Take Away The Stone: Resurrecting the God Within — Is It God’s Will?
The introduction and Parts I, II, III, and IV of this series are available here, here, here, here, and here.
“Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me; yet not my will, but yours be done.” Luke 22:42
After being introduced to the method of affirmative prayer — and experiencing its results firsthand — there can arise in us a feeling of sneaking suspicion: that somehow this is all too good to be true and we’re not deserving of all Life has to offer. Whether it is murmurings of the old ideas that we can only please God through continual suffering in this life, that there is some saintly virtue to be gained in poverty, sickness, and privation, or that we must toil, sweat, and compete against our fellows in the jungle of the marketplace to earn our daily bread, it generates the question: “Is it really God’s will for me to prosper?” This is reinforced when we hear politicians and pundits caricature the wealthy as heartless and greedy, as well as by prophets of doom who declare that opportunity is monopolized by an insidious cabal of evil elitists.
Despite the portraits painted by the headlines and our senses of the visceral horrors of the world, the Infinite crafted all things to provide for the continual advancement of Life in an upward climb (as one classic esoteric work phrased it, “The tendency in Nature is in the direction of the dominant activity of the Positive (or lifeward) pole.”) If another power or powers existed to hinder, oppose, or challenge this pattern of progression there would be as one writer put it “a chaos instead of a Cosmos”, undermining the march of evolution. This logical, scientific, and mathematical Unity is made clear in the opening words of the Jewish Shema prayer, taken from the Book of Deuteronomy:
“Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one.” (Deut. 6:4)
It is, as the Roman Emperor and philosopher Marcus Aurelius wrote in his Meditations, “One living being, having one substance and one soul”, behind, through, and in all material forms. It cannot act contrary to its eternal commission to “be fruitful and increase” along all lines.
In the beautiful words of Lao Tzu:
“The Tao is called the Great Mother:
Empty yet inexhaustible,
It gives birth to infinite worlds.”
“But,” some may object, “isn’t our Cosmos inherently chaotic? What about all of the wars, famines, diseases, and disasters that have marked our history? If God is Love, how could these things happen? If mind is creative, do individuals bring such circumstances on themselves?”
Any metaphysical or spiritual inquiry cannot duck the enduring question of the problem of evil, which unfortunately some teachers and practitioners have characterized, without requisite nuance, as nothing more than a material illusion, which will be dispelled once the veil of ignorance is lifted and the Divine Reality glimpsed through an uplifting of consciousness, individually and collectively. While I am of the opinion, after much personal study and application, that consciousness is ultimately the Supreme Arbiter of all experience (as almost a century’s worth of quantum physics experiments tantalizingly indicate)[1], to dogmatically intone that we are 100% responsible for “creating our realities”, without any qualifiers, is a recipe for disaster.
This attitude can breed Pharisaical judgment, which self-righteously condemns a person’s misfortune as a result of their “negative thinking” (an all too common belief among the metaphysical culture today, which I have been guilty of) without knowledge of that individual’s life or circumstances. It can also render severe harm to one’s spiritual, psychological, and physical well-being as they try to ignore and suppress, rather than examine and transmute, negative thoughts, emotions, or physical symptoms, further amplifying fear, anxiety, and all manner of corrosive stress.[2]
For example: telling someone who is unfamiliar with the concept of mental healing that they can cure their cancer, diabetes, etc. through affirmations and prayer exclusively without additional care is akin to giving a toddler a hammer and expecting them to use it correctly. While there are countless cases of the power of prayer in effecting spontaneous healings and remissions of otherwise incurable conditions, to encourage someone with little to no familiarity of mind metaphysics to simply “think and feel” their predicament away, disregarding the very real effects of the other physical, psychological, environmental, and cultural forces under which we are subject, is immature, dangerous, and irresponsible.
Such shallow thinking and callous victim blaming stands in sharp contrast to the esoteric teachings of the ancient philosophers, who were compassionate toward the vast multitudes that struggled to navigate and comprehend the multilayered challenges of life. Hence why they presented the principles they sought to impart in parables, allegories, rites, and rituals, so that through conscious reflection, meditation, and application the people could through the progressive “renewing of their minds” rise through the planes of life — physical, mental, and spiritual — using the higher laws of each to master and overcome the lower laws. While giving the utmost respect to the manifold powers constituting the order of Nature, and extolling their students to do likewise, they taught that the experiences of sickness, strife, accident, violence, suffering, tragedy, etc. were, when seen through the lens of right understanding, opportunities to grow, transcend, and unfold the Divine germ within, for the betterment of themselves and the whole of Creation.
They did not, like the established priesthoods of their day, consider apparent misfortune as punishment from an angry God or some sort of karmic atonement, but rather as an avenue through which the God Presence could demonstrate its uplifting power. A vivid example of this is found in the Gospel of John, in the story of Jesus healing the blind man:
“As he (Jesus) went along, he saw a man blind from birth. His disciples asked him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?”
“Neither this man nor his parents sinned,” said Jesus, “but this happened so that the works of God might be displayed in him.” (John 9: 1–2, emphasis added)
Jesus put the lie to the idea that God takes perverse pleasure in our suffering. There is nothing inherently evil in the Universe; all destructive behavior and action are the effects of faulty perceptions and their attendant beliefs. As Shakespeare said through Hamlet, “For there is nothing either good or bad, but thinking makes it so.” God, or the Life Principle, has “richly provided us with everything for our enjoyment” (1 Tim. 6: 17), seeking ever new ways of unfolding and expressing Its inexhaustible potential through us. The Laws of Life are based on growth, not stagnation, as all the processes of Nature testify. Our desire for radiant health, financial security, creativity, freedom of expression, love, fellowship, and service is Life urging us forward to be, to do, and to have more. God’s will for us is that we “may have life, and have it to the full.” (John 10:10)
Evil, as both Plato and Buddha pointed out, is rooted in ignorance. To sin is to miss the mark and fall into a state of error regarding the nature of Life; i.e. by believing in a vengeful, critical, and testing God or a Devil seductively whispering into our ears. God does not tempt us; neither is there a physical devil, with cloven hooves and a pitchfork, roaming the earth, goading us to commit all manner of degradation.
Satan in Hebrew means adversary or deceiver. Satan and his legion of devils as presented in the Bible serve as personifications of the false concepts which assail us daily by means of erroneous sense evidence, uninformed opinions, fatalistic headlines, and fear mongering propaganda, instilling in us a groundless sense of hostility and dread toward Life. They represent aspects of the egoistic attitude that keeps us in a state of spiritual immaturity, damming up the vital current of the Life Principle within us. It is the contrarian spirit of resistance which, in the words of Aristotle, “is the cause of every monstrosity” whether illness, loneliness, poverty, war, bigotry, political oppression, etc.
The archetypal theme of good vs. evil, when stripped of its dogmatic trappings, represents the struggle that occurs in all of us, individually and collectively, as we grow and evolve, learning to properly adhere to the Laws of Life. We learn the correct use of mental and spiritual laws just as we do the laws of the physical world. If we were to place our hand on a hot stove top or leap from a ladder we would suffer the subsequent pain and harm accordingly. The same applies for our attitudes: if we are constantly irritated, angry, cynical, sad, and bitter, then we shall see those states reflected back to us in our environments, relationships, and circumstances.
It would be just as foolish to attribute our ills to God’s wrath, the wiles of Satan, or the capricious whims of a cruel Universe as it would be to say that the stove top had bad intent in burning our hand or that the law of gravity had a grudge in bringing us to earth after jumping from the ladder. These forces are impersonal and responsive, producing an equal and opposite reaction to the manner in which they were applied. They should be utilized in a constructive fashion which promotes, rather than negates, not only our own well-being but that of our neighbors, fellow citizens, society, and the world as a whole. But, as volitional beings, we are given the tremendous gift and responsibility of choice in thought, word, and deed:
“The word is very near you; it is in your mouth and in your heart so you may obey it. See, I set before you today life and prosperity, death and destruction…
This day I call the heavens and the earth as witnesses against you that I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses.” (Deut. 30: 14–15, 19)
Yet we are counseled to “choose life, so that you and your children may live.” (Deut. 30: 19)
The suffering incurred as we learn to obey physical, mental, and spiritual laws is valuable in so far as it acts as an aid to growing in wisdom. Life would be duller than dishwater if everything was spelled out for us. The satisfaction and sense of accomplishment comes with transcending obstacles, which are ultimately stepping stones to the realization of our good. Pain is a necessary prerequisite for progress: mothers undergo the trials of pregnancy and labor to bring forth new life; the dedicated athlete, musician, writer, artist, and scientist devote years of intense practice to learning and mastering their respective fields, and the medical patient endures the short term pain of surgery, knowing that with the removal of the physical block the healing powers of the body will be able to perform their duties.
Likewise, giving up our entrenched narratives, beliefs, and behavior patterns can be a painful — and at times downright agonizing — process. The influx of new ideas into our narrow consciousness can take on the appearance of an invading army. That is why Jesus said, “Do not suppose that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I did not come to bring peace, but a sword.” (Matthew 10:34)
Opposing this necessary uprooting of the old beliefs will lead us to continue to sin or miss our mark, reengaging in the established cycle of destructive action where we suffer needlessly. It can delve into a psychological “war in heaven” between the new constructive concepts (represented by the Lord’s army of angels) and the resisting forces of limitation (Satan and his legions). If we don’t succeed in casting out the devils born of our old ways of thinking we will find ourselves in a prison of our own making, from which we will not get out until we have paid the last penny of the coin of hard experience.
This process of involution and evolution is symbolized in the mythical “Fall of Man.” The quest, to use Paul’s terms, of “the natural man” to return to the estate of the “spiritual man” is as old as time, conveyed in the religious rites and myths of every culture and clime. Whether in the form of the countless tribulations which befell the children of Adam and Eve after the expulsion from Eden, the ordeals of mythic heroes such as Hercules, Odysseus, and the Knights of the Round Table, or the missions of great teachers like Jesus, Buddha, Moses, Muhammad, and Krishna, the method of return and reconciliation with our divine nature is laid before us.
Like the Prodigal Son of old we have, led by our personal wills, fallen hard, pining for mere scraps among the swine herds of ignorance. However, having seen the depths to which our limited understanding has dragged us, the proverbial light bulb will go off. In a contrite spirit we will begin the trek back to our Father’s house, anticipating a stinging rebuke for our utter thoughtlessness. But where we thought to find anger, there will be joy. Where we expected to encounter disappointment, there were be celebration. Anticipating a clenched fist we will be wrapped in outstretched arms, greeted with kisses, adorned with regal attire, feasted with the choicest food, and refreshed with the sweetest wine. This is the true nature of the Father’s will.
“‘You are always with me, and everything I have is yours.’” (Luke 15:31)
Knowing our true heritage as children of the Most High, we will cease to kick against the pricks of circumstance. Realizing that evil stems from misunderstanding the Laws of Life, we shall no longer actively resist it and thereby perpetuate it, but rather overcome it with right perspective, thought, speech, and action.
“Turn from evil and do good; seek peace and pursue it.” (Psalm 34: 14)
Then we can assume our rightful places as heirs to the Kingdom.
“Do not be afraid, little flock, for your Father has been pleased to give you the kingdom… Behold, the kingdom of heaven is within you.” (Luke 12:32, 17:21)
Footnotes:
- Mitch Horowitz, “Neville Goddard: A Cosmic Philosopher”, HarvBishop.com, June 8th, 2016 http://www.harvbishop.com/?p=710
- Tori Rodriguez, “Negative Emotions Are Key to Well-Being”, Scientific American, May 1st, 2013 https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/negative-emotions-key-well-being/
