There are a great many spiritual teachers
and groups in the world today, some possessing much insight and good intentions.
However, when compared to the Path that leads to Redemption it becomes evident
that the vast majority of spiritual groups and so-called enlightened teachers
actually demonstrate a significant compromise on the Highest, on the quest
for Liberation, on the Truth. Conditions are often applied and many people
'go spiritual' in order to gain same benefit and greater happiness in their
personal lives. They practice, therefore, what to the discerning eye and
the pure heart might be termed 'imitation spirituality'.
The culture
of imitation spirituality has come about due to a lack of true Knowledge
and selfless motivation. This is clearly apparent within the New Age movement,
for example, where the general focus is upon profiting for self. So many
people today have their own valued ideas of how best to bring about light,
love and peace on Earth, yet the majority of these individuals have yet to
actually realise such virtues themselves. New spiritual groups and teachers
are appearing all the time in these days of The Quickening on Earth;
self proclaimed masters, teachers and motley bands of disciples and do-gooders
are a very common sight within the spiritual supermarket today. It is often
found that such groups - new and traditional - tend to demonstrate a noble
intention to heal themselves and this planet, yet all truly enlightened Masters,
Holy Orders and Mystery Schools throughout the ages have taught that the
personal self, this world and all that is in it do not represent the goal
of life, and on the spiritual path neither should they be the focus. Wrong
focus is the result of a lack of true Knowledge and awareness of the purpose
of physical incarnation, and without such Knowledge the true spiritual Path
cannot be found, let alone trodden.
To improve
the quality of life in this world is not the purpose of our existence here.
The Buddha spoke of this world as being like a bubble on the ocean, an illusion
that would pass away just as surely as it had appeared, and he taught that
the spiritual aspirant should not become attached to it in any way. Jesus
said in no uncertain terms, "My Kingdom is not of this world" and
he urged mankind to seek ye first that Kingdom. For to seek and find true
Life (the Kingdom) will alone right all the wrongs, pains, and sufferings
of mankind's self-created predicament as well as open up the Way that leads
to the Goal of life. Conversely, true healing and redemption from suffering
cannot be achieved by way of a personal and worldly focus or awareness, and
the separate self will only compound its problems through self-striving.
Like a dog chasing its tail, the self can only go round and round in circles,
necessitating and perpetuating its bondage to what the Buddha called the
wheel of birth, death and suffering.
To attempt
- from an unenlightened perspective - to heal this world and mankind is like
a blind man trying to give directions to someone who is lost. The world may
only be healed when humanity's focus and motivations are true, when the heart
of mankind is open and when its mind is looking in the right direction. The
solution to all ignorance-born world problems may only be apprehended by
giving up all self-created notions, looking out from the separate self and
upwards toward the universal Spirit and the Divine Plan for Earth. The solution
to all suffering, darkness and ignorance is necessarily a divine solution
and can never be found within the separate and limited nature of the personal
self or its plethora of speculative ideas, projections and delusions. Such
personal, ignorant convictions never amount to anything other than more separation,
the proof of which is perfectly visible in society as it exists today, and
is also reflected in the many individual and disparate views and ideals held
by the countless spiritual groups and teachers.
A correct
focus is essential if the seeker of Truth is to rise above the multifarious
snares and pitfalls of pseudo spirituality that are to be found everywhere
in this world. The pain of the world’s heart and all mankind’s sufferings
are resolved and ultimately permanently healed through a focus on what is
already True, Whole, and Complete, and not on the individual self or the
transitory world of appearances. Only when a man's focus is turned to the
Highest, to the Truth itself, will he come into alignment and harmony with
universal law, and so realise a true Spirituality, as he naturally becomes
inspired to serve the Divine Plan. It is only through such a correct alignment
and the subsequent spiritual harmony that it engenders that the world’s ailing
condition will begin to be remedied. Human delusion can never be resolved
until the seeker has made contact with Reality, and so has aligned himself
with true Life. To seek and practice anything else, anything for one's own
benefit without due recognition of the whole, is imitation spirituality,
and this serves nothing other than the personal ideas and whims of the separate
self, leading to further confusion and suffering. For separation (from God)
is synonymous with pain.
In order
to allow the spirit of Truth to reveal itself, one must seek that Truth uncompromisingly
with a selfless focus and motivation. Any lesser activity of mind or emotion,
even when born from a noble intention to do the right thing, is still a personal
desire, an ideal created from the limited vision of one's separate reality
and experience. No amount of such good intentions can ever create a perfect
world. To the contrary, such a personally-oriented attitude only precipitates
more conflict and separation from Reality, the impersonal Reality
that has always been Perfect and which is waiting for humanity to come back
into alignment with its gracious Laws by way of its own free will. Delay
in such divine alignment will most often produce more karmic bindings to
the wheel of birth, death and suffering. It is an inescapable fact that a
personal focus is limiting and degenerative, whereas a divine focus is liberating
and regenerative. If only the self-seekers of the world would understand
that should they lose their self-defeating ulterior motives, then they would
begin to enjoy both a greater vitality in life as well as a progressive spiritual
alignment and inspiring purpose.
There are
a great many people in these last days of a major world cycle for Earth who
are focusing on all kinds of interesting things, from personal healing and
self development to the channelled advice and lofty messages of those who
have passed over. There exists today a worldwide marketplace for psychic
counseling, innumerable methods of self-discovery, spiritual awakening, soul
recovery, magic rituals, past life recall, ET mania, etc., etc. The list
is endless and would take a great number of lifetimes for a person to fully
explore even a small fraction of them. Many of these activities are not wrong
or dangerous in themselves, but in the absence of a right spiritual focus
and a selfless attitude they are fated to merely revolve around the grasping
desires of the personal self. They cultivate and refine the ego-self and
so do not lead to That which is already Perfect and which liberates.
A growing
number of people all around the world today are writing spiritual books and
giving workshops, again often before they themselves have actually realised
anything of a higher order than mere philosophical or psychic insight and
in the absence of alignment with Truth and divine Purpose. This generally
perpetuates ignorance and pride because the focus is essentially ever the
same. No matter how philosophically true may be the words and concepts of
a preferred teaching, it will not help a person reach the goal of life -
Liberation - as long as the focus is selfish, upon gaining for the ego-self,
the 'I', 'me' and 'mine' of self-grasping, as in: "my healing", "my
path", "my ascension", "my truth", "my self", "my
life", etc. Until one learns in all one's activities of thinking and aspiring
to look towards the One Life alone, to that which is True and Divine, and
in so doing reawaken the inner spiritual seeking element in the heart, all
that is created and focused upon will be in vain, and it will yield nothing
of any real and lasting value.
Before aspirants
embark upon the spiritual path they should - first and foremost - ask themselves
earnestly: Do I love and wish to serve the Truth unconditionally, or do I
seek the Truth because I want to take personal advantage of it in some way?
If the answer reveals that there is indeed some ulterior selfish motive,
then the aspirant is not yet ready to walk the Path of Purification, the
true spiritual Path, and he should beware of trying to understand and apply
the higher, esoteric teachings or of practicing advanced techniques.
No matter
what is learned and understood intellectually and no matter from what eminent
source it may spring, without a right focus and true, spiritual understanding
it will generally be used as yet another vehicle in which the ego-self can
move in circles and create more illusions. All that is really taking place
in imitation spirituality is the motion of the ego from one separate and
unillumined sphere of thought and desire to another; in the case of the New
Age movement, to a so-called 'spiritual' one. But the path of the ego-self
rotates on one plane only, it does not spiral upwards, it does not lead to
emancipation from the self-replicating problems and woes of the separate
personality. Today a tremendous number of unenlightened teachers seek to
propagate imitation spirituality amongst mankind as if it were a most worthy
service to the world. 'Being spiritual' has become a fashionable trend in
our times. But for the most part such ministrations are actually a disservice
due to the focus upon the personal self, rather than the eternal divine Element
within the heart of mankind, which is innately selfless and True. Until this
divine Element is focused upon and its nature and purpose in incarnation
sought out, no lasting Truth or Wisdom can be realised or integrated into
one's life, and when living Truth and Wisdom are absent, then no real spiritual
Service may be rendered either. It is this lack of true and simple Wisdom
that perpetuates imitation spirituality all over the world, and which drives
people to work on themselves, instead of forgetting the separate self in
exchange for seeking and embracing the living Truth, which naturally heals
as it enlightens.
Until the self-proclaimed spiritual groups, teachers, and indeed mankind
at large learn to see clearly the need to align themselves with the larger
Plan and so establish a divine Focus, they cannot apprehend what must soon
come to pass in this world and why, and so neither will they be able to avail
themselves of the present spiritual opportunity of an age. They will remain
ignorant and unaware of how to properly prepare and assist in the One World
Work, which seeks only to manifest on Earth the Divine Plan for this period
for the benefit of all. In the absence of true Knowledge and right understanding,
and without an innate love-yearning for God, imitation spirituality actually
works against the perfect unfoldment of Truth on Earth by way of its unenlightened
and spiritless ideas and projects.
Adherents
of imitation spirituality work - consciously or subconsciously - to delay
that which must come to pass because they operate outside the Law of Oneness,
outside of Unity, and not in alignment with the Divine Plan for this world.
They most often work from a place where they feel happy and safe, protected
within their own personal comfort zones and consciousness of 'I know'. Using
such unrealised affirmations as 'We are all God' they try to bring their
own will and agendas, disguised as divine alignment, to bear on others. One
of the greatest obstacles - if not the greatest obstacle - that stands
in the way of real spiritual unfoldment and realisation is an absence of
humility, and the honest admission as to how little the separate
self really and truly knows of the higher Life, its purpose, goal and ultimate
inevitable result for this end of a major world cycle. Most people shopping
in the spiritual marts of trade today are so focused upon what they already
know - or more accurately what they think they know - that there is
little or no scope for them to discover what is actually True. That which
has waited eons to enter the heart and illumine the mind of humanity in order
to liberate it from delusion and suffering can find no resonance with those
who already know best, and so neither can it enter into their lives. Hence
the essential need for humility, an empty cup.
Imitation
spirituality comes into being, then, due to the full cup, the cup that is
filled with personal 'knowing'. It is born from the assuming attitudes of
the self-oriented seeker and all groups and teachers who regard the personal
self, however subtly, rather than the Universal Truth of which the individual
soul is only a tiny part. The answer to all man-made problems must be sought
from the Divine, and if a personal focus is favoured over and above an impersonal,
divine orientation, then the real Solution will never be found, for there
is nothing at all in the world of the ego that has the redeeming power to
lift the imprisoned soul from its dark ignorance, pain and self-engineered
separation. There is but one truly spiritual attitude and one Way that leads
to Freedom: it is through an earnest and humble seeking of That which has
always been True, and forever will be True, and this Truth has nothing to
do with the separate self and so cannot be contained, procured or possessed
by it. Therefore, the world of imitation spirituality is in dire need of
a complete reorientation of understanding, focus and consciousness, without
which genuine spiritual qualities and virtues will continue to be a rare
and infrequent occurrence on Earth, and so the goal of life will remain unattainable
for the majority.
So many statements and claims made in both the old and the New Age arenas
today are at least partially motivated by fear, pride and spiritual egotism.
By way of their substantial knowledge and in-fact-uation, many teachers
endeavour to convince themselves and the world that they know all about the
spiritual life. Yet knowledge is not required in order to take the very first
step onto the spiritual Path. What is needed is an earnest love of
and yearning for the living Truth. Such a sincere orientation makes a person
a Seeker, and from such a correct spiritual orientation will arise true understanding,
insight and eventually Wisdom, as, by law, the living Truth responds to a
genuine and selfless invitation.
All who wish
to return to Reality and so partake again of the original Freedom, must first
become empty of self, open and so ready to be filled with the living light
of Truth. Now, an empty cup does not contain anything, it does not, therefore,
proclaim that it knows anything, for all true Knowing is of God. Allowing
the light of Reality to enter one's emptied grail is to become aware of God's
Will, and it is thus that the Calling to assist in the manifestation of its
Plan for these important times on Earth is registered by the Seeker, and
consecrated service to that Divine Plan then becomes natural and spontaneous.
This is the beginning of Freedom, and the seeker of Truth is then initiated
into life's mysteries and is given progressively greater spiritual responsibility,
together with its commensurate reward. It is in receiving and then giving
away what is received that one becomes the humble servant of all, proceeding
forth along the Lighted Way, not by efforts of self-will and not by dint
of personally-constructed ideals and theories, but by the living Grace of
divine Providence. The surrendered Server then becomes a tiny, glowing point
of light in the darkness, one with the Universal Light, in which there is
neither any separate self nor speculation.
To look to
or to seek for anything less than divine Guidance in every new moment is
foolishness. It perpetuates spiritual blindness and confusion, which then
continues to give rise to an endless array of self-oriented pseudo-spiritual
philosophies, groups and teachers, in which great numbers of unsuspecting
people invest their time, energy, dedication and money. This is how the culture
of imitation spirituality has grown to epidemic proportions in the world
today. Those who follow unenlightened teachers, prophets, deceptive teachings
and groups contribute toward the reinforcement of the grand illusion of false
spirituality as they simultaneously become more deeply bound to and by it
themselves. By investing in the pronouncements and prescriptions of teachers
of illusion, adherents unwittingly support the same illusions themselves
through a compromised focus, and it is thus that they directly help to maintain
falsehood in the world, while simultaneously delaying any true Light from
entering, and all under the oft colourful and glinting banner of spirituality
and truth.
The result
of perpetuated self-conviction and personal investment in imitation spirituality
is that one becomes so lost in the darkness of delusion that the Spirit-flame
which may have glowed originally within the heart, inspiring one to become
a Seeker, all but dies out, having failed to be nourished by the living Truth,
and so it is unable to guide one further along the right Path. When this
point is reached, the consciousness of the separate self becomes so immersed
in appearance-reality and the subconscious fear and attachment that this
engenders, that it finds it extremely difficult to admit that it could be
mistaken or even entirely lost in darkness. This is how the downward spiral
away from the Light develops in the life of the selfish seeker, and imitation
spirituality today has mesmerized vast numbers of souls and is pulling them
ever deeper into the great illusion of 'I', 'me' and 'mine'.
When one considers that all genuine spiritual Masters of the past have ever
pointed to That which lies beyond the shores of this material and transitory
realm, beyond the sense of the separate ego-self, one must surely question
how anything True and lasting can ever be created or attained by way of the
limited perspective, unenlightened beliefs and focus of the 'I'. One should
also ask why there exists such a diverse variety of ideals and methods -
most often in at least partial disagreement with one another - amidst the
great majority of spiritual groups and teachers who are today, apparently,
working towards world peace, healing, and love. Without first aligning themselves
with the behests of the Divine Plan for world and mankind and so helping
to fulfill that Plan for this end of a cycle period, such groups and teachers
make efforts to manifest their own personal interpretations of the
need of the hour, hence the multifarious discrepancies between them. There
are a tremendous number of spiritual groups in the world today, but very
little unity of heart and focus amongst them. Yet where the Truth is loved
and seen together, hearts are united. This must always be the case, for the
Truth is One, as are all souls who serve it in consecration.
A right focus
- an inner yearning for and love of the Truth itself - would eventually bring
to this world every dream and joy ever longed for or imagined, without any
work or effort being placed directly upon the self first, as is so often
prescribed by misguided teachers. However, lacking such an earnest and humble
inner yearning for the Truth, no amount of spiritual education or practice
will quench the soul's thirst, for the living Spirit does not regard the
personal self and so cannot avail the ego of its Grace; the divine Spirit
recognises only Itself within but beyond the separate ego-self: immanent
but transcendent.
The road
to hell is paved with good intentions, and many well-meaning groups, teachers
and leaders in this world today travel that road. Yet none of these good
intentions have served to free the heart of mankind, and they never will.
It is not until one looks selflessly towards the greater Life, neutralising
one's own personal will for the sake of the greater divine Will, that freedom
in Purpose begins to be experienced again. All self-willed actions necessarily
go against the flow of the universal Harmony, which is ever meaningful, intelligent,
dynamic and liberating. Seeking anything less than perfect alignment with
the universal Intelligence will amount to little or nothing but the creation
of more confusion and separation in a world that has already gone insane
due to its long-perpetuated unwise use of free will and its selfish grasping
habits.
Just as in
the common, selfish life of the mass of mankind, the misuse of free will
in imitation spirituality is also rife on Earth today as people shift from
one ideal to another, from one form of self-will and desire to an alternative,
perhaps more exciting form, which may seem in the beginning to offer something
more, something better. But no matter where one shifts one's personal focus,
the 'I' still remains in its separate and very limited condition, and it
is this self that gives up on one idea only to grasp at another in the hope
that it may gain greater happiness and perhaps ultimately eternal freedom.
However, there is nothing lasting and so truly satisfying that can ever be
procured by the separate self, and the one who realises this will understand
the sane choices made by all wise men of the past who successfully regained
their spiritual heritage through a selfless attitude and a humble yearning
for Reality, in which there is no separation. To open one's heart to the
One Life in all and so to forget all ideas of 'my will' is to become aware
of 'Thy Will', the Universal Will, and it is in such a prudent focus that
one begins the process of being initiated into true Spirituality, and so
becomes a recipient and servant of the liberating Truth.
Due to the prevalence of imitation, self-orientated spirituality the world
over in these frantic times, the true servants of Life - those who are aligned
with the divine Spirit and so also with the Plan of Salvation for these times
- are mostly forced to wait and prepare in the shadows, while so many self-appointed
teachers are busy in the limelight propagating their information and methods
from an unenlightened idea, teaching the multitudes how to achieve what they
themselves have yet to realise. The genuine awakened servants of the human
race and the Divine Plan prefer to eschew the loud claims and commercial
activities of those who spend much of their time doing and saying the greatest
things in public so as to be seen as spiritual and wise, and they seek not
to teach those who are insincere and so who are as yet not ready to court
Revelation.
In the past,
candidates for the inner teachings of the Divine Mysteries had to seek out
and to prepare themselves to work with the Initiates and Masters, and unless
an aspirant possessed the key that opened the door to the inner sanctum,
he could not gain access to Life. Today the requirements for true spiritual
work have not changed, and the kind of potencies wielded and teachings offered
by holy groups are dangerous for the unprepared.
Yet we may
observe everywhere today the public advertisements in magazines and on the
Internet for teachings about holy Ascension, together with an expanding abundance
of teachers offering to show the way to enlightenment. In fact there are
so many self-styled masters and spiritual teachers in the world presently,
offering a diverse array of methods and philosophies, that one cannot help
but wonder why humanity has not ascended to at least the ninth dimension
already! This is the great tragedy of sham spirituality, that so many people
in these times have bought into the imitation version of the real thing and
so are being led astray, deceived by the rising number of false teachers
who instruct upon matters which they themselves do not yet truly comprehend.
Part of the reason for this is due to the fact that advanced spiritual teachings
have found their way into the general public and can today be purchased by
anyone in the local book shops. Yet using sacred teachings for personal agendas
always leads to disaster, for such teachings will always be used by the ego
to cover its own fear and ignorance in an attempt to create a safe and comfortable
semblance of truth for personal happiness, self aggrandizement and power.
In doing this with conviction, in widely advertising the benefits for self
of even the greatest and truest teachings, the delusion of imitation spirituality
spreads all over the Earth, and so what in past has been a most sacred and
carefully guarded treasure becomes degraded into a commonplace vogue in the
marketplace: Ascension, free for all!
With great
alacrity, the Truth is repeatedly utilised in error by the ego, rehashed
into an imitation spiritual philosophy to suit the needs of the separate
self, where, for example, people loudly proclaim 'I AM', yet without an iota
of inner, spiritual realisation to back it up, and simply because they have
read it somewhere and have taken the impersonal Truth personally. That which
is True is not of the world of time and space, where everything is in a perpetual
state of change, decay, death and rebirth. The Eternal is evidently absent
from the world of rising, glimmering, fading and dying. Just as that which
is True is not of the temporal world, similarly the Truth itself cannot be
revealed in the temporal world. Nothing True can ever be written or spoken
in words alone. The Truth that is written and spoken is at best only a reflection
of the Unborn, the unmanifest Truth of Life, which can only be experienced.
But without a pure heart and motivation - which may only be reached through
the loving, selfless and intelligent quest - the all important and vital
Energy of the living, vibrating Truth that may accompany only the realised
words and concepts of the sage, is lost. Thus so the living energy of Truth
cannot be received or passed onto another. In this way many people may read
and even understand philosophically the most profound truths on Earth, yet
still not receive one modicum of the living, experiential Reality, which
they know all about. This is how the most exalted words and teachings
of our saints and spiritual masters have been stolen and killed by way of
self-grasping, and the foundation of all imitation spirituality is rotten
due to the selfish motivations of those who practice it.
Until one seeks out the living Truth and its Wisdom with an honest and humble
heart and with a mind that earnestly acknowledges that it knows nothing of
that Truth, no true Light can ever be received, no matter how many books
one reads, no matter what teaching is followed or believed in and no matter
how many lifetimes one practices mystical techniques. Until a man rediscovers
the hidden mystery of the living Truth in his own heart, he remains essentially
ignorant, a fool, and if he proceeds with conviction to think that he may
lead others to Enlightenment when he himself has yet to attain the Goal,
then he becomes a foolish teacher of fools who will follow him; the blind
leading the blind. Until a man actually reaches the Goal of divine Remembrance
he should keep in mind always that he is still a seeker of Truth, and not
yet a teacher of it. If the great majority of spiritual teachers in the world
today would remember the enduring fact that they may only assist others along
the Way to a very limited degree until they themselves have actually attained
the Goal, then there would be far more humility on Earth within the spiritual
supermarket and consequently much more true Light, rather than the false,
deceptive glamour-filled light of imitation spirituality.
Being with
a true and therefore divinely-aligned Teacher will always give us Light,
and not just in the head! The awakening of the divine spark in the heart
as a result of coming into contact with a true Teacher may be accompanied
by a sense of wonderment, awe and perhaps great 'jubilant sorrow' as the
realisation dawns how we and most of humanity have prevented the Light from
entering our lives in the past by way of our own ignorant habits. If a teacher
does not give us Light, particularly in our early encounters, then either
the aspirant is not yet ready to receive it or the teacher has not come into
divine alignment and so is not qualified to awaken others. However, if the
teacher has attained some significant level of divine contact, then his personal
radiatory field will prove to have an effect, and this may be experienced
by the insincere, impure of heart or spiritually immature aspirant as a surfacing
of unresolved fears, hatreds and resistances, a rising of inner darkness.
Therefore, one way or another, the true Teacher will generally have a significant
effect upon the consciousness of everyone who opens to him.
However,
these simple and unchanging facts seem to be completely overlooked by the
mass of spiritually-disposed human beings, who blindly follow their impotent
teachers, lesser gurus, false leaders and who religiously adhere to the endless
collection of self-seeking groups together with their written material and
unenlightened prescriptions. "In the land of the blind the one eyed man is
king!" There are today thousands of so called 'enlightened teachers' in the
public arena. Many of them have their own website, unique teachings to share
and a growing band of followers. Most of them are true in words, at least
to some degree, but not yet pure of heart. Yet it must be remembered that
the unrealised heart does not have access to that all-important and vital
energy which makes possible the living transmission of Truth. The vibratory
signature of unenlightened teachers betrays to those who are able to see
with the heart, that they have not aligned themselves with the Divine Plan
for the planet and race in these times. While words, ideas and teachings
may point the Way, they are not the Way themselves and so should never be
clung to lest they further blind the heart and mind.
It is astonishing
when we consider just how many thousands of self-proclaimed masters there
are today all over the world and accessible to the general public, more than
in any other time in history. Yet the human race is more exceedingly deluded
than it ever has been in any other time in history, and consequently our
planet is ailing more than ever before, for we have today reached the nadir
of human expression on Earth. Millions of souls are presently being led astray,
as was long ago prophesied would happen in these times, and as more groups
and self-proclaimed spiritual teachers rise up around the planet, infecting
the minds and hearts of their growing followers with unrealised philosophical
systems and personal ideas, very ordinary people with little spiritual or
even psychic experience are becoming self-appointed teachers. Today we stand
at the end of a major world cycle and the imminent dawn of a New World, and
still the focus for the majority is on the spiritual feel-good factor,
and even those who do have some innate wisdom are being drawn into the great
deception.
"False
messiahs and false prophets will arise, and they will perform
signs and wonders so great as to deceive, if that were possible,
even the elect." - Matthew 24:24.
Imitation spirituality has reached such a record high today that those who
have actually established true divine contact and who possess real Knowledge
of the need of the hour and the Plan for Earth, are forced to stand aside
and look on at the confusion as it plays itself out before they are able
to commence the greater holy work for humanity for which they have incarnated.
These souls are not here to scatter abroad yet more mystical concepts or
pass on philosophical teachings that never really change anything. These
advanced souls are here today on Earth, mostly on humanity's behalf, to comprise
the critical mass required to satisfy the Law, and to sound the final Call
in the world, which is a cry in the wilderness of mankind's ignorance and
selfishness, a last plea to humanity to face in the right direction in good
time. For most human beings, however, it is already too late with regard
to this cycle's spiritual opportunity for Deliverance, and all that remains
for the relatively few realised hearts who have become aware of the truth
of these end times, is to wait in the background of life until the Redeemer
of this world finally commissions them to transmit the divine vibration of
Truth worldwide, to wield the Sword, and so shatter all that has not aligned
itself with the Divine Plan.
Already the
Sword is beginning to show itself in the world today, and the prophesied
'Great Separation' is now taking place on many levels all around the planet.
There are relatively few who boldly acknowledge what must come to pass: the
victory of ages of Truth over falsehood, yet mankind has been warned repeatedly
over the millennia about the inevitable, stark reality of these times and
the inescapable fate of everything and everyone that is not True. Even at
this late stage of the period leading up to the Day of Reckoning and
the Great Shift, only those with eyes to see and ears to hear have responded
in any vital way to the Call. Throughout the ages humanity has been cautioned
about the false leaders, teachers and groups that would rise up in these
last days of an age, but so very few have taken heed of those warnings. In
these accelerating times it is most inexpedient to continue building more
dreams and romantic ideals pertaining to planetary healing and peace, or
for improving upon the world's illusions of preservation of what is old,
familiar and now redundant. All such self-constructed projections of the
human mind are about to be utterly dispelled by the insuperable living light
of Truth itself. These are the 'end times', and there is only one way to
safely and wisely navigate through the darkness and multitudinous distractions
of this period in order to attain Liberation from falsehood in the valley
of the shadow of death, and that is by humbly seeking the Truth and surrendering
to and serving God's Will, free of all personal sentimentalities and philosophical
ideas and preferences.
If we truly
Seek, then we shall Find, but if we think that we already know and so fail
to perpetually and humbly Seek until we are Free, then we are going to discover
nothing liberating or True. Part of true Knowing is knowing that we do not
know. But until the heart awakens to Truth, most people do not really know
how little they really know. There are two kinds of fools in this world:
the ignorant fool and the wise fool. The ignorant fool is he who cannot find
the humility to admit that he is a fool who knows nothing. The wise fool
is he who knows that without the divine Spirit he knows and is nothing. It
is this latter kind of fool - the wise fool - who is guaranteed of spiritual
success.
If we are
engaged in selfish activity, however subtle or 'spiritual', then we will
not see past our own selfish reflection in the mirror of Truth that is approaching
our world today. If we try to build further knowledge upon our own existing
ignorance and ideas, then nothing True will be constructed, and neither will
our ivory towers survive what is to come. There are relatively very few true,
uncompromising spiritual Seekers in this world who have cultivated the art
of spiritual Listening. Fear and pride has long found a home in the hearts
of the majority of souls on Earth, and consequently a great number of foolish
fools have adorned themselves with their own ideas and methods of attaining
Liberation. But the Way to find the Truth and to be liberated by it is to
completely and unconditionally give up all ideas and beliefs of the self
in deference to that Truth: "Not my will but Thy Will be done." This
requires the virtue of a selfless consecration, which has nothing to do with
the ideals and plans belonging to the ignorant self, however long-established,
noble or cherished.
If the ego
feels good and proud in its knowledge, psychic power, spiritual attainment
or influence over others, then imitation spirituality is being practiced,
and the true Path is still yet to be found. Most people turn to spirituality
in order to attain greater happiness, healing or some meaningful achievement
for themselves. However, it is a fact that the separate nature of the ego-self
will always struggle and fight to maintain itself when faced with the Truth,
the nature of which dissolves all separation and ultimately annihilates the
illusion of the separate self altogether. The further along the true Path
one progresses, the greater the suffering. Therefore to walk the spiritual
path in order to find personal happiness is as absurd as it is impossible,
and always results in imitation spirituality. The true pilgrims of the Way
are 'men of sorrows': "Suffer little children that come unto Me."
- Christ. Nonetheless they are also candidates for Glory and they seek the
Truth simply because they are in love with it, not in order to make their
separate selves happier, more powerful or to shine in any way. "I wish
to reduce myself to zero." - Gandhi. Going the Way of Sanctification
entails a unique form of suffering, but this does not mean that if we seek
the Truth we will know only misery and suffering. It means that regardless
of what arises in our lives as a result of our courting greater Light, we
shall remain true, selfless and empty, even if at times what is revealed
to us may be hard to bear. As we move closer to the Truth and the Goal of
our lives, our vision will expand and we will see this world for the travesty
that it really is, yet still our focus will become ever more impersonally
loving, in a way that cannot be fully understood by those who have yet to
be initiated into the Divine Mysteries, which are not of this world.
A man who
has attained a true, spiritual vision will be deeply moved at seeing his
brothers and sisters suffering in their own blindness and ignorance, yet
he will be unable to help them because they are not yet seeking the true
Solution and also due to his obedience of the law of non-interference. However,
he is able to carry the vision for others until they learn to see it for
themselves. His heart will weep for them and be moved to great sadness as
he watches his family struggle in the darkness of self, knowing there is
nothing he can do for them and that they must learn by way of their own choices,
even though he may recognise that those choices must lead to further pain
and frustration. It is not until the earnest Seeker finds the true Path himself
that he sees how few actually tread it, and so often he finds himself quite
alone on his journey as a physical being. Yet imitation spirituality assures
us that it is all about 'love and light and joy and happiness', and that
if a spiritual path does not make us happy then we are on a false path! Yet
this kind of path is for the selfish self; it is trodden with the self in
mind in order to profit the self, and as such is a lie, just one of
the many facets of self-seeking fake spirituality. Those who tread this path
are often unable to see the world objectively, to see the dire truth of this
world and what must come to pass, because it does not please them, allay
their fears or support their delusions to do so. And so the blinkers remain
on. It is easy to create a self-made bubble of distortion and glamour around
ourselves and choose to see what we want to see, to believe only what is
most pleasant for us personally, but such a subjective focus only leads to
greater error and attachment, and the deeper and the longer this investment
is made in self by self, the more difficult it becomes to surrender one's
comfortable and familiar illusions. The plain Truth must be seen in its own
light, not in a light that pleases us most; things must be seen just as they
are before we may begin to truly progress spiritually.
Imitation
spirituality is marketed and sold to the masses in attractive packaging that
appeals to the personal self: "heal your life", "find greater happiness",
"empower yourself", "create your own reality", etc., etc. Yet crystals, tinctures,
ointments and head knowledge never led a single soul to the Truth, and neither
will any unrealised teaching or practice made for self-gain. What is so often
overlooked by the hopeful and self-grasping aspirant is that true spirituality
has little to do with and is often not pleasant for the ego-self at all,
because that self must necessarily surrender to the higher Life and Purpose,
so that the inevitable process of self-abnegation and ego-demolition may
begin. "I must decrease so that He may increase in me."
One cannot
live in two worlds or serve two masters; neither can the earnest spiritual
aspirant afford to be attached to the things of this life while trying to
reach the next. In fact, everything must be given up to the Truth if we would
walk the Lighted Way that leads to Liberation from falsehood, and so also
be of real spiritual service to others. No one can enter a new spiritual
world while still clinging to the old, it is impossible. However, imitation
spirituality seeks to do just this very thing - for the separate self. Yet
it is the perpetuation and aggrandizement of the separate nature, along with
its personal desires and ideas, that preserves and augments the pain and
illusions of the very life that imitation spirituality claims to serve. In
order to walk the true spiritual Path, all that need be sought is how best
to give one's separate and illusionary nature in sacrifice to the greater
Good and for the benefit of all; this is right use - divinely aligned use
- of free will. No matter how good one feels and no matter how the self attires
itself, it will at some point have to give up all its ideas, opinions, desires
and fears in order to allow the One Life to do its work of self-redemption
within. Therefore a lover of Truth seeks to stand aside, to remove self from
Reality, and to unite with other hearts for the same divine Purpose. For
such a true Seeker knows that it is not he personally who may possess or
benefit from the Truth, but rather the Universal Spirit itself does, and
in his pure love of and devotion to God, that Reality is all he cares about
as he seeks uncompromisingly to again become one with it and so dissolve
his separate and painful sense of self forever in the supernal Light of the
Divine.