Brexit

Notwithstanding the fact that I consider leaving (or staying in) the European Union to be a bit of side issue, all things considered, I've put a few thoughts about it on Albion Awakening. 

What I mean by 'side issue' is that it doesn't really matter whether Britain is in or out as long as we continue with our materialistic way of life. I have no doubt that the EU as a body is antipathetic to any real spiritual awakening because of its imposition of a sort of universalist, bland humanitarianism which it cheekily calls 'European values' but which is actually just a false substitute for real spirituality from which it borrows some of the external trappings. But nothing can change at a fundamental level, which is what it needs to do, without a widespread repentance or metanoia which means more or less the same thing but implies, to me at any rate,  a deeper conversion and greater willingness to submit to the necessary scouring of the soul.

Remember The Creator

I have a book coming out at the end of March published by Axis Mundi. It's called 'Remember the Creator' which is something I was told by my teachers many years ago. Very simple, isn't it? In fact, it's almost trite from a spiritual point of view. And yet it's the key to everything. It's also the key to the ongoing descent into chaos in the world today, a descent that is frequently unrecognised or not admitted to but is intuitively sensed by many people even if the majority don't associate it with a spiritual problem. We have forgotten the Creator. And even when people do acknowledge God, that is often within a worldly context in that he is slotted into a largely humanist scenario or seen from within a religion with that, as an ideology, primary and the living, breathing (spirit means breath) God, secondary. 

When we recognise the reality of God, everything turns around. But I mean really recognise not just give intellectual assent to. Our attitude towards ourselves, towards others, towards the world and towards life changes completely. Our motives change, our purpose changes. Our concepts of good and bad, of truth and falsehood, of beauty and love, all these things change. In a way, we are now foreigners to the rest of humanity, those who still live in the world of illusion, a world in which God has no part and they have complete autonomy over themselves.

This is what the book is about. Here is the blurb on the back cover. 

Remember the Creator is a book about the reality
of God and how to become aware of that reality.

Starting from personal experience, it moves on to look at the
evidence for God’s existence and then considers what sort of God he might be. The teachings of Buddhism and Advaita Vedanta are examined but seen as incomplete in the light of the truth that the deepest level of reality must include the personal. Further chapters discuss atheism, morality and suffering, and how these are to be understood from the perspective of a Creator and his purpose in creating, before the conclusion is reached that any true revival of spirituality in the West should be linked to Christ. Finally, we reflect on the modern world and ask what humanity needs to do to throw off the strong sense of alienation it currently suffers from.

And here are links to its pages on Amazon U.K. and Amazon U.S. where you can, if you wish, browse through some of the pages.

Christ and Liberalism

One of the new arbiters of public morality, that's to say, a female pop star, has recently criticised somebody who taught in a school that refused to accept homosexual students as the worst of all Christians. This is not unexpected from a person of that background. What is relatively new is the seriousness with which this pronouncement has been taken by the media. It shows how far the takeover of the establishment by the left has proceeded. Even if you say that it's to sell copy, which is undoubtedly true, in the past that would still have been a priority but it would not have resulted in such widespread reporting of the incident, with the sub-text that any right-minded person will obviously agree with the pop star. 

Now, I certainly think that to refuse to accept homosexuals as students is wrong as long as they abide by whatever the rules of the school they go to may be. That should go without saying. But that was not really the point being made. The point is the old one of how being a Christian means loving your neighbour and being tolerant (for which read not put up with but be fully accepting of) any differences he might have. We're all one and no one is better than anyone else as regards their 'lifestyle' choices, and most other things as well. 

But this is not what being a Christian means at all. If it were, you might as well say we should love Satan and think his behaviour was also a 'lifestyle' choice, no different, really, to that of Jesus. Christianity means loving God and "if you love me, keep my commandments". That's to say, there are two things for the Christian and both are equally important. There is love, intelligently directed, and there is the law, and you cannot have one without the other. If there was no law, as the pop singer appears to think, certainly in this case, then there could be no sin but the idea of sin is a fundamental part of Christianity for that is what Christ came to save us from, the sin of ignorance of the law, on the one hand, and rebelliousness against it, on the other.

For Christians there are two acceptable states as regards the sexual instinct. There is marriage and there is celibacy. Because the sexual instinct is the strongest we have, its proper functioning is essential, and past societies, Christian or not, have mostly known this and sought to regulate it. But we have jettisoned this wisdom with the result that we are separating ourselves more and more from any spiritual connection. For it is the case that atheism leads to sexual licence and that in turn feeds back into more atheism. It does this partly because it increases identification with the physical body and partly because it accentuates self.

Christians are enjoined to love their neighbour, yes. But they are also enjoined, primarily enjoined actually, to love God. God is truth. If my neighbour flouts truth in his behaviour, which the practice of homosexuality obviously does as it distorts and deforms the creative energy which is a sacred thing,  I should still love him but I do not love his behaviour and am entitled, or even obliged, to condemn that.  Love your neighbour means exert yourself to his spiritual good. It does not mean accept behaviour which will lead him away from God. It certainly does not mean giving sinful and virtuous behaviour equal consideration. That is not love. It is contempt for the good.

Auguries of Innocence

God appears, and God is light,
To those poor souls who dwell in night;
But does a human form display
To those who dwell in realms of day.

Some reflections on these lines of William Blake on Albion Awakening.

My Kingdom is Not of this World

As the world sinks more and more deeply into illusion and ignorance with evil masquerading as good and the true good viewed as, at best, madness, we should remind ourselves of one thing. Ultimately, it doesn't matter. In fact, it may well be that it must be so.  True spiritual awareness can only really be established in the human heart on an individual basis when everything outwardly conspires against it. Only then can we say that any spirituality we might possess actually is our own and not acquired from outside.

It has always been the case that those who wish to follow the teachings of Christ with their whole being (and what other way is there to follow them?) find themselves at odds with the world. This does not just mean in an obvious way in that they are not interested in fame and fortune, but in less obvious ways too. Even spirituality, when interpreted in a way that conforms to worldly sentiment and opinion, must be rejected. The world is always the enemy of the spiritual even if there have been times when that is less pronounced than today, and there have been cultures that have tried to model themselves on a heavenly pattern.

But now that is certainly not the case. Now the spiritual has been decisively rejected and where it is allowed, it is so diluted by worldly values and ideals, meaning values and ideals that accommodate the worldly human being, that it is practically worthless. It has been robbed of inner meaning and cut down to reflect this world. It has been, if you'll forgive the analogy, effectively castrated which may be why so many modern church leaders resemble nothing so much as spiritual eunuchs, men without fire or passion.

However, this is not a cause for too much lamentation. It's a shame to see the good of the past thrown away and trampled underfoot. Let us not forget, though, that the past was far from good from a higher perspective. What was good in it was merely a reflection of the true good as it exists in the higher worlds. That will not be, it cannot be, lost. It is eternal.

And then there is the fact that this time of universal falling away from truth was foretold. It is the beginning of the end. That is surely quite an exciting thing. We must be careful not to get carried away by this excitement though. Those who complacently imagine themselves to be saved while others are not might be in for a surprise. What is required of us these days is that we watch and pray, meaning that we attend to the signs of Christ's presence and strive to align our hearts and minds with God. We must be detached from the world but, at the same time, speak out, insofar as we can, and let others know how the world is falling away from goodness and truth. Most people will not be interested, but some may be and, at least, we will know that we are not contributing to the evil state of affairs by our silence.

Evil today is only recognised when it is obvious. When it incorporates violence or hatred. But evil is basically that which works against good, and good is spiritual. It is what leads to higher spiritual awareness. Evil, therefore, is that which works against proper spiritual awareness. By that definition, we live in a very evil world and much that is thought of as good is actually evil. Many people who believe they are working for good are really on the side of evil. This includes all sorts of people involved in movements for social and political change.  Naturally such people would completely reject this interpretation of their actions and beliefs, but that is because they lack any real spiritual understanding which means any understanding of what the world is, what the human being is and what life is for. And often, it has to be said, they lack this understanding because of personal failings within themselves. For if you truly sense the good, you must acknowledge the source of this good which has to be God. These people are clearly not bad people outwardly and in the eyes of the world but they certainly lack the understanding of real goodness, and that is because they are not good people. Like calls to like. This is a hard saying but a little reflection will confirm that it must be so.

Christ said that his kingdom was not of this world. Those who would follow Christ must remember this and seek the real good beyond this world. But when that is understood and lived then the real good must inevitably percolate back into this world and start to change it from within. It is a matter of priorities, though. You will never make this world better by trying to do so from within its own frame of reference. It can only ever become better when a higher frame of reference, the spiritual, is brought to bear. Work on the spiritual and the material will improve, but the material will never genuinely improve when change is brought about on its own level whatever that change might be. This is because the evil that corrupts it comes from inverting reality and seeing the world as valid in its own right. "Seek ye first the kingdom of heaven and all things will be added to you" also means that if you ignore the kingdom of heaven nothing you do will lead to any good.


Note:  When I say the material will improve I obviously don't mean it will improve materially, though it might, but it will improve as an environment in which souls may flourish and develop which is the important thing. 

Consequences of Atheism

Atheism is currently regarded as the intelligent person's response to the universe as we understand it but actually, as has long been known by the really intelligent, it is the fool who says in his heart there is no God.

More on Albion Awakening.

Life After Death

I am currently reading a book* which examines the similarities between medieval visionary journeys, of which we have several examples, and modern near-death experiences. It turns out there are quite a few. But there is one glaring difference. The medieval examples usually include the subject being shown a choice of paths after death. The one that leads to heaven, maybe after a purgatorial cleansing, and the one that leads in the other direction. Dante's Divine Comedy, while presumably fictitious, is a prime example of this kind.

But modern near-death experiences are almost always wholly positive. There is no division of paths. Everyone feels surrounded by goodness and enveloped in the light of pure love. If there is any suggestion of judgement, it is more the person judging himself with seemingly no serious consequences to be expected.

You might assume this is purely cultural.  The medieval person lived in a hierarchical society in which the teachings of the Church regarding salvation and damnation were ubiquitous. The modern person lives in a democracy where the ideas of hell and spiritual responsibility have largely disappeared. There is surely some truth in this.

But is it the whole truth? In both cases, the subject returns to life in this world so the post-mortem experience is clearly incomplete. We are not getting the full picture here.

I think that the reality of what happens after death might lie somewhere between these two scenarios, one of which is focused on justice and the other on mercy. We must assume that the kind of life we have lived and our spiritual state at the end of it have a strong bearing on what happens to us after death. We must assume this because to think otherwise would mean we lived in a meaningless universe without purpose in which case the concepts of love and goodness would themselves be meaningless and illusionary.

However, we live in a spiritual universe, and in the spiritual world like attracts like so we will always gravitate to a plane/state that corresponds to our own inner condition, whatever that might be. This is justice. At the same time, God is a loving and merciful Father and does not leave any soul abandoned. The idea that we are despatched to a condition of eternal suffering for decisions taken without full knowledge (notwithstanding the fact that we do have sufficient knowledge here if we are true to our inner selves) makes no sense in the context of a Creator of love and goodness. But something approximating to hell might be a temporary state for sinners. Hence it is fair to say that those who have faithfully followed Christ, or a spiritual path that approximates to the truth he brought, will go to a place that reflects that reality, while those who have not done so will go to a place that reflects the reality of what they are, bearing in mind that this reality is not how they have presented themselves but how they are in their hearts. This might even, in some respects, compare favourably to the earthly condition but will not be heaven in the sense that there is no proper union with God. 'In my Father's house are many mansions' means there are many inner worlds or planes of consciousness. The idea of heaven and hell with nothing in between is far too simplistic. Perhaps the traditional concept of limbo is one we should entertain where limbo is a state between heaven and hell which may well appear paradisiacal to a new entry from the physical world but is far from the true heaven. 

The near-death experiencers all take for granted that they are entering heaven when they see the clear light of love. But this is an assumption. It might be an illusion. It might be an experience that tests the subject to see how he reacts. It might be a preliminary welcome that is the precursor to a more serious examination later on. It might even be a diabolical fake (not that I believe that, but it might be). If we accept there is a spiritual choice to be made at the moment of death, this experience could be part of that.

So, if hell, as pictured in medieval times, now seems an unlikely destination for anyone in perpetuity, it is equally doubtful that everybody, however they have lived, will be granted entry to heaven as 20th century near-death experiences seem to suggest. Once through the gates of death we will probably gravitate to our natural level as determined by our spiritual quality, and though that may seem a higher state than we can experience in this material world, it is most unlikely in the great majority of cases to be the true heaven.

Life after death must depend on life before death. Souls will find themselves in a state of being corresponding to their inner condition, though there will always be opportunities for progress and education.  But there must also surely be the need for spiritual purification if a soul is to advance from one state to another. Release from the burdens of physical existence (which includes release from the mental claustrophobia occasioned by enclosure in a physical brain) will inevitably seem liberating, and some of the joy experienced by near-death subjects could be down to this. But perhaps these people are amongst the more spiritually sensitive types anyway which is why they have been given the experience, and the mission to report it, in order to help create a crack in the hard materialism of 20th century humanity. This means that their experience does not necessarily imply that everyone will have the same.

If I had to give my own opinion on what happens after death, I would say that, after a period of acclimatisation, all souls are examined by a judge of some sort, which might include their own higher self though aided and guided by spiritual elders, and put through a purifying process before finding themselves in an environment that corresponds to their degree of spiritual awareness. However, there will be some souls, maybe even many souls at this time of widespread spiritual rejection, who find themselves in a place of gloom which is the objectification of their own inner spiritual darkness. Guides will be sent to such souls but may not be perceptible to them because they have cut themselves off from higher things by their unbelief and materialism. Their spiritual consciousness is too undeveloped to see the helpers and they will have to open their hearts to some degree before they can do so. They must raise their own consciousness before they are able to be aware of the spiritual forces that surround them. This might take some time. For many modern people, sunk in pride and illusion, it might take a lot of time.

In the next world, outer and inner are considerably more one that they are here so it makes sense to refine and purify your consciousness as much as possible while you are still in a body. 


* Otherworld Journeys by Carol Zaleski

A Little Knowledge is a Dangerous Thing

Because if it goes to our heads, it gives us greater capacity to go wrong. Like Icarus, we over-estimate ourselves. Some more thoughts on Albion Awakening.

Morality and Goodness

There are people in this world who are like the biblical Pharisees. Sometimes they are religious but often they are not. One of the characteristics of a certain type of modem atheist is that he must prove himself to be moral without any religious background, in his eyes, coercing him to be so. So he adopts a strict moral code which he adheres to, as you might say, religiously. This is his version of the Law.

But what is making him do this is, in large measure, pride and the desire to be morally better than the next man, especially the next religious man.

However you will observe that his morality is normally based on thought rather than love or kindness of heart, and you will see this because he will go so far but no further. I mean he will do what is expected morally even if it causes him hardship, indeed he may welcome that as a way of proving his superiority, but he will not do more.  He has ticked off the moral box and that is all that is required to satisfy his sense of what is right.

You may know someone like this. You may wonder why such a person always seems to be morally correct but you feel there is something missing. It is because the Pharisee acts from the mind not the heart. In fact, that's what he's doing, acting. He isn't feeling love and behaving spontaneously as a result which is the only true basis for morality.  He is simply demonstrating his goodness to himself and to others, and this is a way to tell the truly morally person from the imposter, bearing in mind that most people are a mixture of motivations and there will usually be something of both types in any one individual. 

Ask such an individual if he thinks he is a good person. The Pharisee will generally say yes, he is, unless he suspects a trick question. But the person who seeks to do good from love of God will say no because he knows that, of himself, he is not good.  He knows that all goodness must ultimately stem from and be rooted in God. He knows that any goodness that comes from himself is liable to be self-conscious and therefore fake. We are only really good when we let God be good through us. Without God morality is little better than utilitarian expediency.

Truth and Ideology

On Albion Awakening, a piece about the difference between these two things and how we are currently abandoning truth for our own subjective formulations of it.