=kit082.txt

KIT 82 - HEAVEN AND EARTH INTERSPERSED - PART 1

            We are at a stage in the Sufi Order where the need for
illumination has become imperative. One can say that ultimately
illumination is the only thing that makes sense of life and for
many there is an almost desperate need to obtain it.

            Illumination is associated with awakening and
awakening may be described in terms of experience such as suddenly
seeing things from a different perspective. An example would be
walking in the woods and having a sense of being in a transfigured
world, one that is absolutely magical. Or being convinced that
your assessment of a problem is the way you thought it was and all
of a sudden something switches in you and you see it in another
way. Or walking in a street and instead of seeing a lot of people,
you see that it's all One Being, ourselves being the fractions,
although ultimately the total Being can never be fractionated. So
we see that our usual representation of the world is the result of
the commonplace focus of our consciousness which is rather
limited. One's vantage point can change, and the consequence is
that one's perspective on what one means by reality switches over,
clicks into a totally different perspective.

            We say that we are in pursuit of spirituality but
there is no way in which we can define it or have a clear idea of
what we mean by spirituality. We would like to make it a little
more real, however, otherwise it becomes like lip service to a
belief system. One way of doing this would be to think that what
one is trying to do is to introduce another dimension into our
commonplace lives which brings in an element that has a
transforming effect. And this idea is substantiated by the thought
'bring heaven to earth'. But when we say bring heaven to earth we
are thinking in terms of duality; we are thinking heaven up there
is to be brought down to earth. There is some contradiction in
this. The reason for this is that our picture of ourselves is
usually limited and so the heavens would be other than what we
think is ourselves, like angelic beings. We need to realize that
there are no boundaries to our being and the heavenly realms are
part of ourselves just like for example the people you love become
part of you and are continually present in you. So if we think of
the heavens as other than ourselves then we will not discover the
features of the heavens within us. To know the heaven in us we
have to unfurl the potentialities of the celestial features of
ourselves, so it's a knowing that results from doing instead of
just knowing. Of course we would like to simply try to define
those features we could ascribe to the celestial dimension of our
being as compared to those we call human. But then again we're
thinking in terms of duality because in fact they are
interspersed.

            So if our thinking stands in the way of our experience
then we have to embellish our thinking with greater wisdom so that
we are able to overcome the limitation of our mind that is
standing in the way of not only our experience but our unfoldment.
An example could be illustrated by a loaf of bread which you could
slice and then you could select any slice. Or if think of yourself
as being made of different components you could call on a certain
component to try to unfurl it.

            Likewise, the usual way of thinking is that we have
all kinds of qualities like compassion and truth and joy and peace
and so on but the holistic paradigm in our time presents us with a
much richer understanding. This could be illustrated by a hologram
which incorporates several images which are superimposed and
interspersed, it's not like a slice of bread that you can
separate. So you can toggle between the focus that brings out the
perspective on one image from the focus of consciousness which
brings out another image.

            As with a hologram, somehow our brain has the capacity
to extrapolate between those two images and the consequence is
that we see three-dimensionally otherwise we would not recognize
three dimensions. And the same thing is true in what we call
spirituality. Instead of thinking of the heavens up there and the
earth down here or even thinking that there are features in us
down here that are of the nature of the heavens we need to see
that in fact they are interspersed with our humanness. For example
in India it was believed that the Sannyasin was different from the
householder but now we're trying to see in which way they relate.

            We could of course highlight certain features in us
that would typify the angelic in us as a guideline. This is in
accordance with the teaching of Christ of being in the world but
not of the world. What Christ is saying is precisely what I'm
trying to clarify in our minds. We see people who are typically of
the world in their way of thinking and of doing, we are surrounded
by them, suffocated by them. If we follow the prescriptions of
Christ, which are crucial to our objective, we need to see what it
is in us that is not typically of the world but which we could
actualize in our behavior so that we are not pulled between two
different objectives or motivations. Any such attempt to define
them is bound to be perfunctory but still one needs to start doing
this.

            The thing that strikes me particularly is innocence.
There is a kind of cleanliness about innocence as opposed to the
kind of psychological pollution which we see around us which I
think is sacrilege and where the dividing line is very difficult.
So it is or natural innate sense of the sacred which gives us the
ability to ascertain what is inappropriate for us because it
violates our sense of the sacred. The consequence of this is that
one becomes very sensitive to any manipulative tendencies in one,
any guile, or lack of truthfulness. So the beauty of the child is
that the child will come out with the way he or she thinks without
any concern for what it does to another. But the consequence is
that the child is extremely vulnerable and fragile and can so
easily be hurt.

            Of course the celestial dimension of our being is very
vulnerable and in order to defend itself it creates a defense
system which unfortunately takes over covering the most essential
aspect of our being which is the celestial in order to protect
oneself. The consequence is that one is drawn into guile,
manipulation, being divisive, being ruthless, availing ourselves
of the kind of support system that gives us a sense of security
against our vulnerability So the whole western civilization is
clearly a support system with all kinds of amenities which aim at
being comfortable but protect us from the storms of life and the
precarious nature of our lives. The one thing that it can't really
do is to protect ourselves against pain, somehow, so that our
vulnerability is still there. Therefore the support system tends
to take over so that one has little time to care for one's soul.

            As Pir-o-Murshid says one's spirit is very vulnerable
and just a little disappointment or dishonor or anger will harm
it. Caring for the soul is something that the support system just
cannot do. In fact we must be careful that the support system does
not harm the soul. As Christ said, 'what point is there in gaining
the whole world if you lose your soul'. That is our concern in
life. If we protect ourselves then we can't experience life in all
its fullness so it means taking the good with the bad and
accepting one's vulnerability and trying to make a dream come true
and being prepared to find that one's ideal can never totally jell
in the nitty-gritty of the situation because that's not what life
is about. Life is an opportunity so that we may become better
people, wiser, more loving and illumined as we progress in
evolution.

            "Every moment in life has its mission, every moment in
life is an opportunity."
(HIK)

            "Why should this opportunity be lost? Why not use
every moment of one's life towards the accomplishment of that
purpose for which we are here? It is the question of bestirring
ourselves to make the best use of every moment of life."
PIR-O-MURSHID INAYAT KHAN

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