say, Jesus, or Krishna, or the Buddha, or Moses,
or Muhammad, or David, and so on (peace be upon them all), so, too, Divinity can be
manifested in, and through, the forms of other spiritual personalities.
These latter
spiritual beings may not be on the same spiritual level as the great ones that preceded
them - and my teachers would be the very first to admit this - nonetheless, these beings
or spiritual guides are the only links we have in present times with the great spiritual
personalities of yesteryear, as well as with the Self within, as well as with the One Who
is responsible for doing things in this fashion for reasons best known to Divinity.
One can have
a personal, mystical relationship with Jesus or Muhammad or Moses or Krishna or the
Buddha, or whomever, (peace be upon them), but one has to be helped to learn how to bring
that personal relationship to fruition. Exoteric traditions were never intended to do
this. This task was always within the province of the esoteric or mystical dimension
associated with, and at the heart of, really, the outer or exoteric aspect of a spiritual
tradition.
The evidence
to which you have alluded in your previous e-mail with respect to the discrepancy between
the spiritual love in which you believe and the tradition of hate in which you have been
reared bears witness to this. People have tried to make the exoteric facet of a spiritual
tradition do what it was never intended to accomplish, and the result has been disastrous.
This is true
in the Christian community. It is true within the Muslim community. It is true in the
Jewish community. It is true in the Hindu community. It is true in the Buddhist community.
It is true in the Native American community.
I believe
that in essence, we are Divine, but we are not Divinity in Essence. In other words, in
essence, we are One with God, yet, there is still a distinction between Creator and
Created and What God is in Essence is completely transcendent to us.
One comes to
understand the nature of Truth in relationship to ourselves and the world of creation
about us when one comes to realize experientially (not conceptually speculate or theorize)
what one's relationship with Divinity is. The love which you seek, within yourself and
within others, is rooted in the experience of realization.
Our task
then becomes a matter of giving expression to what has been realized. Jesus, Moses,
Muhammad, the Buddha, Krishna, and so on (peace be upon them all) did not think about
these things. They were these things, and whatever thinking went on, came after the fact
and was colored by this essential realization.
We cannot
think our way to being these things. We have to be transformed by someone who is herself
or himself appropriately transformed.
Such people
have, in a sense, become spiritually radioactive, so to speak. As a result of this, the
spiritual transformation of others goes on by being in spiritual proximity with such
people.
However, one
must be tuned into, or receptive to, that which is being radiated in order for, God
willing, this transformation process to be realized. Consequently, sincerity of intention
becomes very important because it is through this sincerity that we are connected to the
Source of all spiritually radioactive/transformative realities.
Native
Peoples have a practice, when they are gathered together spiritually, to leave an opening
in the circle. This space signifies their willingness to be open to the possibility of the
unexpected and the unanticipated dimensions of the moment.
We all would
do well to keep this spiritual wisdom close to our hearts. Sometimes, spiritual
possibilities are staring us in the face, but if we are not receptive to them, they pass
us by, and, then, we become the poorer for it.
As you
indicated in your e-mail, for the most part, we only have two options toward which we can
work: world peace or human extinction. The problem is that much of human history has been
played as a zero-sum game in which someone gets peace and someone gets extinction - real
or de facto.
As to
whether or not this is the time which the "Spirit of Creation" has established
as the time for our extinction, I do not know what is in store for human beings. However,
I do believe that human existence was set in motion as a process of, among other things,
sorting out - those who, by the grace of God, seek out and find the truths of spiritual
essence, from those who, despite the grace which God has extended to them, rebel against
the possibility of seeking out and, if God wishes, finding the truths of spiritual
essence.
I do not
believe the purpose of Creation is any less well served due to the presence of those who
are inclined to reject the spiritual potential which God has placed within them. In fact,
I believe it is part of the plan.
All of life
is a struggle and a test. One of the signs of a fair struggle or test is that everybody
can gain and lose in the same way, and this is the risk we take when we develop our
strategies of free-will offerings concerning whether we choose to seek out the light of
spirituality or the 'black-light' of spiritual ignorance and antagonism.
As a
Christian you know that the truths of the Book of Revelations lie in wait for human
beings. As a Christian you know that the Anti-Christ is coming.
Muslims
share these beliefs. The Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) spoke of many signs -both
lesser and greater - concerning the latter days before the days of humanity on Earth will
come to an end.
All of the
lesser signs mentioned by the Prophet are in place. All that remains to happen are for the
greater signs to occur - two of which are the coming of the Anti-Christ (or dajjal -- the
imposter -- as he is known in Islam) together with the second coming of Jesus (peace be
upon him) who, among other things, will do battle with, and by the grace of God be
victorious over, the Anti-Christ and those forces which are alligned with him.
These times
will be tumultuous and very difficult for everyone - whether believers or non-believers.
Not everyone will survive as a believer. Not everyone will realize her or his spiritual
potential.
This is one
of the reasons why life is so poignant and has the potential for great spiritual tragedy.
There is so much which God is offering us, and there may well be some of us who are going
to come up empty with respect to this spiritual opportunity.
Like the
Parable of the Talents in the New Testament, the issue becomes one of what we do with the
Talents which we are given. The Talents are the spiritual possibilities which God has
extended to everyone - will we squander them? Will we bury them? Or, will we spend them in
good works?
The goal is
to learn how to develop, realize and use that spiritual potential irrespective of
theological considerations. In other words, within broad parameters, how we seek to
achieve this purpose is less important than that we sincerely undertake to, God willing,
accomplish it in accordance with the very best that we have to offer in terms of
understanding, effort, love, compassion and integrity.
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