A Devil of an Ego

"The Devil made me do it!", is a sentence used to indicate a lack of control, a shoddy sense of discipline, a capitulation to a power outside one's own sphere of influence.

That last paragraph is just slightly less confusing than most folks' conception of what the "Devil" means and what "he" does...

Being spiritual demands a certain discipline. It's not easy, not "natural" for "intelligent animals".

Here's a few more of my beliefs:

We're both spiritual and animal, at least while on earth.

The "devil" is our uncontrolled use of our egos.

True spiritual living is arduous and not "natural" for the part of our nature that's fleshy and "of the earth"...

So, now, I'll quote what I feel is a marvelous statement that sums all this up (from the compilation, Reality}:

“Arise, O people, and, by the power of God’s might, resolve to gain
the victory over your own selves, that haply the whole earth may be
freed and sanctified from its servitude to the gods of its idle
fancies—gods that have inflicted such loss upon, and are
responsible for the misery of their wretched worshippers.”

Bahá’u’lláh: Tablets of Bahá’u’lláh, p. 86

Merely Human Effort

I've been quoting from the compilation of Spiritual Writings I compiled last year, Reality. I'm certainly not going to put all the excerpts here (305 pages worth), I'm picking and choosing the ones I feel fit into this blogging medium.

One reminder: clicking on the Reality link in that last paragraph will take you to the page where you can download that book for absolutely no cash...

I think I'm gonna leave any commentary on today's quote in abeyance 'till there's at least one of your comments:

“How truly hath he [Muhammad] said: ‘All human attainment moveth
upon a lame ass, whilst Truth, riding upon the wind, darteth across
space.’”

(Bahá’u’lláh: The Kitáb-i-Íqán, paragraph 204, pp. 172-173)

Mind Over Matter

Today's quote from Reality is quite a challenge for many people:

“The spirit is changeless, indestructible. The progress and development of
the soul, the joy and sorrow of the soul, are independent of the physical
body.”

‘Abdu’l-Bahá

It sure seems that the body rules feelings and determines joy and sorrow...

What about people who experience great bodily pain from violent attacks, either from germs or other humans?

And, what about those people who have these bodily pains and continue to radiate joy and contentment?

Yes, they certainly seem few and far between but is that any reason to deny the truth that the soul exists far beyond the limitations of the body.

Seems it all depends on the volition to train ourselves to master the insistence of our merely bodily demands.

What are your experiences with this kind of effort?

Spirit and Mind

The next quote from Reality is a bit longer then the first few and its form is more like a science talk than poetry. Some folk feel that Spirituality and Science are forever-antagonistic fields. I feel this quote puts that feeling to a test...

“The logical proof of the immortality of the spirit is this, that no sign can
come from a nonexisting thing -- that is to say, it is impossible that from
absolute nonexistence signs should appear -- for the signs are the
consequence of an existence, and the consequence depends upon the
existence of the principle. So from a nonexisting sun no light can radiate;
from a nonexisting sea no waves appear; from a nonexisting cloud no rain
falls; a nonexisting tree yields no fruit; a nonexisting man neither
manifests nor produces anything. Therefore, as long as signs of existence
appear, they are a proof that the possessor of the sign is existent.”

‘Abdu’l-Bahá

We seem to have a logical statement that shows that, if we see "Signs" of our Souls or Spirits, the Sign itself proves the existence of the Spiritual entity...

What are your thoughts?

Souls and Suns

The quote from Reality for today is:

“The soul of man is the sun by which his body is illumined, and from which it draweth its sustenance, and should be so regarded.”

Bahá’u’lláh

Once again we have the words "man" and "his" which in the original language of this Writer were non-sexually differentiated occurrences.

This statement would imply that we're not a body which gives life to a soul...

Seems to me that some folks claim they believe the soul is the primary factor of Life yet their actions (and hidden fears) say their soul is getting treated like a second-class cosmic citizen...

What are your thoughts and observations?

Spirituality and Religion

The quote from Reality for today is:

“The understanding of His words and the comprehension of the utterances of the Birds of Heaven are in no wise dependent upon human learning. They depend solely upon purity of heart, chastity of soul, and freedom of spirit.”

Bahá’u’lláh

Of course, the "His" in that quote refers to God. By the way I've recently learned that English is one of those languages that does not contain a word for an Entity that has no particular sexual designation. Languages like Arabic and Persian do have such a word and the various gender advocacy groups have less of a problem with the name for God.

"Birds of Heaven" refers to the various Manifestations or "Prophets" that have written Scriptures in the various World Religions.

"... are in no wise dependent upon human learning." makes most of the human writings about the Scriptures rather "suspect"--at least their particular opinions should be approached with spiritual care, eh?

To me the rest of the quote, which explores what an understanding of the World's Scriptures does depend upon, is awesomely beautiful...

None of that recriminatory, "my interpretation is right, yours is wrong!" or "Our Faith is right and yours is wrong!".

It leaves the Spirituality we garner from our various Religions' Scriptures squarely between the Individual and God.

Lovely!

REALITY

Haven't posted here in quite a while...

Dealing with "reality"...

Pondered about what could be a continuing "topic" for this blog...

We'll be staying with the over-arching theme of "Spiritual Commentary on Current Events" but shifting the persistent focus to that very old question (and its many answers):

What Is Reality ?

I recently published a volume of spiritual quotes obtained from a much larger volume of spiritual writings. I'd compiled it after I returned to the "World" from the depths of an emotional "Melt Down". I needed strength to carry on with the tasks of living in "Reality" so I consulted the best "reference book" I could find; I spent a good part of every day (for three months) perusing that source; found myself selecting the quotes that had the most "Strength" to help me keep moving forward; ended up publishing my own compilation from that source work; and, finally, named it Reality and made it free to download and only publisher's cost to purchase in print.

It's my gift to others who may be struggling to hold on to "Reality"...

To get you thinking and to begin a process of offering my own explanations of the contents of this Spiritual Compilation, here's the first excerpt:

"Dost thou reckon thyself only a puny form
When within thee the universe is folded?"

Bahá’u’lláh

I'm going to forgo personal commentary on this one till I receive some feedback...

What does it mean to you?