Today, the fear of many a despot has become a reality. The world has in fact become a global village, and as a direct consequence of this we now have more freedom to exchange information in order to confer what is and what is not true. As events now take place at a much quicker pace than in the past, change is constant. Fear that was once implemented to maintain control no longer has a lasting effect. One of the recent tyrannical powers to fall was communism, and the remnants of this power are quickly disappearing. The birth of the New Age has brought forth more knowledge directly dismantling the fear of the unknown.

True knowledge enlightens and clearly brings with it new consequences. Now, a much greater effort must be made in order to embrace this reality, as more work needs to be carried out as we look for sustainable solutions so that regression cannot set in quickly and stifle away the new found liberty.

One particular area where there is a lot of pressure for change is in the spiritual. This is clearly evident through the enormous quantity of New Age music, philosophies and alternative ways of thinking. There is a burning desire for the spirit to seek a clearer understanding of itself and its place within the scheme of things, for example, what is its relationship with today’s religions and dogmas? As this pressure unleashes, the fetters of religious doctrines and dogmas are becoming undone and the established hierarchies are under constant attack. Their intellectually rigid principles are already crumbling under the unyielding radiating force of the truth. This is clearly evident in the scandals and other headline news we are bombarded with on a daily basis, namely the large number of clergy-sex crimes coming to light.

What is the true relationship between the spirit and the intellect? How can the intellect be more powerful that the spirit? Can the intellect be evil and manipulating? Why does evil exist at all? Which is more powerful, the intellect or the spirit? Which is the master and which is the servant? Which one has everlasting life, and which one disintegrates with the degeneration of matter? Why is there a spirit? Is human life really necessary at all? Can the spirit be evil? Why do some people like to exercise dominion over others to exist, and where does this phenomenon come from? What can you do to avoid yourself from being overcome by your own spiritual shortsightedness? Why is spiritual awareness so intrinsically important to you? Why bother at all?

Indeed a barrage of questions that need urgent answers. So where can you find the true answers to fully satisfy your hunger and undo the confusion you find yourself in today? Are these answers found externally or internally, and do you need a special course to be able to understand the answers whatever they may be? There is a simple answer to this conundrum. In order to recognize if an answer is right or wrong you must first ask a precise question. The answer may not appear instantaneously. In fact, there is no precise time as such for the answer. This time will automatically arrive when the conditions for it are right and most importantly you yourself are able to recognize the answer as it stares you right in the face.

It is much like panning for gold. There is indeed little sense in gold prospecting if you do not understand anything about it, for one elementary reason. You could be standing on it without even being aware of the fact. Through learning about it and understanding geology you can determine the likely places where it can be found, but you must also learn how to extract it from the accompanying elements. Thus the obvious thing to do is to study about it. Nevertheless, this study must be meticulous and fully understood before venturing off into the unknown with your shovel and pan. The same rule applies to acquiring knowledge about the spirit and why it exists, if it exists at all? The fact that it cannot be seen is a concern to many people but through man’s experiences and historical writings from time immemorial we are quite certain of its existence. This is understood by all mankind, tribal and civilized, both in the past and today too.

So where can you go looking to find the right material for enlightenment? And most importantly how do you know you have found it, and what will you do after finding it? How can you be certain that what you have encountered is not just another misstep on your return journey to the spiritual homeland? Is it in the Bible? Is it in the Koran? Is it in the Mahabharata or in the Torah? Do all the roads lead to heaven? How can you differentiate the truth from fiction? How can you untangle the mess that maybe you have helped create over the millennia in order to justify man’s own personal interests to the detriment of true spiritual teachings? What experience have you gained in order to know that what you intuitively feel is right, despite it coming into direct conflict with what is in front of you in black and white? Who can you turn to in your time of doubt?

Earth is a special place and its creation happened for a specific reason. It is found within the material part of Creation, and as such will also cease to exist eventually. It is not eternal like the spiritual world. The spirit belongs to this world and its essence is of a completely different nature to what we understand as physical matter. The spiritual world of the human spirit is located at the furthest point away from the Creator: the source of energy in creation. It is at such a distant place from the source of the Creator’s energy that its permanence within the spiritual realm is impossible. For various reasons, because of its physical distance, the weakness of the radiation it vibrates in, and also the very nature of the essence of the human spirit. In order for the spirit to gain an upgrade and get closer to a stronger radiation, consequently ensuring its place in the spiritual homeland, the spirit must attain self awareness. To do this the spirit must learn about itself; basically it must freely choose to be part of Creation, hence freewill. Yes, there is freewill but with it come the consequences and responsibilities in exercising it.

Exercising freewill cannot take place in the spiritual world as the velocity there is so fast that any kind of decision making is completely impossible. For you to have an idea of the how fast things are there, the saying: ‘a day in heaven is like a thousand days on earth’, gives you a rough idea as to just how fast things are. On earth due to gravity and other mechanical limitations things move at a much slower speed. Things move so slowly that they materialize, that is you can touch and feel things, emotions too, and everything takes on a physical form and shape, hence the need of the human body.

In order for the spirit to journey on earth it must incorporate inside a material body or casing, otherwise it is defenseless and unable to manipulate this material environment. This is necessary so that it can benefit from its presence here by learning how to exercise its freewill and consequently attain self-awareness. We spirits are here to do this alone and not work towards the accumulation of material goods. Material goods are here to be used as a tool in the accomplishment of the goal of self-awareness. Material goods perish, we leave them behind, as we journey onwards to our spiritual homeland in the hereafter. The only thing we take with us into the hereafter is the quality of our deeds carried out whilst we journeyed in physical matter, be they good or bad, and this is our baggage. This is our personal inheritance. There is no escaping the effects of these actions. No matter how intellectually you may want to imagine your way out of your self-imposed responsibilities. Everything you think, wish, experience and do during your several passages on earth, you and you alone are directly responsible for them and the weight they carry.

Why go to all this trouble then? What is the use in returning to the spiritual homeland as an enlightened spirit? What is reincarnation? Why not just live a life of wantonness and lust? All valid questions that can only be fully explained in future essays.

If you truly seek an explanation, so that you can understand in your own time and manner and develop spiritually, read the book by Abd-ru-shin: “In the Light of the Truth - The Grail Message”. Here you will feed your spirit and rekindle the flame, and this will certainly give you a driving force to trek on with purpose and clarity each day as you awake.

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Bernard Cajetan Rangel