REINSTATING BALANCE IN YOUR LIFE – Part 3

Regaining control over the baser instincts

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Dep Dive Discussion

In part 2 of this article we discussed how every problem of man can almost invariably be traced to an inner imbalance which then manifests in countless behaviors that create disharmony in interpersonal and social interactions.

That this situation has existed for all written history makes many rightly ask if the imbalances and disharmonies that create these behaviors are not just part of human nature and, if so, aspiring for anything else may be pursuit of a utopian mirage.

Some modern thinkers no longer talk of the ideal state, believing that this is a myth, since most people do not actually apply these principles in their everyday activities. With this argument, they conclude that man is incapable of living in any other way than how he has for millennia. Therefore crisis and disharmony must be part of what it means to be human.

This conclusion is wrong because we know that while we are unable to practice harmony continually and, in every situation, even the worst criminal has people that they care for and live with in harmony. To illustrate, a person may have a child or friend who they love dearly. They will be very considerate in their dealings with them. Taking their feelings and goodwill into account, they will never do anything to intentionally harm them. With this, the person has clearly exhibited his ability to love. Yet, the same person may be bigoted towards others, even seeing them as inferiors to be treated with disdain and exploited.

What this tells us is that the person has not developed the capacity to love beyond a narrow circle. In other words, he has a limited capacity to love. Therefore, the issue is not man’s capability to manifest elements of the ideal, but the extent of the circle to which he practices his charitable behavior i.e., his capacity to love.

As we see in this illustration, the expression of love encompasses behaviors that strive to protect and support the object of our love, thereby making their life pleasant, fulfilling, and happy. The problem, or challenge, is how to expand the circle towards which we direct such practice. That is, whether it is to a wider or a constricted circle.

Therefore, the reason for the continued strife and disharmony in human history is not because of our ability or capacity to love. Rather, it is because we have not expanded our capacity for love, beyond relatively constricted circles. Thus, there is no design flaw in man, as some surmise or believe. Instead, man has not paid much attention, or put as much effort into expanding his capacity to love, an ability with which he is obviously endowed.

We see the same at work with respect to curiosity, another ability with which man is endowed. Of all creatures, man possesses a heightened ability to be curious about himself and his environment. To facilitate this ability he is equipped with an intellect, the tool which gives him the ability to think, reason, and draw conclusions. Here too, we see that the equally given intellect is developed to different levels among men. Thus, we speak also of a person’s or a group’s intellectual capacity.

Therefore, the question we must ask ourselves when it comes to the challenges that we face in striving for peace and harmony is: “What are the obstacles to increasing my capacity for love?” Or, “How do I increase my capacity to love, beyond its present limit?” This, as we can see, holds the key to harmonious relationships and balanced living.

One of the ways that societies have tried to promote peace is by encouraging or nurturing behaviors that espouse love. To serve as reminders, or to warn potential offenders of the consequences of infraction, the desired behaviors were codified as laws, moral values, or traditions. Unfortunately, we can see that even this attempt proved futile in the long run, because many soon found ways of violating the rules of behavior, while still avoiding the consequences. The result has been the gradual disbelief in, or dishonoring of the laws. With that, their original intent to encourage or nurture behaviors that espouse love was soon forgotten. Over time, the nobler and broader concept of love gradually disappeared from most society’s thinking or goals.

In the book “In The Light of Truth” (The Grail Message), the author, Abdrushin, sheds some light on this development which hopefully readers will find informative, educational and useful.

His description of the embodiment of Earthman gives a clue as to why this inner struggle is constantly taking place within us. The struggle whose outcome invariably determines the direction of man’s behavior, and the status of things in society.

Briefly summarized, Abdrushin explains that Earthman is composed of two fundamental elements, a physical body and a non-physical component, called the soul or the Spirit.

The physical is endowed with its own set of tools, the intellect being paramount among them. Through its evolutionary history, the physical body has also been imbued with the instinct for survival. This instinct  works to place the survival of the physical body above all else. Being a tool of the physical body, the intellect is also greatly influenced by this instinct.

The soul or Spirit has its own set of tools, the conscience and the intuition being two key tools. The intuition enables the Spirit to maintain connection with the higher realms, from which the sensing of the impetus of love emanates. The conscience is given to help Earthman evaluate how closely our physical behaviors and actions reflect love.

The survival instinct naturally pulls towards the material, and wants to promote what the instinct sees as critical for the body’s survival, regardless of how such actions may affect others. But, when the physical and the Spiritual tools are working in sync, the intuition, sensing the impulses of love from the higher realms, can temper the survival instinct. A good illustration is Jesus’ parable of the Good Samaritan from the Christian Bible. Here was a person who, although he was on his way to a personal business felt compelled to assist someone who needed his urgent help. In doing this he spent part of his pressing time and limited resources to help a complete stranger who was a Jew and did not belong to the traditional circle of love for Samaritans. The instinct for survival would have urged him to avoid interacting with a Jew, who were considered enemies by Samaritans. Yet his intuition, i.e., the impulse of love from above, urged him to do the opposite, and he yielded to this Spiritual impulse.

There are still many of such people today who control their baser instincts by yielding to the intuitive impulse of love that still flows through life.

Unfortunately, the Spirit in most people has not kept pace with developing its intuitive capacity to sense the promptings of love from the higher realms. As a result, much of the love that most earthmen can sense today are aspects that are linked to the instinct for survival. Which explains why the capacity for love for most people is limited to the circles that they consider critical to their survival.

Abdrushin goes further to stress that the Spirit of man is on earth for only one purpose; namely to awaken and develop its endowed capabilities and thereby mature and grow. But maturity and growth can only happen if the Spirit fully develops it intuitive ability. And the fuel for this growth comes through the inner yearning for something outside of the physical. This yearning, if constantly and properly heeded, creates the necessary strong connection, through the intuition, between the higher realms and the Spirit.

With this connection, all of the Spirit’s desires will be clearly transmitted to guide the intellect for implementation into earthly actions, and thus control the baser instinct for survival.

Because the Spirit’s growth and development has failed to keep pace with the intellect, the very weak and occasional connections that it makes with the higher realms are often followed by more promptings originating from the instinct for survival, which the intellect equally processes. This is what manifests as the constant struggle in many between their wish to be good and the “realities” of their material desires.

Abdrushin states further that the disproportionate focus of Earthman on the physical/material has affected the development of Earthman’s brain. The result is that the intellect has outgrown the part of the brain that is designed to be more closely attuned to the Spirit, because that part has been receiving only weak impulses from the Spirit. A good analogy is how a muscle that is vigorously exercised will grow faster than one which is weakly, or seldom used.

The consequence is that modern man is more prone to examine every impulse that reaches the brain first from an earthly perspective, using the tool suited for this - the now enlarged intellect. This unknowingly occurs even when we are engaged in “Spiritual” search or discussions.

Since, through man’s neglect, the part of the brain that should be receiving and processing stimuli from the higher realms is not powerfully developed, the overgrown and highly active intellect intercepts any impulses that reaches the brain, and without the guidance of the Spiritual impulse interprets them according to its nature, which invariably is tempered by the instinct for self-preservation. The results are the selfish directions assigned by the intellect to even otherwise noble but weak impulses from the Spirit.

Abdrushin also explains that the forces of evil, being closer to the physical, are taking advantage of man’s focus on pursuit of the material. They use this same avenue to influence and control much of Earthman’s thinking and actions, using the intellect as the implementing agent. With this, Abdrushin shows the irony and incompatibility of modern man’s elevation and worship of the intellect with all the talk about peace, harmony or true love; not to mention true Spiritual growth.

Were the impulses from the Spirit much stronger, and the part of the brain designed to receive impulses from the Spirit equally developed, the love infused directives from the Spirit would be passed unmodified by the intellect for earthly implementation. Also, were the part of the brain designed to receive impulses from the Spirit equally developed, promptings from the forces of darkness would be easily detected and warded off before they take control of the intellect.

Just as Abdrushin has gone to great lengths to explain to modern man, so did Jesus try to explain the same when he said:

But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you. Matthew 6:33 King James Version

The Kingdom of GOD being a place where peace and harmony reigns.

With the explanations of Abdrushin and Jesus’ emphasis on Love, we can now see why love is the key to addressing any situation, and why Love must be the essence of life for anyone who wishes to reinstate balance in their life.

Even with this knowledge, the average person who wants to live by love faces another great challenge. That is, of being able to forgive a wrong or disappointment experienced at the hand of another person.

Again, what is at work here is the uncontrolled instinct for survival, which fiercely wants to protect the body and mind against future pain, and which the intellect interprets, and implements in its own way. The darkness then playa a role in urging nonforgiveness.

But, Abdrushin explains that painful experiences offer opportunities for Spiritual growth. First, we could learn to see the wrong or evil in the action that is causing us pain. And, if we are sincere, we should not want to do the same to another person. Second, the effort to try to forgive the wrong demands a strong well spring of love from within, and when we can tap into this it increases and strengthens and expands our capacity for love.

Jesus’ admonition to “Love thy neighbor as thy self “ and to  “Forgive thy neighbor”, are very powerful and helpful advice on how to slowly build our capacity to love, and guard against unhealthy external influences.

As already stated, modern man is very far removed from the true exercise of his Spirit. Therefore the first step to recovery must be to strive for spiritual awakening.

This cannot be achieved only by pursuing an increased desire for knowledge on the subject, because that desire, as pointed out, could easily be guided by the intellect.

Therefore, along with any desire for Spiritual knowledge, one should pay particular attention to:

(1) Awakening and strengthening the conscience in its ability to judge the capacity of love inherent in our thought, word, and deed.

(2) Heeding and nurturing the yearning for nobility and connection with the higher realms that we occasionally sense or feel. The more we believe in these yearnings and try to live by them, the stronger our intuitive capacity will become, and with that we gradually build a strong bridge for ourselves to the higher realms, from which impulses of true love emanate.

Also, our search must be for true Spiritual knowledge and not what we think or believe is Spiritual knowledge.

There are knowing ones who can help a person acquire, or guide them to such spiritual knowledge. And even here, the power of prayer should not be ignored.

As stated in Part 1 of this article, sincere prayer does not focus on the symptoms of our challenges, nor should it impose preconditions. A sincere prayer acknowledges one’s humble, voluntary, and happy submission to the higher forces that be. Just as Jesus advised with the opening to his now ubiquitous prayer

Our Father who art in Heaven

Hallowed by thy name

A sincere prayer will not focus on seeking protection or reward, but will express a sincere and humble plea  to be granted the grace of being connected to the higher realms, and being profoundly grateful for that opportunity as well as the opportunities presented by everyday living.

Through such efforts, one becomes more connected and open to the higher realms, and the unseen help that comes from there.

As stated in part 1 of this article, many who have experienced the result of sincere prayer know the type of connection that is referred to here, even if they cannot explain it in “rational” terms to themselves or others.

Also, the more convinced we are about these experiences the stronger and finer becomes our intuitive capacity, which will then balance the pull of the instinct for survival, and thus guide and increase our capacity for love both in spirit and in action, and therewith help us to reinstate balance in our life.