Tuesday, July 21, 2015

How does one awaken spiritually and remain awake?

Just as we sleep and wake up from slumber physically, there is another type of sleep and awakening! These ones concern our spirit, the inner core of man.

In accordance with the Almighty’s ordinance, the human spirit should direct all of man’s activities while the body is to act as a tool to carry out the inner yearnings of the spirit. However, since olden times man rebelled against God, relying more on the tool, by working solely with his brain a part of his body which produces the intellect! Placing the intellect above the spirit is the great fall of man that gave birth to all the evils of this world from self indulgence to acquisitiveness, murders, gross sensuality and all manners of oppressive conduct. As slaves of the intellect man became blind and thinks that only material things are of value.

Working with the brain alone meant that the spirit is left to be inactive; it sleeps. This sleep drains all spiritual power and the afflicted one loses all sense of beauty and inner integrity. This state of spiritual slumber is however not easily noticeable because the slumbering spirit may be a brilliant scholar, a wealthy businessman or a very brainy beauty queen.

Nevertheless, as a help to awaken us spiritually, we are constantly inundated with sadness and joy. The tenderness experienced during the periods of deep sorrow or joy momentarily puts earthly trifles at bay. If we also recall the times of our childhood; our so called age of innocence, we cannot but feel some tenderness. We can seize on these tender moments which are actually the right soil for spiritual awakening.

Furthermore, we can positively bring about our spiritual awakening even here and now by making a firm resolution to henceforth do only that which is good, pure, true and noble. We should look around us and see how the Laws of God operate and learn thereby. We will notice that good seeds yield good fruits, like attracts like and what is heavy sinks and what is light floats! We can align with these Laws for example by sowing good seeds through our thoughts, words and deeds.

To remain spiritually awake, we need to learn how to use the power of silence, listen to our inner voice, and the voice of our helpers which includes our conscience. We need to continually strive to free ourselves from base feelings, in the recognition that the hour approaches when the period allotted for this will expire!

For a start, let us keep our thoughts pure. Our persistence in this will bring us nothing but inner peace and genuine happiness!



Thursday, July 02, 2015

Is reincarnation really true?

Reincarnation is a fact of life and existence! Our forbears are aware of this and the simple evidence of this is reflected in some of the names given to their children. Hence we have names in Africa suggesting that the new born child is a mother or father who has returned for another life on earth.

Furthermore, reincarnation can be considered the explanation of the often mentioned déjà vu experiences where a person feels that an event, place or experience currently being experienced for the first time has been experienced before. For example a person who during this earth life is visiting a city for the first time may sense deeply that he has been there once upon a time! Some of these déjà vu experiences which science doubts today might actually be genuine recall of experiences by many a soul from past earth lives.

Consider: if man were to live on earth only once then the Law of Justice will also demand that everything must be accounted for in that one earth life. Those who have been righteous and were badly treated by their neighbours would have to receive adequate compensation before they die. All injustices will have to be corrected and all good deeds repaid fully in one earth life.

The truth is that man actually needs more than one earth life to attain to the maturity required to return back to the Eternal Gardens of God. Even if we do not remember our past earth lives, this does not prove that reincarnation is not real. We are mercifully permitted to experience each earth life without being weighted down by a graphic remembrance of the heavy and dark baggage most of us come to a new life with.

Each earth life is a time of mercy granted to us to make good the past and add to our maturity.May we use these times in a manner that they bring us spiritual benefits and maturity!