Towards Spirituality for 21st Century UK (Part 2)
Hello again. In this part I will give a glance into my own personal spiritual journey as an example of what the potential is in going out of Materialism, and heading into Spirituality. Hoping to show that this transition is highly transformative.
First where has this search taken me so far ?
Regarding the story of our existence here it isn't that we just popped out of nowhere and found ourselves inside a universe (which also popped out of nowhere) and that we have no clue what happened except that there was a bang and Voila, everything is here !
Nope, it is that there is an amazing Entity that is very strange and yet loving and caring. It has decided to give us something very special: Freedom. And wanted to observe us to see what we do with this freedom. Will we start using the minds it gave us to become curious and ask whats going on, why are we here? What are we? What is a human? Or will we just copy what everyone around us is doing and do what they do. Will some of us be brave enough to realize that something isn't right and pursue the matter rigorously to try to fathom the issue? Or will we just try to be carbon copies of those around us, and live and die like them. Will we get hooked into accumulating worldly wealth and make this our prime goal all our living moments believing that success is about money? Will some choose to start worshiping themselves and end up occupied with self adoration and seeing only themselves wherever they go. Will some accept to remain uncertain of what the real story is and resign themselves to this way of living, believing that one can never reach the truth even if they tried very hard? These are examples of different pathways that some humans can take.
The beautiful thing about this world is that it is also a learning ground (a school or university as it were). As we choose paths that are not right, we get sent signals telling us that something isn't right. These are generally in the form of varying types of emotional pain. Eg you may feel unhappy in your self, you may feel lonely, you may feel unfulfilled etc. We can then ponder about these emotions and look at the events that may have caused them. Maybe they were bad decisions that we took many years prior (eg to make money our god). Others may have chosen to make some famous human their god (idolizing them and centering their life around them and thus losing themselves). There are many directions that we can lose our way. So as we make mistakes we can also learn from them and change our course and direction. This adjustment process is vital, because it shows that we are able to learn and become better versions of ourselves. So if money shouldnt be the center of our lives, nor famous people, then what should? Also if there is a Creator then what does it tell us about Itself and what It wants from us? Does it tell us about the right pathway to tread on in life? A pathway where things will feel right and we wouldnt encounter so much emotional pain due to bad life decisions? These are my findings so far about this matter:
1- Yes there is a Creator (who is also a Designer as well as a living being). It is unique in that it has no shape. This is because it is 'unlimited', meaning that no limits have been applied to it. So it can hear infinitely (the smallest of sounds), see infinitely (the smallest of things), infinite knowledge, infinite power etc etc. This is because it was never created. It has always just been. ie Its existence is eternal (no starting point, just always been there). It is a very very strange concept to comprehend. In fact I believe we can never fully comprehend it. But trying to comprehend it is a very beneficial activity indeed, as we start to appreciate its strange and unique nature better and better. Also, as well as there being a Creator, I have found that there is logic for its existence. Its not just a blind faith thing. To learn more about the logic and the Creator's nature this article may help:
http://creationismtheories.blogspot.com/2013/06/logic-for-creator-of-everything.html
2- As well as being amazing in powers, this Creator being also has a beautiful personality. The fact that it has given us total freedom should be indicative of this. We can see many people these days swearing at the Creator. Openly challenging the Creator. And we can clearly see that the Creator isnt fussed about that. He/It/She (for the Entity has no gender), has happily given us each a lifetime to do as we please but has said there are consequences to this freedom and how we choose to use it. Hence there is a concept of judgement, and for those believing in reincarnation there is karma etc. He wants us to live, make mistakes, learn and improve. So that by the time we are 40 say, we have wised up and started our spiritual journeys trying to know him/It more and seeking to get closer to It. It is something invisible but we can feel its presence. At times we can feel its presence more than others. Eg when we are thoughtful and alone, we may be able to sense It's presence to some extent. And its a beautiful sensation, if in your mind, your image of It is that of a caring, nurturing and loving entity. There are those who may see it as a furious and tormenting entity who just wants to throw us into hell, but this is a type of severe misguidance I believe ( we will leave such types for now).
3- So why did It create us then? This is the point where our ego can start playing a major role in this journey. My belief (and its common across many religions), is that It created us so as to Worship It !
This can sound very startling and this is why the ego can start putting up a huge barrier to any further progress on this line. Some people may switch off right now and move on to their normal path at this moment. Are we to be slaves to this Creative entity? We are very proud humans. We are man! And man is king today. No way will man accept to be slave ! No way. And this is the issue of the ego and why it blocks us. So if we are willing to be subordinate to this entity and consider it our boss, so to speak, because it really is The Boss, then you should have a very smooth spiritual journey. But if you feel you are struggling, which I think is the case with the majority (myself included), then know that you may have a long distance to travel yet. This ego needs to vanish. It is like a veil. It hides a lot of beauty behind it. But only when it is lifted can the beauty been seen and tasted. The more you can dissolve your ego the greater the spiritual experience one can have. And I think this may be termed as Nervana in Hindu speak, or Unity with God in Sufi speak etc. But it takes years of work on ourselves to reach this. But the closer we are to our Creator, the happier we become. I suppose its like the feeling of peace and happiness with our parents when we were children. When we knew they were around us and we felt protected and safe. We knew they would be there for us should we need them. But at the same time we knew they were The Boss. And we weren't arrogant towards them, openly challenging them and swearing at them etc. I think there is a big analogy between our Creator and our Parents. In fact I think he deliberately designed things that way to help us understand Him better. So if you can see your Creator as your protector, and someone who is there for you, then you have reached very far. Not to mention loves you unconditionally. If you can collect these feelings in your mind and observe/sense them, then you now know what having a spiritual life means. It means you feel always safe and secure, because your protector is the most powerful being. So you are safe. Everything is fine. Even if you go through the worst of situations you know that you can easily come out unscathed. And this the beauty of faith and spirituality.
If you have more questions feel free to ask. Happy to help.
Ali Twaij
18 july 2020
PS: Some obvious points I didnt mention is that we are souls that are brought into this planet and placed in the embryos in our mothers' wombs. Because of the love that our Creator put into them , they look after us and nurture us until we become independent adults ready to start making mistakes that we can learn from. We souls then leave these bodies (that themselves have grown and changed over the years), and await our judgement for our next life. I personally believe in an eternal Heaven rather than reincarnation but the concept is similar.
PPS: Regarding Hell, I would only worry about it if I were planning to go there. I would hope the majority were not planning to go there, so I would advise to focus on the other place and let that thought light you up.
PPS: Because to be spiritual (in the way described) you need to work on reducing your ego , this is the reason that humbleness and humility is very valued. This is because you are acknowledging the existence of a very superior higher power. So if the world becomes more spiritual then it will also become more humble. At the moment, because of the great advances in science in our time, we see ourselves as gods on this planet. Man has started to worship and adore himself. And that he is no longer in need of anyone else (especially his creator). So this means we will have to work very hard in order to remove this false worship of ourselves and understand what the correct worship should be. We will always worship something (whatever we consider is most important is what we worship I believe), so it’s important to make sure we are worshiping the right thing and not the wrong thing (or things).
First where has this search taken me so far ?
Regarding the story of our existence here it isn't that we just popped out of nowhere and found ourselves inside a universe (which also popped out of nowhere) and that we have no clue what happened except that there was a bang and Voila, everything is here !
Nope, it is that there is an amazing Entity that is very strange and yet loving and caring. It has decided to give us something very special: Freedom. And wanted to observe us to see what we do with this freedom. Will we start using the minds it gave us to become curious and ask whats going on, why are we here? What are we? What is a human? Or will we just copy what everyone around us is doing and do what they do. Will some of us be brave enough to realize that something isn't right and pursue the matter rigorously to try to fathom the issue? Or will we just try to be carbon copies of those around us, and live and die like them. Will we get hooked into accumulating worldly wealth and make this our prime goal all our living moments believing that success is about money? Will some choose to start worshiping themselves and end up occupied with self adoration and seeing only themselves wherever they go. Will some accept to remain uncertain of what the real story is and resign themselves to this way of living, believing that one can never reach the truth even if they tried very hard? These are examples of different pathways that some humans can take.
The beautiful thing about this world is that it is also a learning ground (a school or university as it were). As we choose paths that are not right, we get sent signals telling us that something isn't right. These are generally in the form of varying types of emotional pain. Eg you may feel unhappy in your self, you may feel lonely, you may feel unfulfilled etc. We can then ponder about these emotions and look at the events that may have caused them. Maybe they were bad decisions that we took many years prior (eg to make money our god). Others may have chosen to make some famous human their god (idolizing them and centering their life around them and thus losing themselves). There are many directions that we can lose our way. So as we make mistakes we can also learn from them and change our course and direction. This adjustment process is vital, because it shows that we are able to learn and become better versions of ourselves. So if money shouldnt be the center of our lives, nor famous people, then what should? Also if there is a Creator then what does it tell us about Itself and what It wants from us? Does it tell us about the right pathway to tread on in life? A pathway where things will feel right and we wouldnt encounter so much emotional pain due to bad life decisions? These are my findings so far about this matter:
1- Yes there is a Creator (who is also a Designer as well as a living being). It is unique in that it has no shape. This is because it is 'unlimited', meaning that no limits have been applied to it. So it can hear infinitely (the smallest of sounds), see infinitely (the smallest of things), infinite knowledge, infinite power etc etc. This is because it was never created. It has always just been. ie Its existence is eternal (no starting point, just always been there). It is a very very strange concept to comprehend. In fact I believe we can never fully comprehend it. But trying to comprehend it is a very beneficial activity indeed, as we start to appreciate its strange and unique nature better and better. Also, as well as there being a Creator, I have found that there is logic for its existence. Its not just a blind faith thing. To learn more about the logic and the Creator's nature this article may help:
http://creationismtheories.blogspot.com/2013/06/logic-for-creator-of-everything.html
2- As well as being amazing in powers, this Creator being also has a beautiful personality. The fact that it has given us total freedom should be indicative of this. We can see many people these days swearing at the Creator. Openly challenging the Creator. And we can clearly see that the Creator isnt fussed about that. He/It/She (for the Entity has no gender), has happily given us each a lifetime to do as we please but has said there are consequences to this freedom and how we choose to use it. Hence there is a concept of judgement, and for those believing in reincarnation there is karma etc. He wants us to live, make mistakes, learn and improve. So that by the time we are 40 say, we have wised up and started our spiritual journeys trying to know him/It more and seeking to get closer to It. It is something invisible but we can feel its presence. At times we can feel its presence more than others. Eg when we are thoughtful and alone, we may be able to sense It's presence to some extent. And its a beautiful sensation, if in your mind, your image of It is that of a caring, nurturing and loving entity. There are those who may see it as a furious and tormenting entity who just wants to throw us into hell, but this is a type of severe misguidance I believe ( we will leave such types for now).
3- So why did It create us then? This is the point where our ego can start playing a major role in this journey. My belief (and its common across many religions), is that It created us so as to Worship It !
This can sound very startling and this is why the ego can start putting up a huge barrier to any further progress on this line. Some people may switch off right now and move on to their normal path at this moment. Are we to be slaves to this Creative entity? We are very proud humans. We are man! And man is king today. No way will man accept to be slave ! No way. And this is the issue of the ego and why it blocks us. So if we are willing to be subordinate to this entity and consider it our boss, so to speak, because it really is The Boss, then you should have a very smooth spiritual journey. But if you feel you are struggling, which I think is the case with the majority (myself included), then know that you may have a long distance to travel yet. This ego needs to vanish. It is like a veil. It hides a lot of beauty behind it. But only when it is lifted can the beauty been seen and tasted. The more you can dissolve your ego the greater the spiritual experience one can have. And I think this may be termed as Nervana in Hindu speak, or Unity with God in Sufi speak etc. But it takes years of work on ourselves to reach this. But the closer we are to our Creator, the happier we become. I suppose its like the feeling of peace and happiness with our parents when we were children. When we knew they were around us and we felt protected and safe. We knew they would be there for us should we need them. But at the same time we knew they were The Boss. And we weren't arrogant towards them, openly challenging them and swearing at them etc. I think there is a big analogy between our Creator and our Parents. In fact I think he deliberately designed things that way to help us understand Him better. So if you can see your Creator as your protector, and someone who is there for you, then you have reached very far. Not to mention loves you unconditionally. If you can collect these feelings in your mind and observe/sense them, then you now know what having a spiritual life means. It means you feel always safe and secure, because your protector is the most powerful being. So you are safe. Everything is fine. Even if you go through the worst of situations you know that you can easily come out unscathed. And this the beauty of faith and spirituality.
If you have more questions feel free to ask. Happy to help.
Ali Twaij
18 july 2020
PS: Some obvious points I didnt mention is that we are souls that are brought into this planet and placed in the embryos in our mothers' wombs. Because of the love that our Creator put into them , they look after us and nurture us until we become independent adults ready to start making mistakes that we can learn from. We souls then leave these bodies (that themselves have grown and changed over the years), and await our judgement for our next life. I personally believe in an eternal Heaven rather than reincarnation but the concept is similar.
PPS: Regarding Hell, I would only worry about it if I were planning to go there. I would hope the majority were not planning to go there, so I would advise to focus on the other place and let that thought light you up.
PPS: Because to be spiritual (in the way described) you need to work on reducing your ego , this is the reason that humbleness and humility is very valued. This is because you are acknowledging the existence of a very superior higher power. So if the world becomes more spiritual then it will also become more humble. At the moment, because of the great advances in science in our time, we see ourselves as gods on this planet. Man has started to worship and adore himself. And that he is no longer in need of anyone else (especially his creator). So this means we will have to work very hard in order to remove this false worship of ourselves and understand what the correct worship should be. We will always worship something (whatever we consider is most important is what we worship I believe), so it’s important to make sure we are worshiping the right thing and not the wrong thing (or things).
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