The Mystery of Spirit

Introduction – A New Outlook on an Age Old Problem 1*** We need to confront ourselves more with the question ‘what is the Problem?’ if we are to get to the roots of the problem. Is the absence of purpose the problem? And what are the causes of this problem if we decide it is the root problem? Is materialism the root problem? And if so, what do we need to do about it? Is the absence of attention to powerful spiritual writings central in the maze in which we are caught? Is this related to the compartmentalization of knowledge and the segmentation of our understandings? Are we caught in both a narcissism of self-centeredness and a nihilism of meaninglessness both of which grow out of a lack of focus on certain areas referred to in this introduction? Is the absence of deep spiritual focus connected to the many extensive crimes of the powerful that most people ignore both because of their lack of convictions and because of their fear of losing their jobs or even their lives? Is the later contributing to the unhappiness pollution of the collective psyche of humanity? Indeed, what is the problem? Is there a new paradigm or model for this problem? Where do we begin on the answer to these questions? Why not by building a universal spiritual outlook that goes beyond the paths followed without rejecting the differences? Freedom would be a good first principle and it should be a responsible freedom that elevates rather than denigrates, integrates rather than separates, illuminates rather than obscures and inspires rather than distresses. Responsible Freedom or the Freedom of Responsibility does not look the other way when the powerful commit their crimes nor does it ignore those with imagination who attempt to solve the practical aspects of these eternal problems. Spiritual forces are to a great extent beyond the physical world, yet they also reach into it through nature which is an expression of spirituality in a more objectified material form. Reaching and understanding the supersensible is difficult to the extent that we are locked into a materialist viewpoint. Until we have deep shocks of whatever kind or mystical experiences the materialistic density holds sway. Materialist blocks are obstacles to spiritual development, and these must be delineated in the most careful detail. Which will be done later in this book. These obstacles express themselves in greed to gratify all the senses, including present day addictions like drugs and cell phone preoccupations. Such materialistic distractions are lower expressions of the densities of vibrations which distract attention from higher frequencies. They draw people into greediness of all sorts and away from the subtle worlds while convincing people through ‘scientific skepticism’ that there are no ’subtle’ higher worlds unless scientifically verified, which they never are, except on occasion, in which case such findings are usually ignored. But persistence overcomes time which is one product of materialism used so continuously to perpetrate any ‘scientific’ conclusions that are offered. Naturally these scientific conclusions sometimes change over time. Materialism includes the world of nature in which we live and have our being and it is interpenetrated by subtle (subtle refers to finer vibrating bodies around the physical in the aura of people and other entities and also to the higher worlds or planes) and spiritual forces and is not really separate from the spiritual world, but we should be intensely aware of the material world’s imbalances while stationing our consciousness in the ever balancing heart center. A beginning point in this book will be to focus on indicators that the world is not entirely the way we think it is, and on mystical experiences that show experiencer proofs that the world is much more than most people think it is. The indicators and proofs include several well documented experiences among which the following are: Near death experiences (NDE’s) occur sometimes when people may even be declared dead, but they leave their bodies with non-functioning brains, and come back to their bodies which is their return to some conscious form of functioning that we call life. At that point they know that the world is not only material but also spiritual since they realize that their consciousness does not die at death. NDE’s are reinforced for many people who have other out of body experiences (OBE’s). People also have various kinds of ESP including clairvoyance (clear seeing), clairaudience (clear hearing) and clairsentience (clear sensing), all of which go beyond the physical senses. In addition, people have visions, past life recollections, experiences of seeing post death appearances, encounters with trance readings, see auras, recognize synchronicities and have moments of Divine inspiration. Some of these people are like neurosurgeon Alexander Eben, who was a confirmed skeptic about such experiences until his body became comatose and his brain stopped functioning, yet he traveled in other planes or other worlds. It is encounters, experiences and accounts such as these that have set me on my quest to uncover and present as much of this valuable material as possible. One thing is certain—there is a lot of material of high value and if you look for it you will find a lot. The following chapters recount some of this life changing information. Extra sensory perception (ESP) includes telepathy (commonly referred to as mind reading or non- sensory long distance transmission of thought), clairvoyance or clear seeing with psychically developed organs that enable one to see into the higher worlds, clairaudience or clear hearing that enables one to hear spirits both in nature and from beyond in other worlds and clairsentience or clear sensing (smelling, tasting or otherwise sensing things that are not there physically). There are also visions or seeing aspects of the past such as are sometimes imprinted in rocks or in other parts of nature. Past life recollections are experienced and according to Swami master Paramahansa Yogananda, are more frequent when peoples’ spiritualities are highly developed. Post death experiences of ghosts and hauntings where spirits are caught in the in-between state of this earthly world and the lower astral are commonly reported. Even trance readings show that people actually have other subtle bodies. All of these are more expressed in powerful mystical experiences of people whose views are changed by these ineffable and mysterious events. When people see auras, of which there are multitudes of examples, their view of the world is changed, and this is especially true if they rise to the level of reading health conditions and moral development of those whose auras they have seen. More psychic and spiritual development can also result in recognizing synchronicities whose number of recognitions tend to increase when more attention is given to the possibility of synchronicities. Moments of Divine Inspiration reported by Dan Millman are perhaps one of the most telling of spiritual experiences. The acme of such experiences may be the detection of both spirits and Spirit, with the unity of the expression of spirits being sensed in Spirit. By not falling into a continually deadening skepticism about the centrality of the of the law of vibration’s action in spiritual ascension we begin to maintain a steadier vision that changes into ever higher frequencies which are most necessary to connect with the ALL. This book maintains that we need to have more face to face discussions about the need for attention on spiritual practices to further build our souls. As Jacob Needleman contended in Intermediate Christianity, we need to focus and practice more on building the soul. This view is quite consistent with the message of G. I. Gurdjieff, the founder of the influential Fourth Way spiritual school.