How can we escape from this apparently eternal cycle of violence and hatred?
Although Jesus of Nazareth and others pointed out the supremacy of love, our spiritual inter-relatedness and the efficacy of ‘turning the other cheek,’ it is the Old Testament dictum of “An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth,” that has held sway throughout human history. This dictum is the rallying call of the ego and of materialism. It makes the ego feel that it is “doing something.” It appears to be the strong, manly reaction whereas turning the other cheek is the action of the appeaser and the coward. On the contrary, turning the other cheek, or following the more ancient advice of the Tao, requires a measure of spiritual and physical courage far beyond that needed to “fight fire with fire.”
Examine human history and see just how little has been achieved by strong action. Oh yes, it is often through preparation for war that remarkable advances in technology occur that go on to make physical life more comfortable and tolerable for some. Is the price paid for achieving these advances worth it? They would doubtless have occurred eventually without the war. Notice how in every war, organised religion has been present to “bless” the participants of both sides; this despite the fact their own founders deplored bloodshed and urged the spiritual way of life upon all. So far has religion departed from the spiritual path it was created to follow.
Surely having seen the futility of ‘strong action,’ it is time we tried the alternative? Why have we not tried it before? Because it is VERY difficult! It is not merely a question of doing nothing or indulging in civil disobedience, a la Mahatma Ghandi. It involves working hard to train the inner self, the spirit, to use the inherent powers it possesses. This takes time and involves living our lives with as little regard to self as we can. It involves learning to release the light that is within us and to share it unselfishly; to learn how to link with the greater light of those from the spiritual world who are always there to help us, if only we will ask for their help. “Ask and you shall receive, seek and it shall be given unto you.”
Once we understand about the light and the fact that spiritual light is love in action then we can take steps to change the established pattern of collective human behaviour. Understanding the light enables us, with help from those in the spiritual world, to focus it. The wonderful property of light (all light) is that it dissolves darkness without the need for the physical removal of that darkness first. By focussing spiritual light on individuals, groups or particular geographical locations, we can influence things for the better. People’s actions will be changed – they won’t understand why but that is not important. Individuals, whose influence for ill on the actions and thoughts of others, can be changed overnight if sufficient spiritual light is focussed upon them.
Remember, all human beings are spiritual sons and daughters of God; the light of pure spirit lies within them, no matter how effectively their selfish and/or evil actions have buried it. Focus sufficient spiritual light upon them and this inner light will be released and evil, negative actions become impossible for them.
Time is short. Negation is damaging our environment and all life within it at a rate unmatched previously in the history of the planet. We can no longer afford to sit back and ‘hope for the best.’ We need to act by finding time and giving effort to our individual spiritual development and enlightenment. Not the spiritual enlightenment of the theologian but that of the child. Remember the words of the Nazarene, “Except you become as a child, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.” Children accept things as they are, not as they would want them to be and above all they trust. They are content just to be! We need to learn to trust our spiritual instincts; to accept that we are spiritual beings who are temporary dwellers in a physical world; that we are dependent spiritually one upon the other. Only in this way can we begin the process of enlightenment. It is not an intellectual process, indeed brain logic, with its ego dominated outlook, obstructs it. Be content merely to be and see how your life changes.
All is not lost; Lizzie Doten’s “dark supremacy of ill”* is not inevitable. Look to the light; the light within you; learn to be still and together we can create heaven on earth.
*From the poem “God of the Granite and the Rose.”
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