bluestar
16-02-2007, 04:53 AM
The Delusion of Progress
We live in a dualistic universe, in which the opposites always balance each other. It is like the old proverb: "What goes up, must come down." If one end of the balance is emphasized, the other will also be emphasized to balance it out. Or to put it scientifically and in material terms, "For every action, there is an opposite and equal reaction."
We can see this balancing in the world around us. Day is followed by night, which in turn is followed by yet another day. The seasons repeat their cyclic turning year after year. Everything, from atoms to galaxies, spins and rotates in cyclic fashion.
Likewise in the inner world, the cyclic turnings continue. Birth is followed by death, which in turn results in yet another rebirth. Civilizations grow, decay, and die, only to be reborn in a new land and under new circumstances. The ages of human existence go by, and mankind is continuously born and reborn in an endless cycle of balancing and adjustment.
In esoteric terms there are four great ages or Yugas that humanity goes through: The Satya, Treta, Dvapara, and Kali Yuga. The Satya Yuga, in the beginning, is a golden age of Light and Glory, but since there must be a balancing, the successive ages are darker and more fallen, until we reach the nadir in the Kali Yuga, in which the world lives in darkness and decay. Then comes the Avatar, the Redeemer, the Liberator, Who turns the world about so that the Golden Age may return. In esoteric history, these turnings happened at the end of the Lemurian civilization, at the fall of Atlantis. and during many lesser events in human history.
Today humanity likes to pretend that it is in some kind of golden age, but this is a delusion of the senses. People pretend that since their science is powerful, that they too are powerful, and that since they have conquered material forces, that they have also gained control over spiritual forces. But really, this age is an age of egotism and selfishness. One look at any newspaper should convince anyone of that. This is an age of the darkness of Spirit, and a rejection of God, Truth, and Life. It is just another Kali Yuga.
People like to talk about "progress" as though they were advancing forward like some kind of unconquerable army. But that is a delusion as well, for as we can see, the world does not "progress", instead it regresses. The ages become darker and darker, moving from the Golden Satya Yuga down to the dark Kali Yuga. Only the appearance of the Avatar, of Kalki, of Christ, can overcome that natural degeneration and return the world to a new Eden-like state. But this coming of the Avatar is again simply restoring the balance in this fallen, dualistic universe.
People also like to talk about "evolution". They would point out that ages ago, the world was only filled with simple creatures, whereas now it is filled with human beings. They suppose by this that the material forms have grown and improved, and that humanity is the end result of all this progress. But if we look at the larger picture, this is but one point on the wheel of birth and death. Just as humanity has come into existence on this planet, it will one day die, and be no more. Even if that end is billions of years in the future, it must necessarily come to pass, and there is no escaping it. The sun will die, and the earth will die, and the whole macrocosmic galaxy will die. Where, then, will humanity be? Humanity will be gone. So the idea that material "evolution" implies some kind of progress is sheer delusion and ignorance. It is looking at only one part of the turning of a great Wheel, and ignores the finality of death.
Some people also speak of spiritual evolution, "initiation," and enlightenment. They believe that there is a growth of consciousness. They feel that there is a progression from low consciousness to high consciousness. They point to the world, and say that the soul has been born into the mineral, and then in the plant, and then in the animal, and finally in the human. And that in the human it has grown from ignorance to knowledge, from hard-heartedness to virtue, and from selfishness to love.
Again, these people are not looking at the bigger picture. And indeed, most people are not ready for the bigger picture! Nevertheless, these people are forgetting that the Monad, the divine Spark, had long ago fallen into form, and like the prodigal son, must return Home. Thus these people who talk about spiritual evolution have forgotten about what is called "the Fall" in which the Spirits became identified with and fell into matter. Therefore all this process of spiritual evolution is simply the turning of the wheel of spiritual evolution itself, which is cyclic in this universe. It does not imply progress at all, but rather simply a returning of Spirit to its divine Origin.
We can see, then, that the process of "initiation" for human beings has nothing to do with their growth, development, or improvement. Initiation is concerned with the return of the divine Spark to God. It is concerned with the re-unification of Spirit with the group life, and subsequently the divine, non-dual universe.
Initiation is, therefore, not a product of the "evolution" of consciousness, but rather a Remembrance of our true Home and our divine heritage. Initiation is not the product of self-effort, but rather the Grace of God that magnetically attracts all lost souls out of duality into the divine non-duality. Initiation is the process by which the divine Spark leaves the entire fallen, dualistic Universe behind, and thereby returns to its original Unity with God.
Those people, therefore, who believe in progress are wholly confused, deluded, and mistaken. They believe that they can improve this world. But this world is a constant balancing act. Bring in peace, and the result is war. Bring in light, and darkness arises to counter it. Invoke the good, and evil strikes back. If you don't believe that, try it!
Witness this world today. Probably in no other era has there been such a universal desire for peace. In no other era has there been so many organizations seeking peace and trying to establish peace, from the United Nations on down to the efforts of individual, well-meaning people. And yet, the world is filled with fear of war and of war. There are indeed fewer numbers of wars at this moment than in the past. But on the turning of the wheel in the Kali Yuga, the darkness is extreme. Those who wage unprovoked war are in the highest seats of power around the world, and the destructive forces at their command are greater than in all the ages of the Earth.
Why, then, have all these efforts towards peace failed? It is because they have forgotten about the dualistic nature of this world. They have forgotten about the law of Cause and Effect. They have forgotten about the cyclic nature of all things. They are ignorant or in denial of what it would really take to establish peace on earth. And thus all their well-meaning effort is doomed to failure.
Any clear-sighted observer of humanity would note that efforts toward peace are in direct conflict with human egotism, selfishness, and pride. Thus to bring a permanent peace to humanity is to bring about a state in which people are egoless, which in this world is not possible. So all they achieve is a relative peace, a temporary peace... and indeed that is what has been accomplished. For peace will follow war, and war will follow peace.
Therefore there is no such thing as "progress." There is only cyclic motion. If we imagine that the upswing of the great Wheel is "progress" then we are only deluding ourselves. We are proving our ignorance not only of the world around us, but of the message of science as well as esoteric teachings. If we cling to the idea that there is progress, that the world can improve, or that egos themselves can improve, then we are living in a dream world.
Most of humanity, of course, lives in this dream world. They want the world to improve. They want their children to inherit a better world. They want to grow, evolve, and progress. They want to make the world a better place. In a very temporary way, such things can happen. But there is no escaping the turn of the Wheel. There is no escaping death for both humans and all humanity.
For a few years, for a few moments, we may indeed live in an improved world. But we cannot make it permanent; we cannot fix it in place any more than we can make the sun stand still in the sky. The Wheel will turn and the forces will balance themselves out. Humanity, of course, lives for those few moments... those few moments of personal happiness, family living, successful job, improved culture, rich society, loved country, and whatever fun they can have in life. But the wise will see the bigger picture. They will know that the personal happiness that can be had in any given lifetime is of no moment. Likewise they will see that any good that they can seek to do in this world is also of no moment. For worldly good is just as ephemeral as personal happiness.
Esoteric students will, therefore, not practice "goodness," nor seek to progress or evolve, nor desire to establish some kind of temporary improvement in human living. They will not seek to act in response to the world. Rather, they will seek to follow the divine Will in their hearts. They will seek to link up with all others who likewise follow only God's Will. They will then find their lives transformed, not by their own effort, but by God's Grace.
Last update: January 1, 2007
We live in a dualistic universe, in which the opposites always balance each other. It is like the old proverb: "What goes up, must come down." If one end of the balance is emphasized, the other will also be emphasized to balance it out. Or to put it scientifically and in material terms, "For every action, there is an opposite and equal reaction."
We can see this balancing in the world around us. Day is followed by night, which in turn is followed by yet another day. The seasons repeat their cyclic turning year after year. Everything, from atoms to galaxies, spins and rotates in cyclic fashion.
Likewise in the inner world, the cyclic turnings continue. Birth is followed by death, which in turn results in yet another rebirth. Civilizations grow, decay, and die, only to be reborn in a new land and under new circumstances. The ages of human existence go by, and mankind is continuously born and reborn in an endless cycle of balancing and adjustment.
In esoteric terms there are four great ages or Yugas that humanity goes through: The Satya, Treta, Dvapara, and Kali Yuga. The Satya Yuga, in the beginning, is a golden age of Light and Glory, but since there must be a balancing, the successive ages are darker and more fallen, until we reach the nadir in the Kali Yuga, in which the world lives in darkness and decay. Then comes the Avatar, the Redeemer, the Liberator, Who turns the world about so that the Golden Age may return. In esoteric history, these turnings happened at the end of the Lemurian civilization, at the fall of Atlantis. and during many lesser events in human history.
Today humanity likes to pretend that it is in some kind of golden age, but this is a delusion of the senses. People pretend that since their science is powerful, that they too are powerful, and that since they have conquered material forces, that they have also gained control over spiritual forces. But really, this age is an age of egotism and selfishness. One look at any newspaper should convince anyone of that. This is an age of the darkness of Spirit, and a rejection of God, Truth, and Life. It is just another Kali Yuga.
People like to talk about "progress" as though they were advancing forward like some kind of unconquerable army. But that is a delusion as well, for as we can see, the world does not "progress", instead it regresses. The ages become darker and darker, moving from the Golden Satya Yuga down to the dark Kali Yuga. Only the appearance of the Avatar, of Kalki, of Christ, can overcome that natural degeneration and return the world to a new Eden-like state. But this coming of the Avatar is again simply restoring the balance in this fallen, dualistic universe.
People also like to talk about "evolution". They would point out that ages ago, the world was only filled with simple creatures, whereas now it is filled with human beings. They suppose by this that the material forms have grown and improved, and that humanity is the end result of all this progress. But if we look at the larger picture, this is but one point on the wheel of birth and death. Just as humanity has come into existence on this planet, it will one day die, and be no more. Even if that end is billions of years in the future, it must necessarily come to pass, and there is no escaping it. The sun will die, and the earth will die, and the whole macrocosmic galaxy will die. Where, then, will humanity be? Humanity will be gone. So the idea that material "evolution" implies some kind of progress is sheer delusion and ignorance. It is looking at only one part of the turning of a great Wheel, and ignores the finality of death.
Some people also speak of spiritual evolution, "initiation," and enlightenment. They believe that there is a growth of consciousness. They feel that there is a progression from low consciousness to high consciousness. They point to the world, and say that the soul has been born into the mineral, and then in the plant, and then in the animal, and finally in the human. And that in the human it has grown from ignorance to knowledge, from hard-heartedness to virtue, and from selfishness to love.
Again, these people are not looking at the bigger picture. And indeed, most people are not ready for the bigger picture! Nevertheless, these people are forgetting that the Monad, the divine Spark, had long ago fallen into form, and like the prodigal son, must return Home. Thus these people who talk about spiritual evolution have forgotten about what is called "the Fall" in which the Spirits became identified with and fell into matter. Therefore all this process of spiritual evolution is simply the turning of the wheel of spiritual evolution itself, which is cyclic in this universe. It does not imply progress at all, but rather simply a returning of Spirit to its divine Origin.
We can see, then, that the process of "initiation" for human beings has nothing to do with their growth, development, or improvement. Initiation is concerned with the return of the divine Spark to God. It is concerned with the re-unification of Spirit with the group life, and subsequently the divine, non-dual universe.
Initiation is, therefore, not a product of the "evolution" of consciousness, but rather a Remembrance of our true Home and our divine heritage. Initiation is not the product of self-effort, but rather the Grace of God that magnetically attracts all lost souls out of duality into the divine non-duality. Initiation is the process by which the divine Spark leaves the entire fallen, dualistic Universe behind, and thereby returns to its original Unity with God.
Those people, therefore, who believe in progress are wholly confused, deluded, and mistaken. They believe that they can improve this world. But this world is a constant balancing act. Bring in peace, and the result is war. Bring in light, and darkness arises to counter it. Invoke the good, and evil strikes back. If you don't believe that, try it!
Witness this world today. Probably in no other era has there been such a universal desire for peace. In no other era has there been so many organizations seeking peace and trying to establish peace, from the United Nations on down to the efforts of individual, well-meaning people. And yet, the world is filled with fear of war and of war. There are indeed fewer numbers of wars at this moment than in the past. But on the turning of the wheel in the Kali Yuga, the darkness is extreme. Those who wage unprovoked war are in the highest seats of power around the world, and the destructive forces at their command are greater than in all the ages of the Earth.
Why, then, have all these efforts towards peace failed? It is because they have forgotten about the dualistic nature of this world. They have forgotten about the law of Cause and Effect. They have forgotten about the cyclic nature of all things. They are ignorant or in denial of what it would really take to establish peace on earth. And thus all their well-meaning effort is doomed to failure.
Any clear-sighted observer of humanity would note that efforts toward peace are in direct conflict with human egotism, selfishness, and pride. Thus to bring a permanent peace to humanity is to bring about a state in which people are egoless, which in this world is not possible. So all they achieve is a relative peace, a temporary peace... and indeed that is what has been accomplished. For peace will follow war, and war will follow peace.
Therefore there is no such thing as "progress." There is only cyclic motion. If we imagine that the upswing of the great Wheel is "progress" then we are only deluding ourselves. We are proving our ignorance not only of the world around us, but of the message of science as well as esoteric teachings. If we cling to the idea that there is progress, that the world can improve, or that egos themselves can improve, then we are living in a dream world.
Most of humanity, of course, lives in this dream world. They want the world to improve. They want their children to inherit a better world. They want to grow, evolve, and progress. They want to make the world a better place. In a very temporary way, such things can happen. But there is no escaping the turn of the Wheel. There is no escaping death for both humans and all humanity.
For a few years, for a few moments, we may indeed live in an improved world. But we cannot make it permanent; we cannot fix it in place any more than we can make the sun stand still in the sky. The Wheel will turn and the forces will balance themselves out. Humanity, of course, lives for those few moments... those few moments of personal happiness, family living, successful job, improved culture, rich society, loved country, and whatever fun they can have in life. But the wise will see the bigger picture. They will know that the personal happiness that can be had in any given lifetime is of no moment. Likewise they will see that any good that they can seek to do in this world is also of no moment. For worldly good is just as ephemeral as personal happiness.
Esoteric students will, therefore, not practice "goodness," nor seek to progress or evolve, nor desire to establish some kind of temporary improvement in human living. They will not seek to act in response to the world. Rather, they will seek to follow the divine Will in their hearts. They will seek to link up with all others who likewise follow only God's Will. They will then find their lives transformed, not by their own effort, but by God's Grace.
Last update: January 1, 2007