Tablet Four
THE
PREREQUISITES OF SPIRITUAL LIFE
<1>The prerequisites of spiritual life are
physical health, mental equilibrium (simple life), and spiritual
cleanliness (spiritual environment).
a. <2>Physical health is possible only
when a person lives in an environment where the seven basic
necessities for a strong physical body are provided:
(1) Fresh Air, which is the #1 "must." It
is the most essential physical necessity. Even the greatest
yogis cannot live without
prana
which can be found in clean fresh air.
(2) Sunshine, the second "must" in order
to gain the freshest life energies from the sun and build strong
bones and a healthy physical body.
(3) Good food, sentient, fresh, and
balanced food to be used by the body to create strong cells. The
sun also helps food to be digested properly. Food is the most
beneficial when it is cooked with a joyful group and is eaten
with the same joy by the group.
(4) Pure water, which not only gives much
prana to the person,
but also provides the essential fluid and moisture for the body,
many essential minerals, and prevents many diseases.
(5) Good rest, especially when done in
fresh air will provide happiness, joy, and contentment, which
all are very necessary for good health.
(6) Exercise, to stimulate the
circulation and provide the body and brain with more blood, ease
the work of the heart, and provide relaxation and health and
also Innersize (yoga
postures, which mostly work on the glands rather than the
muscles).
(7) Concentration and the use of the power of
the
mind, this will
help a person to use his/her healing power and provide this
power more easily for physical stability and health.
b. <3>Mental equilibrium: To acquire
a simple life to prevent the disturbance of the
mind (but not so simple that the person becomes a burden
on society). <4>Simple life does not mean escapism
<5>but avoiding those activities which provide much
stress with no beneficial results to the person or others,
such as games (when they become a show, instead of for
health purposes), luxury, too much attachment to the
external world, drugs, drinking, smoking, thinking too much
about the opposite sex, putting material gain prior to
spiritual progress, etc.
c. <6>Spiritual cleanliness: In
addition to physical and mental cleanliness, a person has to
strive to be spiritually clean. As the body becomes dirty in
a few days, the mental aspects of the human also become
soiled. Actually the
mind becomes
soiled much faster than the body, and even faster than the
mind is the
spirit that
becomes unclean (through the
mind). <7>So
we can see how important these things are: the environment
we live in, the materials we read, the shows we see, or the
people we have as our companions. They all affect our mental
and spiritual cleanliness. <8>A spiritual person not
only tries to avoid
crudifying
environments but eventually he also should be able to stay
in the equilibrium of his
mind even in the
middle of the worst environment. Otherwise (if he does not
become that strong), he will leave the society and go off to
the mountains or fall into the grip of
Maya as he loses his Soul in it.
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ENVIRONMENT
<9>Stimulation of the imagination of the human
results in raising the desires (images, the first beast in The
Revelation, chapter 13) by the environment (objects of desires,
Maya) and is the cause of the development of unspiritual
desires, and these desires bring the wanting to fulfill them. That
causes a man to pursue them heedlessly and become drowned in
Maya. Fulfillment of
desires brings attachment, and then follows greed. Greed will create
more desires, and on and on.
<10>It is true that with systematical
destruction of desires a man can overcome
Maya, but also he will destroy a potential creative part of
himself which when directed toward higher goals, is a forceful
necessity for doing great endeavors in the universe.
<11>However, it is also true that the human
should overcome and control, with The
Grace, his desires in order to transfer the desires of his lower
nature toward his higher nature.
<12>Creating a proper environment will greatly help the human
in this endeavor and will make his work much easier.
<13>In an environment where the
mind of a man is
stimulated again and again by the external world, it is almost
impossible to control the beast (desires). <14>That is why it
is the responsibility of the men, women, society, government, etc.,
to create that sentient environment which does not allow any
stimulation of the lower nature of the human.
<15>In this endeavor women have a great
responsibility. They should emphasize the beauty of their higher
selves rather than the beauty of their bodies (which should be a
channel to manifest His
Grace and be sacred to their husbands who are their soulmates).
<16>It is also true about men. They have to create manly
characteristics and emphasize their higher natures.
<17>Forgetting about the higher nature of the
human will throw them into that state which is described as the city
of Gomorrah or other lost civilizations such as the last days of the
Roman Empire, and results in the destruction of the society. <18>If
we do not understand these truths and do not follow them because of
our limited egos, soon we
will see the effect of our actions individually and collectively,
and will become another example for the future humans. <19>It
is the Law of the universe to develop our higher natures and help
others to do the same. Otherwise we are going against the Law and
The Plan in the universe, and that always leads to self-destruction.
<20>In short, anything that stimulates the lower
self of the person, others, or collective society, should be
avoided.
PURITY
(PURITY OF BODY, MIND,
AND ENVIRONMENT)
<21>
In order to become pure, you have to have a
pure heart and mind. To
have a pure heart and
mind, a pure environment
is necessary -- but not in the case of the man who keeps his
mind
immersed in the higher thoughts (God)
all the time.
<22>However, to remain in such higher thoughts so that the
cruel environment does not affect the person is a difficult task and
needs much training of the
mind. With the background
of many people in this age, and with the speed of life in our
society, for many it is a very hard thing to do.
<23>Therefore, the first step toward purity is
to create an environment where man can concentrate on higher
thoughts with the least disturbance, or in other words, to create an
environment where the stimulation of the lower nature becomes
minimal.
<24>As we know, man's goal in life is to
be(come)
Divine, which is to
reach
Pure
Consciousness and help others to reach there also. And we know
the
lower nature of
man is made up of those propensities which he shares with
animals, such as thirst, hunger, sex, need for shelter, etc.
Although it is necessary for this part of man to be moderately
satisfied, too much emphasis on these things will result in bringing
man to his lower nature and will cause him to be lost in the ocean
of
Maya. Then the man will
lose his true goal of the life and become an impure, lost soul.
<25>Again we see that establishing the Kingdom
Of Heaven within is almost an impossibility without establishing the
Kingdom Of Heaven without.
<26>As the body becomes dirty in a day or two
because of the unclean particles outside of it, the
mind
becomes dirty even faster than that. If we want to have clean bodies
all the time, then we should stay in the shower twenty-four hours a
day. That is also true about the
mind and
spirit. If we want to
keep our minds clean and pure, then we should stay in His Shower of
Grace twenty-four hours a
day in order to prevent any impurities from entering into the
consciousness. That is why we should love Him with all our
mind, all our heart, and all our being twenty-four hours of the
day. That is the only way if we want to stay pure in a crude
environment, and that is the only way if we want to eventually
create a pure environment also. <27>"We make the world with
our thoughts, and the world makes our thoughts." Therefore, there
should be a simultaneous
purification of
the environment and an individual's
mind.
<28>Only after we have created a pure
mind might we understand
Him and His Laws on deeper levels, and then we are able to keep our
bodies and Souls pure also. Then a person will become pure in heart,
<29>and only the pure in heart can see
God.
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