We live at a time of not only rampant atheism and
materialism but also one in which there are many spiritual errors and half-truths masquerading as truth floating around and often flourishing. So the Masters told me forty years ago, and it is even worse today.
Most heresies or metaphysical errors are the result
of taking an element of truth and giving it a disproportionate importance while
at the same time ignoring or downgrading other elements. We may think some of
them are new but actually the same old heresies tend to appear and reappear quite
regularly. They appeal to the mind because they are often seen to be more
logical than revealed truth, logical to the human mind anyway, and sometimes more
in tune with what you might call entry-level mysticism. So they can appear to
be supported by human experience or reason but you will always find something
missing in them, some lacuna which leaves an aspect of reality unexplained whether that relates to the illusionary existence of the world or the complete unreality of evil or matters to do with fate and free will etc. Only the pure truth describes reality in its wholeness and completeness and
depth.
Sometimes heresies have a simplicity which makes them attractive and
sometimes they have a complexity which makes them seem profound, especially to those who
pride themselves on an intellectual approach to the Mysteries. However, you will find that most of them can be banished or seen through, by a mind that stands in the light of Christ, and seeks to cultivate the pre-eminent spiritual virtues of humility and love. This does not mean that knowledge is not important. It is extremely important, but this knowledge should be based on the intuition which is our personal connection to the mind of God, albeit limited by our own capacity.
You might think that spiritual heresies are not really significant, and that, as long as you have a spiritual outlook, that is all that matters. The rest is detail. Not so. If your metaphysics is wrong then everything will tend to be wrong. This can be seen in an extreme form in the world today when our attitudes to art, science, politics and a whole host of social issues are all misguided because our metaphysical assumptions are, to put it kindly, mistaken. But even if your metaphysics are only partially wrong in that they are spiritually focused but lacking completeness, you might still drift into error. Sometimes this could be relatively harmless but at others it will be crucial. It all depends on the degree of deviation from truth.
Fundamentals are essential in order to get everything else right. If your foundations are badly laid then the whole building is liable to collapse.
You might think that spiritual heresies are not really significant, and that, as long as you have a spiritual outlook, that is all that matters. The rest is detail. Not so. If your metaphysics is wrong then everything will tend to be wrong. This can be seen in an extreme form in the world today when our attitudes to art, science, politics and a whole host of social issues are all misguided because our metaphysical assumptions are, to put it kindly, mistaken. But even if your metaphysics are only partially wrong in that they are spiritually focused but lacking completeness, you might still drift into error. Sometimes this could be relatively harmless but at others it will be crucial. It all depends on the degree of deviation from truth.
Fundamentals are essential in order to get everything else right. If your foundations are badly laid then the whole building is liable to collapse.
8 comments:
I think it's partially an effect of our fast-food consumerist attitude to life. We want ready made products and instant entertainment, which also extends into spiritual greed, or "spirituality without religion". This attitude damages both casual christians and non-formal spiritualists. Casual christians just obey the rules and feel they lack spiritual connection, (although life IS a spiritual experience), so they dry out and get afraid of the water. The spiritualists on the other hand remain sunk in water with the divers' disease as they can't learn how to swim.
I think the purpose of religion is that we use the life-vest to learn how to swim over time, and later learn how to improvise. Competent musicians first learn music theory, THEN they are allowed to improvise. Our culture is embedded in the bible, which represents a compact form of age-old wisdom, yet instead of adapting, extracting that wisdom and growing into it over time, we reject all structure and think we are born professional swimmers. As long as this goes on we'll never get the whole picture. Both believers and atheists will be wrong. The believers think creation is "ready" and the rest will dive into it to see what's underneath, like a child who opens a present before christmas.
Some excellent points there, Eric. I especially like the idea that life is a spiritual experience which, of course, is quite true but we hardly ever think of it like that. You want proof of God? Well, there it is, life!
Thanks William, it's just the Holy Ghost speaking! I think we tend to miss the forest for the trees when we imagine the spiritual as something else, because isn't matter just what spirit uses to get in touch with itself? We can't find God in or through the content of our minds, we do it by profoundly realizing that We Are Here - fit for purpose. God really is closer than we think! He dreams himself in us, just like we dream ourselves when we sleep. Yet of course our lives are completely real!
@William - As you know this has been a particular problem for me - perhaps because my scientific training and work made me tend to put the scientific explanations as primary.
I can distinctly remember regarding the morality of Christianity as absurd; because when I thought about the (physics explanation of) the origin and history of the universe - I thought 'what possible significance could my personal relationships with other people have'. Accepting that cosmology was the Truth; I couldn't see how telling lies, or sexual behaviour, could have anything to do with it.
Even when I thought about a deity creating reality - I thought about this in an objective and materialistic way - and couldn't see any place for the thoughts and doings of human beings in some corner of a galaxy somewhere.
Yet I did not realise that I was making (had already made) huge metaphysical assumptions by making physics into ultimate and complete knowledge, and judging everything else against it.
This kind of thing must be very common - so that ideas such as a Creator, a loving creator, or the central significance of Jesus simply seem absurd, and never get properly considered.
Bruce, I think that your recent post about a loving Creator got to the heart of the matter. When we start to see that reality is fundamentally based on a Person rather than some impersonal force or energy or process then we are finally on the right track, if for no other reason (and there are others!) that love makes sense. Spiritual approaches that are impersonal try to squeeze some form of love into their system but it never really works because enduring love is meaningless outside the primacy of persons.
All that comes from the central significance of Jesus.
Great insight in a very difficult time.
Hi, William. I have a question for you. Have you heard of Kybalion? If so, what’s your take on it & hermeticism in general?
I have heard of it but not read it. Hermeticism probably descends from ancient Egyptian religion and, as such, I think it has a lot of interest. What it lacks, though, is Christ so nowadays I would see it as a supplement to Christianity rather than a replacement for it. But it can provide an esoteric leavening to the basic Christian position.
Post a Comment