(sequel to DELUSIONS—Pragmatic Realism)
Chapter
2
WHERE
WE ARE
Do
what you can, with what you have, where you are.
Theodore
Roosevelt,
26th
U.S, President (1858—1919)
For
countless years, probably countless millennia if not millions of years, we
imagined that we live on Earth for no particular reason, other than to survive
for as long as we could. This, after all, seems to be the principal
preoccupations of other species, of other animals, who have not yet began to
create their own, artificial realities.
And then came the mystics, prophets and even messiahs.
They, until recently, had been the only ones who suggested
that we are more than flesh and bones. That we can create realities that we
can pretend to be real. They also suggested that life on Earth is not the only
form of existence, but rather a transient state of becoming, when-after we
shall move, on ‘dying’ (vacating our illusory bodies), to a higher reality.
Those ideas were summarily exploited by men who created religions, for the sole
purpose of controlling man’s minds. For what purpose they did so, we shall
leave for now. While they tended to live in unprecedented luxury compared to
those whose minds they controlled, they were also directly responsible for
creating, installing and protecting countless architectural, sculptural and
paining treasures, which, to this day, we recognize as works of art, and that
often serve as an inspiration to wonderful compositions of music.
And then came Albert Einstein and, with a single sentence
upset the philosophical, religious and even practical apple cart. He proclaimed
that:
“Reality is merely an illusion, albeit a
very persistent one.”
So much for life on Earth.
Unless...
Unless the only purpose of life on Earth is to prepare a
state of consciousness in which we want to spend extended periods of time. Some
Mahatmas1 claim that the stages between reincarnations in the
‘valley of tears’ can last, on
average, 1500 years.
Hence, we don’t retire to do nothing for ever-after, to
exist eternally in a state abysmal boredom usually referred to as Heaven, but
be retire to Devachan, which is a
temporary abode which:
“...is regarded as the place where most souls go after death where
desires are gratified, corresponding to the Christian belief in Heaven.
However, Devachan is a temporary intermediate state of being before the soul's
eventual rebirth into the physical world.”
(H.P.
Blavatsky, The Theosophical Glossary.
Theosophical Publishing Society, 1892, page 98)
Let us make sure that we do not confuse Devachan with the
Christian version of Purgatory,
which is far, far more unpleasant state of consciousness than Devachan. While
Devachan can be a stint wherein we are rewarded for having created the existence of joy and pleasure, the
Purgatory is a purely punitive condition. According to Christian doctrine, we
are not sent there as a reward, but a punishment. After all, all Christianity
is built on the carrot and the stick philosophy with the absolutes of Heaven
and Hell as unchangeable, irrevocable, permanents states of consciousness.
Alas, for the rest of us, we prefer to believe in the
Christ’s teaching, and not in the perverted version of it promulgated by the
sacerdotal fraternities. After all, Christ said that “Kingdom of God is
within you” (Luke 17:21). We must assume that the Kingdom of God is as close to
Heaven as we can get.
Nevertheless, H.P. Blavatsky, purporting the philosophy of
theosophy, assures us that:
“Through Wisdom and Knowledge, one can reach
Nirvana and be free from the cycle of birth and death, and even the "false
bliss" of Devachan.”
(H.P. Blavatsky, The Secret
Doctrine)
We wouldn’t be able to verify if the bliss of Davanchan is
real, unless we’ve been there. There are, however, a number of people
throughout history who have strong recollections of previous lives.
On the other hand, we cannot confirm Blavatsky’s thesis as,
to my knowledge, no one yet achieved “absolute Wisdom and Knowledge”, hence failed to return to
Earth.
As for life on Earth, it all sounds fairly promising until
we return to Einstein. As our phenomenal reality is to be no more than an
illusion, it seems that we are creating it with our minds, with our thoughts
and desires, and eventually with our resulting actions. We and we alone seem
to create realities that we regard as real.
Beauty for one is mundane for another.
Riches for one is near poverty for another.
Physical possession for one, are but irons restricting our
freedom for another.
Even happiness of one is a state of boredom for some.
And so forth.
I’d suggest that the only purpose of our life in the illusory reality of the phenomenal Earth is to practice and prepare our
consciousness for extended periods we are about to spend in Devachan. After
all, 1500 years might be regarded as eternity by some who chose conditions
which, in higher reality of Devachan might have no value at all.
Reenter the mystics, prophets and messiahs.
From a mundane point of view, there is one thing that sets
them apart. They had the knowledge, and hence the power, to manipulate matter.
Now that we know that (according to our science) all matter is energy at different
rates of vibrations, and that our reality is an illusion, this ability sounds a lot easier to accept.
All we need do, here and now, is to
imagine what our “heaven” should be like, and act as though we could bring it
about. We know that like attracts like, no matter how illusory. If you believe
in happiness, the chances are much greater that you will be happy. The same
goes for all other traits of character which, being a state of consciousness,
is the only energy that is real. Yes, even here, on Earth.
So all we really must do, here, on Earth, in this illusory
reality, is to make sure that our likes and dislikes are such as would assure
our happiness for at least 1500 years. Later, in another stint on Earth, we
might change our minds and reach out even higher.
I strongly suspect that Devachan is merely another state of
consciousness, in which we create a reality that suits our predilections, at
least for a while.
But whatever happens, whatever the truth about building
one’s reality of one thing I am certain. There is no “requiescat in pace”, and
that would be my version of Hell. Imagine even 1500 years of undisturbed peace
without any challenges to conquer.
Not for me.
Hence, to repeat
Theodore Roosevelt, “Do what you can, with what you have, where you are.”
(1)
Mahatma means "great soul", derived from Sanskrit (maha) meaning
"great" and (atman) meaning "soul, spirit, life".
(To be continued in a few days. In the meantime, enjoy DELUSIONS.)
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