Living and Being Alive

Living and Being Alive Parts 1 - 3.pdf

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Part 1 – What it means to be alive

Many mistake the ability to feel, sense or react to internal or external stimuli as Living, or Being alive. This ability can, at best, be described as being Conscious.

Living or Being Alive is making sense of our daily experiences, in order to make Life more meaningful.

Before we continue, let us accept that a human being is made up of a body, a mind, the psyche (feelings or emotions), and the Soul/Spirit, all of which can experience and function independently, in harmony or in disharmony. Thus, it means that a human being has four levels at which he or she could be living (or be alive) – i.e. physical (body), mental (mind), emotional (psychic)  or Spiritual.

Again, for the sake of developing a common understanding, let’s briefly review these different levels of consciousness.

Being physically alive is the ability to see the connection between external and internal experiences and one’s physical survival. Through physical experiences our body reflects back to us the choices we have made.

By extracting the lessons from these experiences, we make the connections to how we have used or abused the body. And from this we gradually become alive to the fact that when experiences come as physical illness or disease it is our body’s way of getting us to stop and look at how we are living and caring for it, and to make the necessary corrections, or seek out ways to effect the change.

Such searches are what have led to developments in the field of medicine and health care, for example.

Being mentally alive is the ability to make connections between current and past experiences, in order to extrapolate lessons or conclusions from them. The extrapolation could be a projection into the future i.e. creating scenarios or pathways for the future. Or it could be making connections to guide current events that may be directly or indirectly related. It could also be looking back into the past to extract new lessons for today, or for the future.

Such extrapolations have led to the formulation of theories that fueled research into scientific endeavors, philosophical ideologies and debates, as well as social experiments on how organize and operate societies.

The extrapolation process by which we arrive at our conclusions is what we call Thinking.

The conclusions contribute to the formation of our Thoughts.

The combined activities of thinking and thought are activities that we attribute to our Mind.

But, before human beings progressed to the point of developing their mental capability, (i.e. the use of their mind), most, if not all, humans operated at an emotional or psychic level. This is the level at which we follow, or are guided by “our feelings”, inexplicable deep inner sensing, or in some cases by direct extrasensory perceiving. But operating at this level did not necessarily convey understanding. Therefore, it was still existence at a lesser degree of total Spiritual existence or being.

Over time, human beings, especially those in leadership position, soon preferred to use the Mind to guide our activities. We did so in the belief that it gave us a better understanding of or world and life, than be guided by our emotions or inner sensing or the direct communications “from above”, as was once the case.

This change is reflected in the word Intelligence which derives from the Latin word “intellectus”, i.e., understanding’.

Today, those who operate strictly by their capacity to understand are called Intellectuals.  And Intellectualism has become the primary force that guides most of modern man’s activities and mind.

Today, being emotionally alive is what is popularly described as operating from one’s heart, and is viewed by many as not based on rationality.

Nonetheless, science and research show that the heart has neurons which give it its own “intelligence”.

The electromagnetic field of the heart has also been shown to radiate out of each person to impact the quality of interaction between people. And the pursuit of the feelings of the heart are behind all of the developments by true creative artist, as opposed to the artisan whose skills lie in simply copying the creation of the true artist.

Many also associate emotions like anger, disappointment, suspicion, jealousy, as feelings of the heart, unaware that even these feeling can emanate from our physical or mental activity.

It is also worth noting that our emotional life has two components, arising from the two different categories of thought activity that take place within us.

There is emotional life based on the thoughts arising from being physically alive. This can be described as our reactive emotions, such as jealousy, joy, fear.

Then there is emotional life arising from thoughts generated by mental activity, for example artistic creativity can be described as proactive emotion which can combined with any associated mental activity can fire our imagination.

This recognition is evident in the popular saying: “It (i.e., the imagination) is only in his or her head”. Also, it noteworthy that imaginations are generally built around the material, for example dreaming about a better or different world, an enhanced or a derogatory self-image. Even, the loftiest and most inspiring of sagas, and legends that only have the earthly as their focus, or even project the earthly into the non-Earthly are works of the imagination. Therefore, having a lively imagination should not be confused with being Spiritually alive.

Being spiritually alive extends beyond improvement of our material self or environment, and is more in line with a deeper wisdom that we commonly associate with sages.

Having set the background, let us now examine what it means, and the process or state of being spiritually alive?

Hopefully, the following will help answer that question. 

A young couple with a child is living a happy comfortable life. Suddenly war breaks out around them, and their very peaceful life is shattered. Their town is destroyed by enemy fire, and the child’s father is killed. He and his mother are forced to flee, to live in squalor in a refugee camp. At the camp the mother is exploited and the boy soon contracts typhoid fever. He is lying on the bare floor dying, while his mother looks on helplessly.

This picture is deplorable and pitiful, but very common. Indeed, many, including believers, will question why this suffering by a poor family who had no hand in precipitating the crisis the has caused them so much suffering? They will shake their head, convinced that there is nothing like certainty in Life, neither is there justice or equity. Some observers may be inspired to become activist against the crisis. Many victims will lose their belief in GOD, if not even point a finger. Some victims may become envious of those whose lives have not been so disrupted. Others will call upon, and hope that a supernatural power will bring about an immediate end to the situation.

All of these reactions are based on a mental, and emotional analysis of the external events and the conclusions drawn. But a person who is aware of the Spiritual Law of karma will come to a very different conclusion.

Through their spiritual knowledge of the operation of this law of karma, such a person, whether a victim or an observer, will know that every human being is forced to live through all experiences that he or she has caused others, or needs for their own development. Through these experiences we are given the opportunity to learn the evil or the good of such ways, and thereby avoid, or build upon them in the future.

The decision to change, if the action brought suffering to others, will free us from the need for future atonement, and to ennoble ourselves.

With this knowledge, the victim or observer will see the love and justice lying behind this external suffering instead of focusing on the tragedy and suffering.

(This is not to say that one must not help recognize, or sympathize with those who are suffering. The opportunity to help or to show empathy to those suffering also offers an opportunity for observers to redeem karma)

Thus, to be Spiritually alive is to know the Spiritual laws that operate, and to learn to recognize them in our daily experiences.

And as stated at the begin of this piece, we begin to live Spiritually, or are Being Alive only when we can make sense of our daily experiences, for it is only in this way that Life can be more meaningful.

Part 2 – Understanding the Laws that give meaning to Living

These Laws govern every aspect of our daily life, from the simplest to the grandest.

Our likes and dislikes, the people we find around us, the country or race into which we are born, our skills, the family circumstances and era into which we are born are all governed by the immutable laws of Creation. And the laws affect in such a way as to give us the experiences that we need to learn spiritual lessons and thus gradually become Spiritually alive.

Perhaps the challenge for many is in grasping what it means to be spiritual, because our key concepts on this matter are still based on our physical or emotional being.

For example, the notion of “After-life”, which is closely associated with the Spirit is founded on the notion of the end of physical life.

Perfection, another concept that is commonly associated with being Spiritual is rooted in our emotion or imagination.

With these as foundation, it is no wonder that we unconsciously view Spiritual as a refinement of our physical and emotional being. The consequence is that an individual’s appreciation of what it means to be spiritually alive automatically shrinks down to their corresponding individual level of consciousness. If rooted in the physical, Spirituality for them becomes narrowed down to the search for the a more trouble-free and “better” material living standard.

When rooted in our emotional live of imagination, Spirituality translates to engaging in philosophical discussions, or the search for utopia, but one that must be grasped by our physical senses.

Because all four levels of consciousness can exist within every human being, each level of consciousness can feed into and influence the other. Therefore, for example, the mind can influence or override the physical, as occurs when we intentionally do things that we know could endanger the body.

The opposite happens when the body’s intelligence/instinct for survival is so strong that it overrides the promptings of the mind, or other higher levels of consciousness.

The same can be said of the influence or relationships between the Sprit, the emotion, the mind or the body.

Therefore, the most developed level of consciousness of the individual always exerts the strongest influence or override on the other levels of consciousness.

For modern man, the strongest influence is exerted by our more highly developed physical and mental consciousness. Although most people react and experience interchangeably at any of the three levels of physical, mental or emotional, depending on the situation. Seldom do we find people who permanently experience and live at just one level of consciousness.

Just as emotional responses are incomprehensible to the purely logical mind, and vice versa, so too is spiritual awareness incomprehensible to our emotional, or mental intelligence.

To cross beyond the boundary of the mind and the emotions (i.e. the brain and the heart) requires the use of another tool, or requires us to redevelop the ability to listen to “spiritual guidance from above”, as man once did before we actively developed the mind/intellect.

Human beings possess this tool that operates above the level of the mind and our emotions. It is called the Intuition. But this is not the same as what many popularly think is their Intuition. Many erroneously call their feeling, imagination or unspoken desires, their intuition.

The foundation for uncovering and properly using the true intuition lies in the recognition, acknowledgement and strict submission to the higher wisdom that guides all of existence, i.e. what the sages have described as The Supreme Principles of Life, The Laws of GOD, or The Laws of Creation.

Just as no progress can be made in science without regard for the laws of nature, so too will no one be able to become spiritually alive without regard to these laws.

Most people will admit that numerous efforts have been made in the past, down to the present, to bring knowledge of this wisdom to mankind. This is evident by the presence of many different spiritual and religions circles/movements.

But the fact that this wisdom has still not taken root to lead mankind into becoming Spiritually alive is a clear indication that we must be assimilating the teachings, that should have led to wisdom, at the level of our physical, mental or emotional understanding, and not doing enough to reach for its higher Spiritual content and meaning.

This reasoning is supported by the material underpinning of much of today’s spiritual and religious activity. For example, most religions (the supposed custodians of the wisdom of the sages) give primary importance to rituals, physical structures, organization and hierarchy.

This focus on the physical has inevitably led to place hunting and dogma that is used by those in the hierarchy to control the others.

Those who are emotionally inclined tend towards cultivation of piety which, in their desire for recognition, soon degenerates into false humility, extreme ascetism and other flights of phantasy. The result is a long series of actions on the part or many believers who thereby succeed in discrediting the promise that each teaching held for mankind.

 In time, even the believers lose hope and faith as they are unable to find the inner peace that they hoped for. Only very few, who have been exposed to any, or all of these efforts to bring wisdom to mankind, have succeeded in making the transition into becoming Spiritual. Yet, Spiritual consciousness must be developed if one is to attain the highest and widest perspective from everyday experiences. 

Hopefully, we can now see, from the foregoing, that by remaining spiritually unconscious, it is impossible for anybody to reap the rich spiritual benefits that are contained in all of our daily experiences, regardless of whether they are pleasant or not. Missing out on the opportunity to learn spiritual lessons because of ignorance only prolongs the extent of our suffering. The law of karma, for example, does not guaranty that a person will learn the appropriate lesson from their experience. Yet, until the lesson is learned, the person is bound to keep having similar experiences. The intensity of the experiencing will also increase if, instead of changing, the person continues along the same path, to incur more karma.

Becoming spiritually alive does not mean that the consciousness at the other levels will disappear or wane. On the contrary, they will continue, but now more strongly influenced by Spiritual knowledge and recognitions. Thus, the physical awareness that has fueled the exploration of nature and other scientific endeavors, and the emotional awareness that has been the underpinning to the arts and artistic endeavors will continue. But this time, both will be geared towards ennobling activities which will allow for the reign of peace and harmony on Earth. And it not impossible to also see that under such Spiritual guidance humans can expect to make even greater strides in our physical and emotional endeavors as the negative energies now spent in these areas will now be directed at the positive and thus lead to even a more rapid and much greater advances in the sciences, arts, and cultural and social arenas.

The excerpts below, from the book “In the light of Truth” (The Grail Message) by Abdrushin should, hopefully, give the reader an idea of why it is urgently important for everyone to become and remain spiritually alive......

“Bear in mind that every life on earth is a short time of schooling, and that you yourselves do not cease to exist when you lay aside your physical body. You will continually live or continually die! Continually enjoy bliss or continually suffer! Whoever imagines that with earthly burial everything is also ended and balanced for him, may turn and go his own way; for he is only trying to delude himself thereby.

Horrified, he will come face to face with the Truth and... will have to begin his path of suffering! His true self, deprived of the protection of his body, whose density surrounded him like a wall, will then be attracted, enveloped and held fast by what is homogeneous............”  Lecture:” Ascent " – “In The Light of Truth" (The Grail Message)

Part 3 – Recognizing the Activity of the Intuition

Since intuition is critical to our ability to become Spiritually Alive, it is important for us to recognize and understand how it manifests in everyday living.

Many mistake feelings, or bursts of thoughtful insight as Intuition.

The Grail Message teaches and helps one to distinguish intuitive activity from feelings and thoughtful insights.

It describes intuition as a sudden and un-premeditated burst, or urge, that takes control of our being.

Usually, the urge is compelling us to do something selfless, even when it appears out of place, or is not readily evident. Also, such sudden urges are often followed by rational thoughts or emotional considerations that want to discourage us from yielding as it is seen as a self-less urge. (Self-less, meaning urges for which there are no perceived immediate, or longer-term benefits.)

These urges can arise in practically every aspect of life, and are not necessarily restricted to aspects of life that we generally consider as Spiritual.

The following examples illustrate the activity of the intuition.

In the story of the Good Samaritan, one of the parables of Jesus Christ, a Samaritan is urged from within to help of a Jew lying on the roadside bleeding and in pain after an attack by robbers. The immediate intellectual and emotional responses to that urge would have been to ignore the Jew, who was after all considered an enemy of the Samaritan clan. A part of him might have seen the Jew’s suffering as deserved justice of “an eye for an eye”. Yet he over came these inner responses and followed his intuition. He did this without consideration of immediate or potential benefits to himself, or the money time and effort that the act would cost him. The only thing that could have nurtured and encouraged him to this urge would have been some sensing of a connection between himself and this foreigner who lay in pain and suffering by the way side. This sensing then welled into compassion for an otherwise enemy, but now seen as a fellow creature of creation.

The second example is in an arena of life that one would not consider Spiritual.

Albert Einstein’s sudden flash about Relativity, while reflecting on enigmas and obstacles that he was encountering in his research, is another example of the activity of the intuition. Here also, his intellectual knowledge of the classical laws of Physics immediately refuted this apparently contradictory notion of Relativity. His emotion must have cautioned against a notion that could affect his stature within the science community. But his commitment to the pursuit of Truth compelled him to yield to this intuition, and as the saying goes, the rest is history, Subsequent research validated his intuition, and opened a new and wider vista for scientific discovery and exploration, from human beings have benefited immensely.

The third example of intuition, though occurring in the arena that we generally describe as Spiritual, did not come to a person who was associated with being spiritual.

When Constantine I, yielded to an inner, or, one might even say, the promptings of his mother, to decree Christianity as a state sanctioned religion of the Roman empire, he took great risk to his political position. But he must have felt something within that made him yield to that urge. Perhaps, he sensed how the true practice of the teachings of Jesus Christ could have an ennobling effect on society, or he might have done so out of love and veneration of his mother. Regardless, he followed the urged not out of any benefit to himself.

We see from these three examples that urges of the intuition are always driven by selflessness, even when they entail risks to our person or position

Another thing that we need to appreciate is that because a person has had and yielded to one intuitive experience does not mean that they will thereafter automatically continue to perceive, or respond to future inner urges, nor will they always be selfless in their actions.

Each urge of the intuition is a separate event, demanding a separate perceiving, responding, and execution.

However, knowledge, or awareness of the Laws of creation (the governing principles of Life) make it easier to recognize or assess urges when they assail us. This knowledge helps us to assess whether it is the intuition trying to catch our attention, or whether it is our thoughts or emotion at work.

As already discussed in parts 1 and 2 of this write-up, the Laws of Creation operate only to help in with the development and sustenance of Creation. For the human Spirit this means developing towards ennoblement of their person. Such ennoblement is ultimately fostered and based on a grasp of the true concept of Love.

True Love entails selfless acts carried out consciously or unconsciously, in humility and in alignment with the higher purpose of living and Life.

Thus, the higher the degree of development of one’s intuitive ability, the more humble a person actually becomes. This contrasts with a person who pursues Intellectual or Emotional growth. With such, there is a striving to become a recognized authority, a figure to be admired, while sometimes feigning humility.

Thus, we have the gurus, who represent the height of intellectual knowledge, and the “saintly” or pious, who represent the height of emotional development. But a truly spiritual person, who is guided by the intuition, is seldom outwardly noticeable in a crowd. They are only recognized in their words and their actions.

In accordance with the Law of Homogeneity, those who strive after intellectual knowledge will naturally be drawn to the gurus, and those who wish to cultivate piety will be drawn to the saintly of pious type of leadership. These are seldom able to fully appreciate or grasp the wisdom inherent in the urges of the intuition, or the Laws of Creation. Only a person who is sincerely yearning for knowledge, without concern for any immediate benefit, and are ready to accept their insignificance in the grander scheme of Life and existence can drum up the humility to learn and accept the Laws of Creation, which hold the key to freeing up the Intuition.

By continually listening to and yielding to the intuition, the person can gradually become Alive and grow into the sublime recognitions that float like a dream before many who are still stuck at their intellectual or emotional level of living.

The Grail Messages gives a glimpse of the splendor that being truly alive will ultimately lead.

“Radiant light! Dazzling purity! A blissful feeling of lightness! All this speaks for itself so clearly that it is hardly necessary to go into details. The less the ethereal body, i.e., the cloak of the human spirit in the beyond, is burdened with some base proclivity, with any kind of desire for material things and pleasures, the less will he be attracted by them, and the less dense and therefore the less heavy will be his ethereal body which is formed according to his volition; and through its lightness he will be all the more quickly uplifted to the more luminous regions corresponding to the lesser density of his ethereal body…..

Just as it would be impossible for a painter to portray the torments of actual life in the dark regions, so is it equally impossible for him to depict the delight which life holds in the light regions, even if these regions still belong to the transient World of Ethereal Matter before the boundary to the Eternal Kingdom of God has been crossed.”

….….. Lecture “The Regions of Light”

           “In The Light of Truth” (The Grail Message)