spiritual growth – The Voice From The Back Row

Form and Content

There is an old idiom, “Don’t throw the baby out with the bathwater.” It derives from the times in which people drew water, heated it, put it in tubs to bathe, and then tossed it out when the bathing was done. It means to retain the old values, those handed down from millennia, as the forms of things are so rapidly changing. The “baby” is the eternal values, the “bathwater” is the forms that no longer work. I am passionate about this. Of course, the forms need to change. If they did not, there would be no growth, and no growth means the end, death. However, that does not mean also abandoning the values and truths that those forms contained. One of the areas in which the baby is in danger is religion.

Religion is under attack. Although no one has proposed to abolish the First Amendment, laws are being advanced which require people to pay for and participate in actions which are contrary to their beliefs, and the public viewpoint of those who express religious beliefs is that these people are racist, biased, ignorant, possibly violent, and utterly unfit to hold public office; those who are supported by religious people are also deemed less desirable for office, as they are seen as being influenced by religious positions. The worst examples of those who claim to be religious are publicized.

Religion has a bad name with people who see religion as harmful, the cause of societal ills, and who choose to be either agnostic/atheist, or “spiritual” but claim no form and often no company or group/congregation. Religion is also under attack by the state, which would like to see all people believe and act the same because it is easier to govern that way. The state insists that any kind of religion not interfere with what the state says is right to do. Both, I believe, are confused.

Religion consists of two aspects, form, and content. Form is the structures in the physical world which define the expression of the content. Form codifies how a given people perceive and how they are urged to act upon the underlying aspects they perceive as eternal. Forms are human and belong to the physical world. Forms are many and varied and sadly, their adherents often tend to quarrel about which one is better. Forms are human; they exist in time and space and are amenable to the effects of each.

Content is the core reality, the unembodied source that form encodes. It is that core which mystics, saints, seers, master shamans, prophets, and bodhisattvas understand and have borne witness to for eons. Content is universal and crosses all expressions. Content is not judgment, punishment, or condemnation. It is loving, in an eternal sense. Content belongs to the realm which has no boundaries of time or space. Content is like water or air – here on Earth, it needs a structure or form to contain it. Therefore, in the physical world, forms, or practices, have been made to hold it. Some forms have lasted longer than others. Some forms have also altered over time, even shifting shape from the basic content they were designed to hold. Of course, change is necessary – but so also is continuity.

Many people profess a form and are sometimes quite active in it and devoted to it and are good people. Yet, if all they have is form, and they do not understand or connect with content, what they have is essentially an empty vessel. It is no longer the whole. An empty vessel, an empty form, is simply that. It is not religion as a whole. Empty form is not connected with the core which gives it meaning, and thus can draw people into conflicts, judging and behavior oppressive of others.

Some people have an understanding only of content – those who are “spiritual” without having either a private or collective form or practice in which to contain their content. For these, over time, the content tends to dissipate, as will air or water not in containers. These folks may have touched the essence of being and been thereby enriched, but without a container, a form, a practice, the essence will not be enduring for them.

There are many forms. Try the names of all the world’s religions. Privately created and regularly practiced forms are still others. Positioning forms as subservient to the state, or trying to eradicate them, serves to weaken that which contains the content. The content is essential to our survival and the survival of our planet. Happily, more and more people are beginning to seek for and connect with eternal content to fill their forms, private or communal.

There is no need to ban or weaken religion. There is also no need to agitate for the forms of one religion over another, or for the prevalence of the one position of the state. There are win-win solutions if we only look for them. Each faith form is an expression, in a different language, of the same essential and ethereal content. Better to recognize and respect all the forms and focus ourselves on perceiving and understanding the universal content and striving to live our lives accordingly. That is progress, not the requirement of the state (or, in a theocracy, one form which is the state) for all to think and act the same.

It is time for people to come together in cooperation and respect, and to heal the Earth and ourselves with understanding and the creative energy from which we draw our being. It is counterproductive to expect others to express their understandings in the same way we do, or to have the state decide and regulate expression of the truth.

Peace, Diane

Fear Not

If there is one message that has resonated throughout the ages, forming a base for the millions of other messages given to aid mankind in spiritual or evolutionary growth, it is this: Fear not; do not be afraid. It is quoted by spiritual leaders, philosophers and statesmen. Fear is recognized in psychology as a precursor to anger and a host of other negative assumptions. From Ghandi comes, “The enemy is fear. We think it is hate, but, it is fear.” Jesus of Nazareth, according to John, declared, “Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid.” From Lao Tzu and Buddha come, “There is no illusion greater than fear,” and, “The whole secret of existence is to have no fear.” Thoreau claims, “Nothing is so much to be feared as fear.” Mahmoud Mohammed Taha asserts, “The greatest obstacle to love is fear.” Franklin D. Roosevelt declares in his first inaugural address, “The only thing we have to fear is fear itself.” For years, mankind has been exhorted to release, let go of fear, and for years, mankind has mostly ignored that.

We currently live in a kind of Alice in Wonderland world, and we are already down the rabbit hole. It seems that anything can happen, and that reasons, arguments and common sense make no difference. Events occur in rapid succession, without apparent order, and in complete disconnect with any former idea of order. Emotions rule, and the bandwagon is king; not much quite makes sense. This is the breeding ground for fear. We do not know just what will happen, and we are unsure of how to respond. What will happen to us? Fear raises its head.

One example of this is the current coronavirus outbreak, which, according to authorities, may become a pandemic, and which has already sickened and killed many and devastated economies. The messages in the media accentuate its threatening nature, sometimes suggesting ways in which we should be prepared. Fear grows. We either ignore it so we don’t have to feel it or devote energy to watching out for it and trying to prepare. Theories of the origin of the coronavirus abound. Officially, the outbreak originated in a Chinese meat market which was selling wild killed meats; the virus first affected the Chinese and grew to epidemic proportions. Much of China is now on lockdown/isolation, and movement of people from China is under high restriction, with flights being canceled, mandatory quarantines and the like. This official summary is well reported in the news, together with the further spread of the virus. Other theories hold that the virus is manufactured. One purports that the disease was created to be vaccinated against by vaccine manufacturing companies that already had a vaccine to sell in the pipeline. “Buying” this explanation requires acceptance of cold-blooded murder as a prerequisite to such an action, but in an Alice in Wonderland world, anything can happen. Another theory of manufacturing asserts that the virus was developed as biological warfare and escaped from a laboratory in China. Accidental, but not very comforting. Aside from theories of how the virus originated are the speculations on why the media continues to cover it in detail, emphasizing the doom and gloom. Granted that the media often loves the emotionally negative in order to attract attention, there is a lot of fear generated. What might be the result of the high dose of fear? Might people then give up their civil rights in order to ask the government to protect them and give them security (one result of 9/11 as well)? Whatever one thinks about it, the message is clear: be afraid, and let anger and paralysis result.

If we refuse to fear, much of the power that events, or governments or oligarchies have over us is eliminated. That does not mean that we close our eyes and refuse to see, or that we neglect to prepare in the best way we possibly can, or that we distance ourselves from others. It does mean that when we are seeing, preparing, and acting compassionately towards others, we are doing this not because we are afraid of what is, or of doing or being wrongly, but because what we do is the best, most loving thing we can do to build a healthier, kinder, more just world. If that means seeing the undercurrents of what goes on, then it is not because we fear those undercurrents, but because the understanding is needed before we can lovingly act. If we are preparing, it is not because we are afraid of what will happen if we do not, it is because we are in the process of creating a world that does not hold in forefront those things towards which our preparations are geared. If we try to help others, it is not because we are bad people if we do not, it is because helping them is the most fearless, loving thing we can do. We see and strive to learn more; we understand and try to grow in wisdom; we object to that which destroys life – human, animal, plant or planetary – not because we are afraid of being destroyed, but because we love that life in all its aspects. We do not grovel or cower. The intent is key; to act lovingly erases fear.

Granted, it can be difficult to overcome fear. Fear has been with us for generations. The saber-toothed-tiger of today is far more complex and amorphous than that physical threat our ancestors could run from or fight. Nevertheless, our growth as people, even our survival, depends on our overcoming ingrained fear. Fear responses, including secondary fear responses such as anger and cruelty and war, are no longer viable. The healing will be a grassroots effort, the combination of many of us actively growing towards a greater courage and love. It will not come from governments, from the top. The top perhaps fears more than any of us, and has the hardest time letting go of fear. It is time to hear the message of our prophets and pundits, philosophers, artists and statesmen – Fear not! Do not be afraid!

May we each encourage others, give and receive support as we learn as quickly as we can to let go of our fear and to grow in the courage of love and its qualities.

Peace, Diane

The Mystery of Paradox

It feels like a strange time just now. Even the weather is strange. The temperatures and ambience in the air signal spring; the amount of sunlight signals still winter. My body does not seem to quite know what to do with that. On the one hand, it wants to leap forward with spring. On the other hand, it wants to hang back with winter and sleep.

I was going to write about something which I can see is true – a broad truth. However, I have begun to see its paradox – that the opposite is true as well, and that the encompassing truth lies somewhere in the middle. The broad truth is that although marching and protesting is good, eliminating fossil fuels is good, planting trees is good, giving up plastics is good, and so many more activities are excellent, it is not enough. It will take all of us making difficult lifestyle changes such as releasing an addiction to convenience, focusing on cooperative decisions and the good of the group more than on individual decisions and the good of the self, mutual respect, ceasing war and competition that places winning above all else, and other deep changes if we are to avert the difficult effects of climate change. In addition, these changes have an undefined but not indefinite timeline in which to take effect.

However, the opposite is also true. No one of us can change the world alone. None of us is responsible for making other people behave in the ways we can see are needed. No one of us can be devalued for not achieving at the broad level; by ourselves it is not possible, even though we may do much. Each little thing each of us does is valuable. Each little increment we achieve is an attainment. Even if we are making no visible progress towards averting the difficult effects of climate change, or even if we are one of those contributing to the rapid progress of those ominous effects, we cannot be judged – we are still valuable, and our actions still contribute in ways we may not see just now.

I have yet to arrive at the center point of this paradox. Perhaps it lies in faith and hope. Most probably, for each of us it lies in our extent of personal growth. I think it may involve the willingness to continually grow, and to value each stage of our growth. In the later parts of The Celestine Prophecy series by Dan Redfield, the advanced people who have created harmony with nature and each other are dispersed by destructive forces (read it, I will not give away the plot), but come back in the next book to help the protagonists grow and avert global disaster. That may be a good metaphor for us.

No, I don’t think we need to give up or think that we have done enough already. We have not. Neither do I think that we should chastise ourselves for not doing more than we would like to be doing. We need to keep trying, and at the same time, give ourselves room to grow and be in the moment that is. If we keep both ends of the paradox beside each other in our minds, I do believe that eventually we, you and I, will arrive at the center of that paradox, and recognize it when we do.

May we have the courage to continue, and the compassion to love ourselves (and each other) where we are right now.

Peace, Diane

Ambient Anxiety

“I can’t sleep,” my friend confided. “My mind keeps swirling around with all the things that need to be done or could go wrong. I’m not even sure what I’m anxious about.”

I could sympathize. My mind does the same thing, more often than I would like. I’m not sure, though, whether my mind is responding to circumstance, or generating the condition.

There are certainly many reasons to be anxious. The chaos in the political world is one; climate change is another. Accounts of warfare and cyber warfare contribute. Included are the state of the economy and one’s own income, issues of social justice, and the plight of refugees – these also augment anxiety. Granted that changes in diet and lifestyle do lead to better health, the lists of polluted water, unhealthy foods, ways to lose weight, supplements vs pharmaceuticals, and what to do about these (opinions vary) tend to be attached to as much anxiety as they do healing. Our fast-paced, machine-oriented world can make us wonder if we are ourselves sufficient, doing enough, being enough, or healthy enough to exist and contribute. Add the farther-out warnings, such as asteroid collision, the super volcano under Yellowstone or pole shifts, and it’s no wonder that many people are anxious.

Advanced anxiety is also called worry, the state where the mind will not let go of pondering what might go wrong and what needs to be done in preparation in case it does go wrong. Most of us have been told to let go of worry, and that worry not only does not help, but can make things worse. Less attention has been given to anxiety, and even less to how to let go of either.

We think we know why we are anxious. Either we know that right away and can respond quickly to a query, “I am anxious because……” or we come up with a reason after thinking for awhile. Always, there is a reason given. Yet, if those reasons are solved, often the anxiety remains. For example, if one is anxious because his or her income is insufficient, and that person wins the lottery, the anxiety remains. It does not vanish when the given reason vanishes. Often, another reason then pops up for the persistent anxiety. This is repeatable, if one wants to play the game of resolving reasons. I am suspecting that in many cases, there are no reasons for the anxiety; there are only reasons we attribute to it, so that our minds are less traumatized by the condition. “It must be normal,” we conclude, “because there are reasons.”

I think that most – perhaps all – anxiety is simply ambient. It is a vibration in the energy matrix that surrounds us; we absorb that vibration unconsciously and carry it with us. Then, in order to “understand”, we come up with a reason to attach to it. There is no reason for anxiety, even the reason that we are anxious because it is present in the matrix; thus, it follows that to “cure” ourselves, we must fix the matrix so that the vibration is not there. All our efforts to fix things simply add to more anxiety as we discover that it is not fixable. If we have come that far, we begin to realize that it is necessary to look within, not outward, for causes.

Anxiety is an energy vibration. We are composed of many energy vibrations, including those which form our physicality. Anxiety is an energy vibration of emotion. It is not logical or reasonable, but it is mutable, as we learn to consciously move the energy within ourselves, including the energy of emotion. I believe that as humans, we are in the process of learning that. Not all of us are at the same level. I, certainly, am not yet a master of it. I have much to learn. Yet, looking around, I can notice people – from different walks of life – who somehow are oases of calm in the midst of chaos that may be going on. It seems to be natural for them, a gift or talent, or maybe a higher level of development. They usually have no words to say how. Yet, how can they be so calm, and I so anxious?

We can, I am sure, learn to consciously move the energy within us. It is easy enough to do negatively, such as changing anxiety to anger. It is harder to move to a state of peaceful energy flow, or a state of joy, or a state of loving acceptance. Yet, is that not what most religions in their depths, and most spiritual practices tell us to do? If we resent, we should forgive. We should reconcile ourselves to the brother or sister with whom we are angry. If we are worried, we should reach out to the peaceful flow of energy which exists both in the matrix and within us. Sorrow can turn to gratitude and joy; the underlying energy vibration we seek is love. We can transmute negativity within us to its positive counterpart. I know that this is so, even if I have not yet mastered it. I also know that it is mastered by practice, be it meditations, affirmations, course corrections in the moment, or any other consistent practice one finds useful. It is derailed by being distracted from that practice.

May we each find the bit of hope that, if we cling to it, will enable us to practice moving our energy in positive ways. May we each find ways to mutate anxiety, anger or fear to gratitude, peace, joy and love.

Peace, Diane