Essays Essays I

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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 and Inner-size, 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 Inner-size (yoga postures, which mostly work on the glands and Spirit 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.

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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