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Do evil and fear play a role in Spirituality?
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"I am concerned with the extent of opposites that is created in equal and opposing reaction of Intellectual source thinking and Spiritual source response. After much thought on the possibility of how this would play out. Here's what I think.
Pure Consciousness does not reflect Evil or to be more precise Fear, pure consciousness is a Spiritual source response of unconditional love. A spiritual response is activated in meditation and in our daily life interactions when being more present is practiced. An intellectual source thought is activated in mind by the ego and is a response to fear. If it is true, that all beings have a DNA connection, an impression on their heart responsible to a fear based ego or recognize truth and love of our Spirit. Without traces of fear emanating between brief flashes of pure light shines the possibility [of] hope. Will this light transform the darkness, the evil within intellectual source response to fear? I think so, without the reflection of fear there is only love to be recognized.
We can look on the bright side, wear rose coloured glasses to imagine the world 'is love', leave the 'star wars' adventure to the movie makers.... bottom line, Unconditional Love doesn't just change the world it transforms it."
~ g8way2u
Thank you for providing this thought, G8TWAY2U. To sum up your statement, I believe you are stating that intellect is associated with fear and ego and thus "evil" whereas spirituality is associated with love.
The conundrum is that in order for us to experience this gift of life, with all its pain and pleasure, we require intellect, but with it therefore comes certain flaws such as ego and fear. To survive as a species, especially when we were more primitive, we were dependent on our intellect and fear to keep us alive. The human body compared to other creatures in the animal kingdom is very weak and frail. Neither do we have strong jaws with sharp teeth, fast legs for running, nor strong arms for climbing or fighting. But we are blessed with fingers and intellect. Intellect has allowed us to be creative in compensating for our hairless bodies and build shelter to protect us from the cold and has has allowed us to design weapons for protection against predators as well as for hunting. by virtue of our intellect we have gained dominion over the entire Earth.
On the other side, we are also spiritual beings connected not only to each other but to all things in this vast Universe. In the dense vibration of the physical body it is difficult to balance the remembrance of our spiritual essence with the perceived threats that exist in the mundane world of dense matter and ego identification. Threats certainly do exist for the physical body, so if we are in reality Spirit why do we cling to life? Why not allow life to end and be finished with it and return to our Source? In a normally function human brain we are programmed from conception with one primordial purpose: to survive. Whatever happens in between the 70 years (give or take) between birth and death are our lessons. Intellect is a necessary component to these lessons, and our mastery of it will determine how close we are able to come to unifying body and mind with Spirit.
It is important to remember two things: Good and Evil are man's creation; the Universe is also subject to the same calamities as man, that of creation, growth, and death as represented in the Vedas as Brahma, Vishnu, and Shiva.
The Universe is created (Brahma), it is sustained and expands (Vishnu), and then ultimately is destroyed (Shiva) repeating in a trillion light-year cycle over and over and over again. We are but a microcosm of the macro-Universe. Death and destruction are as much a part of the Universe as they are of Man and this cycle is a simple fact of existence. Nothing stays the same, and change is inevitable. The Universe does not know the difference between good and evil, life and death, pain and pleasure...it simply flows in its cycle. Man's intellect is what determines what is good and what is bad. But this is logical because our physical bodies want to survive, to be in the "sustaining" state - not in the birthing or decaying state. This middle state is the most pleasurable for the physical body, and allows us the auspicious moments to expand and experience the physical dimension, which as Buddha states, even the Gods are envious of. The signals of pain, while are a physical phenomenon, warn us we we need to protect our bodies. Pain is in reality as precious as pleasure and cannot be judged as good or evil. Do not all things we deem as good or evil help in some way towards our inner growth? We only see the immediate impact of such things; we do not recognize that the Karma of good and bad, right and wrong plays itself out over millions of incarnations.
Whether we or our actions are perceived as good or evil does not change the fact that we are all Divine; even the most treacherous and cruel share the same inner Light. So, while we are in a physical body on this Earth, why don't we just make life more simple and allow each of us to survive with the least amount of fear, pain, and suffering? Let us remember the inner Light in ourselves, our friends and families, and especially in our enemies so that all can be elevated by the power of Love, Forgiveness, and Kindness.
~ Sevara
Evil and Fear in Spirituality
I agree that pure conciousness is Love. Fear is ego based, however, to survive we need a certain amount of fear or should I call it caution. It's just how the world is. The amount of feaour mind carries with it is largely based on our environment when we were growing up.
I agree with you Sevara that when we become more aware we are also called to serve humanity.
I am just beginning to understand that.
I also believe that we can overcome many of our fears by learning to trust in Divine Guidance and ourselves. There are also various methods of releasing negaivity that has been stored in our cells . Then we can open ourselves to more light and gain more awareness and become more loving. This process takes much time, much strenght, much energy and lots of Trust.
It is not always easy to see things from the higher perspective of Love, but we can try.
Namaste!
Feeding our fears
Thanks Sevara, I appreciate the many points you make in regards to my question but I am not sure if I made myself very clear and would like to rephrase the question.
My question is based on my fear and in defence of fear, the many walls the ego builds with the belief that it is preserving and protecting the delicate balance of mind, body and spirit which is our primal means of survival.
I realize that these walls only serve to protect the ego and however heroic that can feel, walls must come down to unite, body, mind and spirit. And yes of course we need our intellect to think for ourselves, to analyse and ‘choose the will’ we serve.
Every instance is an opportunity to choose our response and in doing so, we choose from either an intellectual (ego) frame of reference or Spiritual frame of reference. What is the difference? Are we able to choose between our own will and the will of a higher power?
So, this is my question: If we are able to choose between our own will and the will of our higher power, and in doing so, how does our frame of reference change our response to life events and how does it affect the larger picture, or play out in the Universe?
My ego, as I know it, is a fierce defender of survival and of strong desire to experience aliveness, pride, honour and purpose but on the other hand it is the devil that I also come to know through the suffering I create for myself and others. It doesn’t matter how kind I have been to others in my life with attempts of generosity... even giving can be selfish and only serving the ego. There is a bright side to this and that is that life, if it has an intention is to reflect our true essence through the experience of living and example of to bring about balance and I’d have to say that every experience and all of life’s lessons have the same intention. I realize it’s not logical to cling to life, to my opinions, or my experiences after all. I think that’s a pretty healthy serving of humility for this ego, but of its’ surrender the humbling experience of Grace.
We cling to life and all that we have created and built because we are ‘Spirit’ having a human experience but we are not in-Spirit when we are in-ego and if this is so, the human species has actually served its purpose for this period of time in evolution.
Our Spiritual source; an in-spirit response or in-consciousness response that certainly requires the intellect however seemingly by-pass’s the ego and renders the in-fear response in active. (An in-spirit response is part of creation and of human/ universe evolution.)
Just as I am observing obvious states of ‘Awakening’ and although this refers to relatively new terminology, it is not a new state of consciousness I am, simultaneously noticing obvious states of extreme fear in the world.
I’m tempted to use the term petrified which was used throughout the early 1700’s or later`1800’s and depicted in the Gothic era and in the architecture of the great cathedrals such as Notre Dame. The state of being petrified or states of extreme fear. I hope I don’t see this in my lifetime or collectively create it in another.
Divine Discontentment
If we want to make something of this life, to give it meaning, we must become graceful, blissful, compassionate, and aware. We must also then serve humanity and help in its upliftment. But the same phenomena that holds us back from experiencing our own Infinity are the same devices that will help us in our journey.
On the dark end of the spectrum of life in this physical body we have self-importance in which we experience total ego identification; our thinking is "me, me, me" or "I want what will benefit me". This is the world in which the greedy live, those who will try to conquer the earth, or dominate others. Of course there has been many such people throughout history,. Although they may be a small percentage of any given society, it has been a result of their actions (of wanting to control, wanting more, wanting to conquer, wanting to punish) that we have a world which there is so much unrest and fear. The list of such people could include George Bush, certain television and movie producers who don't care what kind of garbage they feed into innocent minds, terrorists, CEO's that see only profits and do not care what damage they cause to the environment, and so on.
On the light end of the spectrum we have total alignment with the Spirit. Again, those who walk this earth and have attained this state are very few, but their impact has been undeniable. These are the enlightened one's, such as Buddha, Jesus, Guru nNnak, Osho, and so on) whose lives have set an example as to what it means to be a compassionate, loving human being. The sad part is when the "dark side" usurps and twists the words of the scriptures and texts that the awakened ones have left behind and uses them in a cunning way to befool people that death, and suffering are necessary to further their "noble" war.
However, if one chooses to engage his or her intellect surely the conclusion would result in the knowledge of whose actions are benevolent and whose actions are leading towards death and destruction. Nonetheless, it is true that we all grow wiith a certain sense of ego identification, some of which is encouraged by the society in which we are raised. However, if one is fortunate enough to catch a brief epiphany that more exisits within us than a bunch of cells, organs, and blood then ego and desire become useful. Ego and desire must be used as a ladder to get out of the whole that they together have created. The ego must say "I wish to become a better human being" and the desire must say "I wish to experience the bliss of uniting with the Divine Consciousness". If we were born without ego and desire we wouldn't be incarnated into a body in the first place, but while in the body we must choose to use them as a tool, like a ladder, and once we have attained the awakened state the ladder can be dropped.
The ego and desire give us what is known as "divine discontentment": the realization that we are not fulfilled and not blissful, thus they set us out on a journey to find contentment. Via the intellect we learn which things bring joy, happiness, upliftment, and which things bring suffering, sadness, and hopelessness. As we grow in awareness we hone this skill to avoid the paths that do not bring lastin joy. Some people may appear oblivious, but they too are on the path and will lear eventually by virtue of experience and karma. Those who are more aware will learn to catch themselves when they engage in a thought or deed that is not noble at different stages. The first stage is after the deed is done (they may have made a mistake, but at least they recognized it and will hopefully learn the lesson contained within it). The second stage is to catch the error while the deed is taking place and take measures to stop from going any further. The third stage is to stop from engaging in the deed while it is still just a though in the mind, before it becomes an action. Lastly, which takes a lot of work but may be accomplished in one's lifetime, is to align one's actions with the Spirit, or Divine Consciousness. at this level one has given up their ego and has given their will to Divine Will.
While we are on this this planet, in this physical body, in this time and space, the best hope for, for humanity as it is, is top pray and project that mankind will feel that Divine Discontentment and use his ego and desire not for self-engrandement but as a means to merge with the ocean of love, compassion and consciousness that exists within and with-out us.
reply
reply to your quote: "The sad part is when the "dark side" usurps and twists the words of the scriptures and texts that the awakened ones have left behind and uses them in a cunning way to befool people that death, and suffering are necessary to further their "noble" war."
....hmm yes that is sad, I pray for the oppressor as well as the oppressed and maybe someday more people will look and search within for answers or maybe they will meet upon their path, those who are enlightened and go about the day, all the while never reading a word of scripture.
"Without loving and caring for others, most of us stand little chance of communing with God, no matter how many years we may spend in silent prayer." -- Bo Lozoff
I like this quote of yours Sevara:
"The ego must say "I wish to become a better human being" and the desire must say "I wish to experience the bliss of uniting with the Divine Consciousness". If we were born without ego and desire we wouldn't be incarnated into a body in the first place, but while in the body we must choose to use them as a tool, like a ladder, and once we have attained the awakened state the ladder can be dropped."
"we wouldn't be incarnated into a body".. that's right we would end up being a beautiful flower maybe a weed, regardless, we must use our 'talents and gifts and learn from life's lessons'.
I agree that this is how we align our actions with our Spirit and surrender our will to Divine Will... However, I think it is possible to reach this stage through conscious choice in each and every thought or action... and not something we have to strive to become or striving never arriving state. Enlightenment or happiness is just that and it what is experienced in the moment but remains there all the time, in the body mind and only needs our attention and focus to be realized and experienced. It's not so much our waiting to reach some state of being, it's a constant choosing and balancing with every thought that we create in this moment 'the state of consciousness and divine will'.
encountering fear in others
I believe fear is connected to evil from my experiences in my spiritual path in life ~ Why do I feel this ...Perhaps because I have witnessed people who let fear overcome their emotions often lash out at the person they are fearful of with hurtful words or actions ~
It often puzzles me when someone does or says something hurtful to me and I wonder what is the motive behind it ~ I think of something that I could have done to cause such a reaction and when I have concluded that I have indeed done nothing ...I move on and try not to let the negativity in that person bring my spirit down ~
But now that you have brought this subject to my attention, dear Sevara, I think that "fear" can often be the trigger behind such behavior ~
I am sure we have all encountered such experiences ...these seemly random acts of meanness in our world ~ I have struggled with these hurtful experiences in my life ..but as I look deeper into the wisdom of spirituality ..I have come to realize more and more that there are many hurt and wounded souls in the world and because they hurt inside - they sometimes feel the need to hurt others ...out of fear ~
Their darkness is not mine and I try not to let it dim my path of light ~ I do not want to let their fear enter my heart ~ A compassionate heart is one that feels and knows love ~ and can feel compassion even for the hurtful souls in our universe ~
"The Universe is created (Brahma), it is sustained and expands (Vishnu), and then ultimately is destroyed (Shiva) repeating in a trillion light-year cycle over and over and over again." Your words dear Seva makes us see more clearly our role in the Universe ~ Why should we be fearful when we realize we are part of these cycles of life ~
I pray for healing for all the hurt souls in the world ~ Perhaps this could end so many unnecessary human silent struggles and pain in the world ~ even end wars ~
Namaste dear Seva and blessings to all ~
Fear
Coralina...yes, people certainly do say hurtful things out of fear. If these words hurt you it is because you are also in fear. The closer you are aligned to your inner Light the less these negative things will affect you. It is very good that you first look at your culpability to determine if their response was somewhat justified. It is then even better to go into the psyche of the person to see from where the root of their fear has stemmed. If we all take a few moments to reflect that each person who crosses us has gone through a life journey unique to them we can begin to feel empathy rather than feeling hurt or angered should they treat us poorly. This is how fear and evil play a part in spirituality: if we can go beyond the negativity and feel compassion when we are wronged we have learned much. Light compliments dark, good contrasts evil, pain is relative to pleasure. All are necessary. The best we can do while in this human form is to emanate with love so that others in our presence will be uplifted. When others feel nurtured in our presence they will feel no threat or fear and no need to act in a hurtful way. It may take time for some for them to recognize and trust this vibration, but it will eventually penetrate. So when someone comes to you with harsh words remain steadfast in your purity and project only love.
Love
you do emanate love whenever I see you Sevara well done... you are there...
the contrasting darkness and light ~
"So when someone comes to you with harsh words remain steadfast in your purity and project only love." These are wise words dear Sevara ~ In the past I used to be very hard on myself and these feelings drew me inward...
I took comfort in my art and if I can find it - I have a drawing that I did many years ago that express these feelings ...I would like to share it with you someday ~
And yes - though darkness in our world plays on fear ...just as you say...I must take care not to respond in fear or evil will win ... That is what I love about my spiritual journey - To enlighten is to rise above the knee-jerk responses that too many people fall into ~ That is what leads to misunderstandings and wars ~
As always, thank you dearest Seva for your guidance which vibrate with beauty and light ~ With love ~ Coralina ~