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Living
or Being Lived?
No matter how complex a
human being may be, he can be totally described by two simple words:
in and out. At the crossroads of these opposites, we find what we
call a person, an ‘I’.
According
to ancient universal teachings, not only is our world sevenfold but
so is the human being and his interaction with the world. At each
level of his nature being, from the coarsest to the finest aspects,
there is a continuous assimilation and expression of this
interaction; two simple parameters, in and out, cover a broad
spectrum of needs, qualities, skills and possibilities. A large
number of influences enter our being where, after they are processed
and assimilated, they are transformed and reflected into the greater
or smaller environment.
Food
is digested and converted into the necessary building blocks for
growth, maintenance and recovery, while the residual substances are
removed. Air is inhaled, oxygen is absorbed into the blood, and
carbon dioxide is breathed out. Impressions create a thought which
in turn seeks a suitable breeding ground for expression in
decisions, words, and actions.
Influences
of people, animals and plants around us, of seasons, moon, stars as
well as planets enter our system in an almost unhindered way. They
influence our behavioural patterns. Vibrations and radiations change
our moods without our fathoming their precise mechanisms. Is our
nature being merely a transforming station? Or is it just passing
along all these forces and influences that come our way?
At
first sight, there is only a very limited level of control over this
sort of incoming and outgoing traffic. Our control over material
food and drink creates few difficulties for most people. Hearing and
seeing are a little more complicated; seeing is not necessarily the
same as looking and hearing is not necessarily the same as
listening. Control over sensations like cold and warm, wet and dry,
hard and soft become somewhat more problematic and would require
something like a spacesuit.
‘…
And I put on their raiment, lest I should seem strange, as one that
had come from without to recover the pearl; and lest the Egyptians
should awake the serpent against me.
But, I know not by what occasion, they learned that I was not of
their country.
And with guile they mingled for me a deceit, and I tasted of their
food.
And I knew no more that I was a king's son, and I became a servant
unto their king.
And I forgot also the pearl for which my fathers had sent me.
And by means of the heaviness of their food I fell into a deep
sleep.’
(Fragment from ‘The hymn of the Soul’, Apocryphal Acts of
Thomas) Gospel of Thomas. http://www.earlychristianwritings.com/text/actsthomas.html
With the brain being the channel for the ‘in-put’, the real work
starts with the idea -- imagination -- impression -- information…
and so on. Which filter can we apply to these influences? At best,
to the extent that we have a choice, we can choose to pay
attention to the environment in which we live; we can choose our
reading material and the people with whom we associate. However, in
terms of protecting the subtler gateways such as our chakras and the
touches and movements of our heart or etheric-astral influences, it
is much more difficult to think in terms of a filter.
In
this whole spectrum of influences, we are only expected to expend
effort in earning material things and the rest just seems to come
our way. How do we deal with this? In and out: what is it that I can
refer to as myself? Am I like a plant absorbing water, light and
minerals, producing a flower and then withering away only to become
compost for the next plant? It may seem like an academic question
but it is not so strange to take a closer look at these processes of
a plant. We may assume that minerals, plants, animals and human
beings represent four stages in the field of development called
nature, that is, a field of development that is closely related to
the universe: ordered and purposeful -- not a coincidence of
circumstances. In this entire development, the contribution of our
lonely plant and its flower seems to be, on first sight, negligible.
However, when we consider the ‘plant’ as an exponent of the
vegetable kingdom, things are quite different.
The end of an idyll
For our considerations, it is important to realise that there is
only one plant, the plant, existing in a countless diversity.
Because of this multiplicity, it is assumed that an evolution from
the vegetable kingdom to freely moving plants, and subsequently to
the animal kingdom took place. Did man then develop from the
animals? Perhaps his current form developed in this way, but not his
essence, which is in principle divine and supernatural. His
spiritual essence does not stem from animals, plants, or minerals,
but rather from his fundamental nature. The highest aspects of the
spirit are still active in him as a nature-born human being. In his
natural shape, much of the animal, plant and mineral is active, but
that which makes him human is the radiance of the spirit, which once
was a conscious part of him.
Was?
Indeed, this idyllic image is, sadly enough, seriously damaged.
Although the in–and-out movement of the lower nature kingdoms
leads to growth and to a relative maturity -- within the
restrictions of their stage of development -- we see that the inner
growth of human beings is often hindered by the instability of this
in-and-out rhythm. This is despite the fact that it is a natural,
built-in, self-regulating mechanism, which was initially wholly at
the service of its own construction and development. Our plant, too,
drives itself to maturity and perfection, by the assimilation of the
necessary elements from its environment. However, once the plant has
reached this stage, a new phase develops: centripetal turns into
centrifugal; the assimilated substances and energies are returned to
the natural cycle as scents and beauty, in fact, elements for the
preservation of their own species and that of higher life forms.
In
human beings, this process is somewhat different. Gifted with a
mind, humans arrived in an early stage at the idea of turning things
to their own advantage, on the basis of the norms of their current
consciousness. Thus we see that the ‘in’, the centripetal
aspect, is cultivated to the most refined forms, just as with the
plant. But this is where the comparison ends. We would expect that,
analogous to the plant, maturity would also lead to the centrifugal
aspect. However, we see a strong inclination to use the results of
this whole assimilation as new capital, as an investment for even
more ‘in’, not only with regard
to material possessions, but mainly with regard to immaterial values
like power, honour and comfort, values that are, combined with
health, generally considered to bring ‘happiness’.
Which
is, for that matter, to a certain extent true.
The new orientation
To what extent? We spoke of maturity with regard to the
different life waves: mineral, vegetable and animal. The maturity to
which we refer here, does not end with the completion of the natural
figure, but rather requires of the personality a maturity and an
insight, surpassing the animal aspect, and approaching the level of
a realm of transition to a higher expression of life. A person,
approaching true maturity, will experience, on the one hand, that
his powers do not reach beyond that level. On the other hand, a
reality is living in him, an eighth level, that surpasses this
realm, a reality that is seemingly at odds with our nature, yet
awakens a recognition as well as a glimpse of the so long suspected
and sought after immortality. Gradually, this growing consciousness
can accomplish a true revolution. Through the new orientation,
something of the light, something completely new, is manifested in
our being, which awakens the crystal not-of-this-world in our heart.
From there, a perspective opens looking out toward eternal being.
Light is love
Cautiously and ray-by-ray, the light opens the access to its source
to the extent that the human being seeking the light is able to deal
with this power. ‘When the pupil is ready, the master is there.’
To the extent that the insight and longing of the old human being
allow it, the light builds the new man, sometimes by breaking and
cleansing, sometimes by construction and renewal. The earlier,
self-centred in-and-out is transformed into unselfish, joyful
giving, with clearly a very different meaning of ‘giving’ than
the one to which we are accustomed in our everyday in-and-out
duality. This giving means decisively partaking of a whole, of a
totality. ‘Give, and it will be given to you’; it is the
invitation of the growing kingdom within us.
Answering
this invitation implies true happiness. The person who has achieved
the quintessence of his humanity, knows his origin, lives through
matter and finds his true place of destiny, as an individual, and
as a living exponent of humanity: the servant who prepares the house
for the other one, spreading the Light in it for all who approach
the house. |