This blog is the first in a series that seeks to illuminate some very basic spiritual principles and then take a deeper dive so that an integration between personal and collective can hopefully occur. In order to get into it, we must have an understanding of the 7 Hermetic Principles, the first of which states that the Universe is Mental. The All is Mind. This principle recognizes the existence of a Universal Consciousness and places it as the genesis of existence while highlighting the idea that we are all connected by this source. Everything flows from this Law, including all the Laws that follow like Polarity, Gender, Vibration, Rhythm, Cause and Effect, as well as Correspondence. As above, so below. Correspondence is the concept that the Universe is a macrocosm of which the human being is a microcosm. It speaks to the fractal nature of reality. The idea that each part contains the whole. It’s why we see similarities between galaxies and neural circuitry in the brain, Mandelbrot sequencing, the mathematics involved in conch shells, the spirals of a pinecone, and so on and so forth. These geometric patterns are often seen in the psychedelic experience or under the influence of powerful plant medicines, where the holographic nature of reality is revealed as if offering some insight into the way it functions by dissolving the ego for a period. To those that are attached to their sense of self or their separateness, this process is often terrifying. To those who are more awakened, the experience tends to bring freedom and relinquishes the fear of death.
These ideas are important in terms of how it relates to the current crisis involving the viral pandemic that is causing so much disruption and fear. In order to understand these challenging times more completely we must sift through several dichotomies and paradoxes, one of which concerns the differences between Eastern and Western philosophy through the ages. In Eastern philosophy, the teachings and disciplines are directed at shedding the masks of individuality and destroying egoism, which is considered the true enemy. The objective universe, the ego, the gross and subtle body, are all seen as unreal and imagined by the mind. The “I” is the part of us that “wants” and is desirous of pleasure and dedicated to the avoidance of pain. Self mastery is found in the shedding of these concepts as a way to dissolve into the All that is. The idea is to connect with the part of the self that is aware of all these undulating thoughts and feelings rather than identifying with the thoughts and feelings themselves. To be a Buddha, or Awakened One, is to become conscious of the identity not of the body but to the knower of the body, nor with thought but the knower of thought. In this way, one can step outside the self and connect with pure consciousness and then radiate the power of this Light. Of course, Buddha would then say to take it a step further and disconnect from the Awarer as well.
In direct contrast to these concepts is Western philosophy, which values the individual above all else and with it the ideas of personal rights, freedom, and self-hood. With this comes all the outward directed tendencies of this philosophical mindset. Accumulation of knowledge. Manifest Destiny. Scientific Materialism. The principles of the East are completely absent from any religious doctrines found in the West. In the Western ideologies, God made the World, God made man, God made Nature and none of it is considered identical. In fact, anyone who has suggested this idea has been crucified. Jesus said “I and the Father are One” and look what happened to him. Similarly, the Moslem mystic Hallaj uttered a similar sentiment 9 centuries later and suffered the same fate.
This is not meant to condemn all of Western thought and ideology in favor of Eastern concepts. Each has their positives and negatives. What we so desperately need is to find an integration, a balance of these polarities. Western freedom of thought in the Age of Enlightenment brought about reason and science and is a necessary function of our evolution. The dissolving of the ego to the point of submission has lead, at times, to totalitarianism in the East.
But as it concerns the recent viral outbreak, Eastern countries response of containment had the power of their government agencies to aggressively enforce lockdown, hampering the spread of the disease. Not making a case for totalitarian regimes, just highlighting the idea that Eastern countries, because of their age old philosophies, are more easily able to subjugate the will of the individual for the sake of the collective. On one hand, it’s anathema to human freedom and on the other it has the potential to show us that we are all one. Western philosophy’s egocentrism sees forced quarantines as an affront to personal freedom, which is why we see such irreverence towards containment here in the states, as well as the “me first” attitudes inherent in hoarding. Currently, these dichotomies are very apparent and yet obfuscated at the same time. In the face of this threat, we must make sure to not give away our civil liberties and yet, it’s necessary to quarantine in order to save the lives of people we love dearly. We must use our reasoning capabilities and listen to science and yet we also must also be still enough to connect with our intuition.
The disciplines of Western philosophy have given us science and technology. They’ve made our lives easier and increased our life spans. But we’ve suffered dehumanization and environmental collapse. The individual has been reduced to a cog in the machine of an Industrialized Technological society that has wreaked havoc on every other living thing on the planet, including the planet herself. We’ve lost the deeper meaning, instead, opting to send rockets deep into space searching for an understanding of our place in the scheme of it all. These are the consequences of identifying too heavily with the ego, separateness, and scientific materialism. By contrast, the disciplines of the Orient are by nature inward pointing, mystical, and psychological. The journey inward into the self produces meaning, the ultimate realization being the connectedness of all things. If all individuals (Western) were to embark on this journey inward through discipline and a quieting of the ego (Eastern), then a balance could be established.
We are entering a New Age that requires a new type of awareness, not the youthful fantasizing of technological transcendence, but a return to the wisdom of the ages. A merger of the eastern and western philosophies is necessary to face the challenges of the future. An understanding and integration of the individual as well as the collective. We mustn’t look outward for salvation through technology, robots, and AI, although these could be useful tools in the hands of an enlightened population. Instead, we should go deep within and unlock the power of personal salvation. Then and only then will we have the spiritual equivalent of our technological powers.
Astrologically, we are about to see Saturn enter into Aquarius, which is the sign of the collective. Saturn by nature is restrictive and requires hard work and maturity to master its lessons. So, at first, there will be constraints and regulations such as social distancing, containment, and quarantines. There will be losses of freedom until we are mature enough to recognize our collective identity. A period of growing up to the understanding of social responsibility needs to occur. We may also begin to see hard work being directed towards more pervasive technology as well as efforts placed into humanitarian aid. So you can see the themes of enslavement combined with a form of social consciousness. This is the beginning of a New Age that is not without its perils. A new beginning signals the end of something else and this change will see our religious symbols begin to crumble and lose their meaning. What will replace them?
A little over a century ago, when the railroad industry cut across the plains, the wheat planting settlers killed all the buffalo herds in order to make way for the Iron Horse. They were also depriving the buffalo hunting Indians of their food supply, which forced them to submit to life on the reservations. These devastating developments offered two conflicting scenarios for the plains Indians. One was a type of enslavement. The other was a new relationship to religion. For all primitive hunting peoples, as well as the plains Indians, their relationship to the animal community that provided food and clothing was central to their religion. With that suddenly gone, a new relationship to their spirituality had to be born and within a decade, the peyote and mescal cult erupted from Mexico as a type of psychological rescue.
In the Biblical story of Eden and the Fall of Man, we find that Man is against God, Nature is against God, and Man and Nature are against each other. In effect, all three are at war. God’s own likeness (Man), God’s own Creation (Nature), and God Himself are separate and in conflict. Whereas, in the Eastern philosophies, Nature is but the bosom with which we are born and die. Man comes out of Nature so they cannot be separate from one another. We are in Nature and it is within Us. God, or the Creative principle in the Universe, is flowing through it all, giving it life and breath. As soon as we put a name to God, or anthropomorphize Him, then He becomes separate and outside of all of existence. In the West, we have named this God and placed Him high above us and outside of us in a way that has become dangerous and obsolete. In the East, the journey is inward into the self towards actualization of the presence within and the disciplines are directed towards this aim. God is meant to be awakened within and not only is God within us but flowing through everything that exists and has ever existed. It’s an important distinction and speaks to the destruction we have levied upon Mother Nature and it’s inhabitants including ourselves.
We’re entering a time of transition, where many outdated religious symbols have lost their meaning and people are adrift. Just like the plains Indians, we are in need of a new relationship to our spirituality. Perhaps this is why the West’s destruction of the rainforests have unleashed the power of Ayahuasca and a host of other Ancient teacher plants from the Amazon. Psilocybin mushrooms and LSD are being recognized for their healing potential. For many, this is a time of chaos and confusion that could certainly lead to enslavement if liberties are relinquished. But for others, it is a call to return to ancient wisdom and awaken to the power of Love that is contained within each of us. This is not meant to discredit the teachings of Jesus of Nazareth but to further point out what he was really preaching. The Kingdom of Heaven is within. It is not an external Godhead figure to be worshipped and that stands outside of yourself and Nature. It is not the fetishization of human sacrifice. It is an energy that moves through everything at all times. It is the Father and our Universe is the Mother. It is the Creative Force and our precious Earth is it’s container. A synergy must occur. I believe this is what is meant by the Second Coming of Christ. It is not an external personage that comes back to judge the living and the dead but a resurgence of Christ Consciousness in the individuals who awaken it within themselves through mediation, discipline, compassion, and Love. In this way, individuals that choose this path become beacons of pure consciousness and light. This power will emanate from them in ways that will help to illuminate this innate intelligence in others and one by one the world will be ignited in this glowing Spirit.
