The Great World Dream

Chapter 12

Awakening from the World Dream

To recapitulate the most important points that have been covered so far, we could say:

A   There are two ways of looking at what we might call our spiritual origin: firstly the evolution of the entire human race from the state symbolised by the Garden of Eden; secondly our personal evolution from the innocent beginnings of babyhood.

B   Our susceptibility to the vibrations of nature which are all around us has caused our spiritual centre of gravity to decline throughout our own personal lives, as well as throughout the lives and history of humanity as a whole.

C   Our essential soul quality has passed through the life force originally intended for humans, through the life forces intended for the animals, through the life forces intended for plants, and down into the life forces intended for the minerals, rocks and material objects. This last life force forms the spiritual centre of gravity for the great majority of people, good and bad.

D   On the way down from our long-lost spiritual status, we have learnt to appreciate the beauty of our environment; we have taken in the peaceful influence of the rising sun; the emotional and physical balance of the moon; we have admired the dawn and marvelled at the heavens, and even ascribed to the planets a reflection of our own human psyche.

E   We have recognised our emotions for what they are, and learnt to distinguish them from
the power of reason on the one hand, and the power of faith on the other.

F  We have acquired some inkling of the nature of 'passion', and see it as the factor which draws the soul downwards towards the material level, rather than up towards the spiritual realm.

G   We have at last realised that the expressions of spiritual power that have been shown us by way of our religions can never be more than a symbol of that power, but that such symbols have been and still are necessary to help us to see where we stand in the order of life.

H   We have taken to heart the often unsuspected fact that the vibrations of nature really do affect our lives and need to be respected.

I   We have learnt to enjoy the world of nature and marvel at its beauty and complexity, and have discovered how to tune in to its complex vibrations without becoming further enslaved by them.

J   We have learnt the wisdom of stewardship – of protecting all life forms that share our planet, and have seen some of the misfortunes that can result from directing our passions towards them inappropriately.

K   We appreciate that the free and healthy cycle of nature is essential for the wellbeing of our planet, and that we should do all we can to help it along, without finding ourselves caught up in it and ruled by it.

L   We have seen for ourselves how the practice of wasting or abusing any aspect of nature can backfire on our human wellbeing, and be the cause of hardship.

M   we acknowledge that it is no bad thing to seek out our innermost feelings, whether we do this by enhancing our understanding and enjoyment of nature, or by any other means.

N   One of our most abiding pieces of wisdom expresses our need to 'know ourselves' without our habitual disguises.

O   Many contradictory statements have been made by religious people concerning what they consider to be 'God's will'. but we have to learn that it is God's will for us to descend into the spiritual depths of materiality, before being able to rise to the spiritual heights.

P   We have discovered that spiritual love, or compassion, requires an even blend of all the passions available to us, including the material or so-called 'satanic' passions.

Q   Reason is telling us that we should encourage the submissive side of our nature in order to submit to higher spiritual forces when they make their presence known. In no way can spiritual submission be correctly interpreted as weakness.

R   Spiritual power belongs to God. The human will to power and the acquisition of spirituality are incompatible.

S   It is through our experience of the material life force – the lowest and coarsest of the spiritual life forces – that we can discover that the positive side of desire or greed is 'faith'.

T   From our experience of the plant life force, we can discover that the positive side of arrogance and ferocity is 'patience'.

U   From our experience of the animal life force, we can discover that the positive side of pride and self-satisfaction is 'submission'.

V   From our experience of the human life force, we can discover that the positive side of egotism and conceit is 'sincerity' – a willingness to acknowledge and discard, as far as possible, our own less desirable characteristics.

W   Having travelled as it were, on the level of soul, from the spiritual to the material, some of us have seen a need to travel back to the spiritual state again, carrying with us, as far as possible, the benefits of materiality – our civilisation and culture.

X   If there are vibrations of a finer quality than those of nature which we have already experienced, it seems plain that by intention and willpower alone we are unable to locate them. We reach the conclusion that we need to find some practical means, not dependent upon our desires, whereby we can receive truly spiritual vibrations and make our return journey possible.

Y   If we are fortunate enough to find the way and set out along it, we will find too that only faith can provide the impetus; only patience can enable it to happen; only submission to higher powers will ensure our progress; only sincerity in letting go of our faults when the time comes, will finally lead to the restoration of our rightful place in the spiritual hierarchy.

Z   Divinity is not to be found in books or beliefs or special places. Divinity or closeness to God can be approached only one way – through our own inner self when the vibrations of nature, via the workings of our everyday hearts and minds, are stilled. In the words of the psalm, 'Be still and know that I am God'. People of any religion or none stand equal in this. It is only through our own self that we can approach the highest; you will not 'find God' outside of yourself.

Expulsion from the Garden of Eden

EXPULSION FROM THE GARDEN OF EDEN:           THOMAS COLE c 1827

Vibrations of the Inner Self

It has been called the fall from grace, the mythological expulsion from the Garden of Eden, the spiritual descent from a saintly high-human status above and overlooking the whole of nature, a state of submission towards that which we have called 'the father figure'. It is this pristine state of submission, this original subtle variation of the higher human 'instincts' working through what we call 'the inner self', that remains to be regained. Only then can the human life cycle approach completion or, as some might say, perfection. The perfect human life cycle may best be summed up in the words of Muhammad Subuh Sumohadiwidjojo: 'A journey from the spiritual to the material, and back again to spirit'.

It is not really something we can 'do', because the operative factor is 'submitting' rather than 'doing'. It has been said: 'Man does not choose; spirit chooses'. Only God can say who or what or when or if. We can only prepare ourselves and declare ourselves ready and willing to submit, and the best way in which we can prepare ourselves is by finding some person or people who are already on this path, and who may be able and willing to act as intermediaries, catalysts in a process which may set your own receiving in motion. And 'When two or three are gathered together...' and everything proceeds according to expectations, sooner or later you will feel these vibrations which rise apparently from deep within your own being. They will – again, sooner or later – result in involuntary movements and possibly vocal sounds to which you should submit, following the movements and voicing the utterances.

This will comprise the beginnings of a spiritual exercise: the movements and sounds are not prompted by your brain, not from your intentions, your thoughts or emotions. Your own familiar processes of thinking and feeling will stand aside and act as mere observers, watching and listening to whatever occurs. They must not take part themselves; auto-suggestion should not enter into it. Neither must you allow yourself to fall into some kind of trance-state. Everything about you must be fully aware, fully conscious. Similar sounds and movements may well result from trance-states, but these arise from the material life forces flavoured with the essence of plants and animals. Spiritualist mediums may fall into a trance-state, and they may well contact shades of the dead; But there is no such thing as a spiritual trance. Whatever else it may do, 'spiritualism' cannot contact spirit, and this is a point well worth remembering.

Do not be misled. In the normal course of life many people receive all sorts of apparently alien thoughts and disembodied voices produced as a result, perhaps, of what is known as ESP. I know that when somebody thinks a critical thought directed at me (whenever I am least expecting it),that thought arises in my brain word for word, though it seems to arise from some part of the hindbrain rather than the forebrain usually associated with the thought processes. This always seems mysterious, psychic even, but it is not 'spiritual'. It is not at all the same thing as 'receiving' during the spiritual exercise. The sounds you utter will not 'arise' inside your brain in this way; along with the movements you receive and follow they will be spontaneous and unheralded. Your movements and utterances will seem to possess varying qualities: they will not necessarily be pious or prayerful; they may just as likely be profane or even shocking. They are not at all the same as the 'charismatic' movements and utterances triggered by the emotional feelings. They are not 'prayers': they are your own innermost contents being cleaned out. Ultimately, only experience will show you the real difference; all you have to do is to remain wide awake but with your mind relaxed, and submit to the process with sincerity, whether sounds and movements are being experienced by you or not.

Your movements in the spiritual exercise may be accompanied by strange smells which certainly do not arise from nature. Some of these may seem like incense, others may seem foul. Either occur because material passions are being dispelled, and this ethereal smell is one of their properties. You may discover that the original 'incense' is (or was) the smell of departing evil spirits, rather then 'the odour of sanctity', but it shows that 'holiness' is present during the process of disturbing and releasing these characteristics. Perhaps at one time these things were part of the common experience, when the 'Garden of Eden' was still a meaningful concept. At all events, artificial, 'material' incense was developed over the ages, using resin and various other plant materials which were burnt to represent the prayers of the people as these prayers were visualised ascending to heaven. This was of course an attempt to recapture that original incense when it had been retained only as a folk memory. But truly 'spiritual' smells, good or bad, remind us that the only truly meaningful form of prayer is a spiritual 'receiving', resulting in the long-term purification of soul-contents at the material level – on the level, that is, of nature.

True submission in the context of the spiritual exercise constitutes the reality of prayer, and only prayer of that calibre can be sure of actually reaching its target. Everyday religious prayers which stem at least partially from the passions, the desires, the emotions, cannot really be expected to penetrate the heaviness of materiality that normally surrounds us – the matrix of passions which we have acquired by reacting to the natural forces that have invaded our being. All such passions derive from the instincts of nature which are below the truly human spiritual level. Real prayers do not need words – all our needs are already known by the soul – and they certainly do not need desires: they depend only upon submission when the passions and desires are at rest. Only real prayers such as these are fine enough to penetrate the smothering layers that have cloaked what should be the highest part of our own selves, and thus reach their target.

It is only the coarse vibrations of the natural, physical world, expressed in our own passionate thoughts and feelings, that prevent us experiencing the spiritual vibrations of our own inner selves, linking us to a greater impersonal soul that seems to have lain dormant during much of our lives. Assisted by the presence of others who have already received this spiritual movement, spirit can enter the void left by your own stilling of thoughts and feelings, and by so doing stir the soul into wakefulness. It is not the spirit of this or that, not the various 'spirits of nature', but the real though utterly non-scientific Holy Spirit itself, which will enter you if you permit it. Through your own faith – the highest principle of the material life force; through your own patience – the highest principle of the plant life force; through your own submission – the highest principle of the animal life force; through your own sincerity – the highest principle of the human life force; your soul will be set along the ultimate pilgrimage. These four qualities will combine to find the 'path that no fowl has seen', the path of which it was once said: 'Few there be who find it'.

Even now at your point of entry you will already have gained the soul-state that holy men and women in the past may have achieved only after a lifetime of devotion. You will have received the inestimable boon of being able to start at the point which saints and sages, pious monks and sincere yogis can reach only by the end of their life, at their point of death.

If you are at all typical in that your own inner being has become immersed in the coarse life forces of materiality, when this path first becomes a reality, you may well seem to have been precipitated into a parallel world of occult wonders. This is because you are experiencing something of the 'light of the material'. These strange phenomena comprise the subtle side of solid materiality, and in your case they should be of a temporary nature. However marvellous your experiences may seem to be, they must be transcended. You will come to understand at first hand that you possess four personal 'souls' as well as the higher impersonal soul which can become filled with spirit. Your personal souls will have come to life, and they may become so real, so solid, so animated, that they can speak and act independently of your thoughts and feelings. They may offer you wise advice, or seemingly magical assistance. They may warn you of approaching danger, or point out things which you cannot see, or inform you of facts about which you were ignorant. But these four personal souls are motivated by the passions, loves and hates of nature; this is the nature of their contents. Marvellous though they undoubtedly are, as you progress along the spiritual path which you have gained, sooner or later you must be prepared to let them go.

The Way of Death

The spiritual path has been described as 'the way of death' because it depends upon the death of the passions. Normally it cannot be pursued before the physical death of the body, the heart with its emotions, the brain with its thoughts. Now we have access to the path, we find that it can be followed during our lifetime. It follows that the passions which in the past have sustained us while keeping us from the spiritual path, are the only part of us that must face death now. Our progress will depend largely upon our willingness to let these passions go when the time comes. Many aspirants remain on the lowest rung of 'Jacob's ladder', because of their unwillingness to do this. Your 'material soul' in particular, if it has become very powerful during your past life, may represent itself as your guide and mentor, quite independently of your thoughts, and pretend (or believe itself) to be some kind of high authority, holding you in its spell. This will be the first spiritual temptation that anyone has to encounter. Do not forget that the material life force, though so essential for material existence, represents the realm of Satan. Do not forget mythical stories about 'selling your soul to the devil'. Remember too that the highest and ultimately the most powerful passion within this material, satanic realm in which we all live is the passion of faith, and it will be faith that enables you to move on. At last you are in a position to rise above Satan, and by so doing to enter the spiritual territory of the Green Man.

If you accomplish this major step successfully, something of an anticlimax may set in. You may seem to have lost something precious. You may no longer experience magical happenings, occult smells, or the ability to see over horizons or into the future. Everyone's experiences will be different as we are all unique, but this tends to be the general pattern. Faith has carried you onto the next rung, and this is where the quality of patience will truly be needed. Material wealth and prestige are of course features of the material level of life, and you may find yourself losing out on some of these good things which previously you had taken for granted. At this point you will know for sure why the spiritual path can never be popular, why it will never win hearts and minds, why it will always remain a lonely, straight and narrow path standing in stark contrast with the brightly lit highway flanked with attractions of all sorts, that leads in the opposite direction.

During your progress over the years there may come back to you vivid memories of anything you may have done during your past life that may have caused harm or anguish, or suffering or danger, or upset, or embarrassment to any person, and you will feel intense remorse for your wrong doings. Things of this nature, though they may have seemed well justified or even laudable at the time, you will now see as wholly wrong, and you will beg forgiveness. You will at last stand face to face with the 'mirror of karma' and understand that it is your own true self that stands in stern judgment of your own past misdeeds. All these things will come back to haunt and taunt you until you have fully atoned.

During your everyday life you will probably find that you no longer wish to pursue any activities that you have come to realise are in some way wrong, or contradictory to your own true nature. If you still do something wrong you may find instant retribution in the form of misfortune in a measure equal to your own misdeeds. In fact, you should find that your whole life is balancing itself out, the past with the present, often in a startlingly practical way. For example you may have employed others in a menial capacity in the past, and you will now find that an equally menial way of life is thrust upon you for an equal period of time. This is purgatory in its true practical sense, the reality of atonement functioning while you live. Every participant on the spiritual path will have his or her own set of unique experiences, and it is all to the long-term good. You have to become balanced, the highest with the lowest, the best with the worst; rewards and punishments must equal themselves out; and all this happens during the normal course of your everyday life.

The spiritual exercise itself is best practised on a regular basis, say for half an hour twice a week. Any more than this might be overdoing it. Obviously you need to retain all your normal mental and emotional control during daily life. If you find it too easy to 'let go' and overdo it, you may find yourself suffering something of a psychological or physical crisis. Old troubles, whether physical, emotional or mental, may come flooding back to plague you. Such things, or traces of them, will have been there all the time, hidden; you have uncovered them and let them out. They need to go, of course, but take it easy!

Excessively intellectual or particularly clever people may see nothing at all in any part of this, and they are apt to conjure up instant rational explanations to make nonsense of it all. But none of it is for the brain; the brain cannot be expected to understand spirit. The way of death is not for intellectual analysis. A spiritual path moves us towards a state of inner wholeness, and as analysis involves the process of breaking down wholes into understandable parts, analysts will find nothing tangible, nothing solid to grasp. Intellectual analysis can yield nothing that makes sense, because the materiality on which science is based is not a participant. To the clever brain spiritual wholeness seems nonsense, because it is akin to non-existence. Only through the qualities of faith, patience, submission and sincerity can we participate in this process, and only through personal experience can we begin to understand it.

None can say how many years will pass for an individual whilst on the spiritual path. The process of purification, of renewing soul-contents, will probably never be complete; true perfection is unlikely to be found within the human condition. Our narrow path continues through what may seem the dull, dark interior of nature, passing major milestones along the way, reaching in turn the plant, the animal and then the human life forces, each imposing on the spiritual pilgrim its own subtle changes in outlook and attitude. As we finally approach the saintly level at the peak of humanity we shall understand the phrase 'God is love' as we begin to experience truly spiritual love for ourselves – the compassion which forms itself through the combination of all the separate passions; their positive outcome.

We shall discover that the personal souls which seemed to have died along the route did not in fact die, they did not disappear – they had kept their peace only because their passionate contents had been stilled. They will now be combining to form one truly human compassionate soul, a soul which is able to call upon the characteristics of each separate lower soul according to the needs of the moment, to meet any of life's situations. We may experience a return in some measure of the miraculous phenomena that we experienced when starting out along the path, but there is now nothing that could be used with ill intent Finally our path emerges from the darkness of nature into the light, and not even physical death can check our progress into the world of spirit.

The End