Thursday 6 March 2014

IS EVIL RELATIVE THEN?

In my article titled "What is this Evil then?" I likened the force of  evil to different things in different disciplines. For example in mathematics I likened it to the minus sign and Power of Good to the plus sign, while in science the evil was represented by the negative sign while the Power of Good was represented by the positive sign.
But this raised some concerns on whether this implied that evil was relative.
If we look at evil from the perspective of man's fall from the Garden of Eden, then we get worried at the implications of relativity in it.
Equally, if we compare this force with the mathematical as well as scientific signs above, the implications only gets worse.
However, the relativity of evil is in so much as man is fallen. For all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.
This is so in that according to Paul in Romans 7: 14- 24, man is sold as a slave to sin. He therefore find himself doing the things that he does not want to do and not being able to do things he wants to do and is made prisoner of the law of sin at work in his body whose acts are found in Galatians 5: 19- 21.
 But as in mathematics and science, both becomes irrelevant when we reach infinity. At this point, all ceases, including evil and its relativity.
God is Infinite. He is Omnipresent, omnipotent as well as Omniscient. It therefore follows that it is only at the realm of God that sin does not exist.
This may be seen as the reason Jesus came to show us the way and is directing us to seek first the kingdom of God first and all other things will be added to us.
It is also for the same reason that Paul is asking us to focus our mind on higher things (Colossians 3: 2) as these higher things are the constituents of the kingdom of God.
 It is therefore true that as long as we are bound by the law of sin, evil is within us. But when we have focused our mind on higher things and attained to righteousness, then evil is totally eliminated in our lives.


Wednesday 5 March 2014

IS THERE HOPE FOR AVERTING EVIL?

In my previous blog, yesterday, I used the definition of evil, according to James Allen, as the passing shadow, thrown by the intercepting self, across a transcendent Form of the Eternal Good.
I also introduced the aspect of peering deep beyond the physical, into our God- like nature, with what I termed as the spiritual eye.
It is through this spiritual eye that we found the voice of reason also referred to as intuition, guiding us into the realm of the kingdom of God, through the concentration of our thought forces. It is then that the advise of Christ comes to life, where he asks us to find the kingdom of God first and all other things will be added to us.
Since intuition or the voice of God is a small still voice found in our mind, it shows the importance of Paul's advise, in Colossians 3: 2 where he asks us to set our mind on the things that are above, not on the things that are upon the earth, that we find the true meaning of his statement.
In essence, Paul is asking us to direct  our mind on things that are above in the realm of the unseen and not on things of the earth- the seen.
This is confirmed by his advise, again in 2 Corinthians 4: 18, where he tells us that the seen is temporary and the unseen eternal.
These statements are scientifically confirmed in the law of cause and effect. In this law, the cause of what we see in the physical- the effects originates from the unseen- the cause which is eternal.
So, through our way of thinking, we become and are. This means that what we are inside ourselves in our realm of thought, so is our world as it manifests into the physical.
James Allen, says that everything in the universe is resolved into our own inward experience and that it matters little what is without as it is a reflection of our own state of consciousness.
This means that, as we saw yesterday, in my blog titled "What is this Evil?" the way we are physically, is literally a reflection of what we are inside.
The  molding material that shapes us into the physical is found in our thoughts, desires and aspirations. Therefore, according to James, all that there is in the universe of beauty and joy and bliss, or of ugliness and sorrow and pain is contained within us.
It is therefore a fact of life that by our own thoughts, we make or mar our world.
But how can this be the case? We may ask. It is the case in that our thoughts which forms through desire, concentration as well as visualization are based on our mental attitude. Hence Jesus assurance that What thing soever we shall desire, when we pray, believing, it shall be given to us ( Mark 11: 24).
If our mental attitude is positive, our thoughts are equally positive and results in our physical blessings in the "what thing soever." On the other hand, if our thoughts are negative, we receive a curse, in the same token of, "what thing soever."
As we found out yesterday, positive and negative are the scientific terms of good and evil in a theological perspective, respectively.
It is therefore a theological as well as scientific and philosophical fact that whatsoever you harbor in your inmost chambers of your heart will, sooner or later, by what James call the inevitable law of reaction, manifest in your outward life.
In these facts, we can start to understand through Paul, in Romans 7: 14- 25, how we are sold as slaves to sin making us, like Paul, do the things we do not want to do and not being able to do the things we would like to do through the law of sin.
This is so in that since sin entered the world, we became sinful by nature. But we must understand that this sin, entered and still enters through our thoughts.
Our thoughts in turn govern our actions in life. It therefore becomes clear why it is that there is no action from man but originates from thought. These actions produce fruits based on the nature of their origin; if the thoughts are good or noble, they produce joy, if they are bad or ignoble they produce suffering. And so, Paul finds, in Roman 7: 21 that, when he wants to do good, evil is right there with him. In his inner being, he delights in God's law, but he comes to find that there is another law at work in his members of his body, waging war against the law of his mind and making him a prisoner of the law of sin at work within him.
This was obviously before he had come to understand the principles of Christ contained in His yoke. It is after he understands these principles that we see him now liberated, in Romans 12: 2, asking us not to conform to the pattern of this world, for herein lies the evil, but to be transformed by the renewal of our mind.
The full implication of this renewal of mind is found in the light yoke of Christ, whose constitution contains Righteousness, Renewal of mind, Generosity, Gentleness, Meekness as well as the renunciation of self. The whole concept of the yoke of Christ is found to be attained  by focusing our mind on higher things. It is therefore true that all that we are is the result of what we have thought and according to Buddha, it is founded on our thoughts; it is made up of our thoughts and it therefore follows that if a man is happy, it is because he dwells in happy thoughts; if miserable, because he dwells in despondent and debilitating thoughts, for herein lies both good and evil.

Tuesday 4 March 2014

AND WHAT IS THIS EVIL?



Evil may be defined in so many different ways depending on where one is coming from. But the amazing thing s is that whether our orientation is scientific, we still see evil as that negative that is in opposition to the positive. For example, particles of opposite charge annihilate into energy while particles with similar charge bind together in a law of attraction to form into the different matter in the universe.
If we are philosophically oriented, we see evil as the bad that opposes the good. In mathematics the positive is represented by a plus sign while the negative is represented by a minus sign, with the minus reducing from the plus.
Equally, from a religious perspective, we talk of the evil that is in opposition to the Good.
The difference in all the orientations depicted above, is that whereas in all disciplines evil is considered as a force, in religion, it is viewed as a being.
One of the greatest inspirational writers of all time, James Allen, in his book, “The Path of Prosperity,” defines evil as the passing shadow, thrown by the intercepting self, across a transcendent Form of the Eternal Good.
If we take some time and analyze this deep seated definition, we find ourselves drawn deeply and swimming in the realms of the eternal spiritual reality.
This situation would have posed great danger to our scientific friends; withdrawing from this discourse on the basis that science has no room for religious proposition, until obviously the advent of quantum science also christened spiritual science.
So, I think we are now comfortable to proceed with our discourse, on the premise of our belief that we now have everyone on board.
So, evil is just but a shadow, huh?
The above statement does not make sense until one peers with the spiritual eye, deep beyond the physical into our God- like nature in the realm of the unseen. This spiritual eye also referred to as the sixth sense, or the voice of reason as well as intuition- the voice of God, has guided great men of science, philosophy, religion and art, to such great heights that is the culmination of all the advancements witnessed in the world today.
In using this small still voice of God, we come to a rediscovery of our attributes through the consciousness that gives us our reality and make us humans; different from other living creatures …and man became a living being!
In the realm of the spiritual, which is the realm of our consciousness, we find both scientific as well as religious, including philosophical, convergences, where in unison, all these disciplines declare that, “herein lays our reality- the centre of our being.”
And so, it becomes blatantly clear that our reality is more than what we see with our naked eye.
This facet of life radiates in our mind, realities that sounds the depth of our thinking in reflecting our spiritual nature, which is infinite, taking us to new and deep frontiers on the depth of our knowledge and guided by this voice of reason, understands how it is so, that the world is a mirror in which each sees a reflection of himself.
Of great importance is the discovery, through ascension to the plane of perception, whereon we see and realize the vision of the law that guides us on how to deal with this evil.
Accordingly, with this realization comes the knowledge that everything is included in a ceaseless interaction of cause and effect, and that nothing can be divorced from the law.
It therefore become plain, according to James Allen, how true it is that from the most trivial thought, word, or act of man, up to the grouping of the celestial bodies, law reigns supreme!
In this great and immutable law, we find such aphorisms that give us great insights into the law that guides these statements:
“Whatsoever a man sows that shall he also reap,” as well as many others, including the one that says, “As a man thinketh in his heart, so is he.” James Allen sees these laws, in flaming letter, inscribed upon the portal of Eternity.
It therefore becomes clear that no arbitrary condition can, even for a moment, exist, for such a condition, as James says, would be a denial and annihilation of law. Therefore, no man can escape the fact that we are the sum total of our thinking for that is nothing but the law!
In this simple but true fact, we find that the solution to deal with all the evil in the world, lies inside each one of us and the applicable formula is based on our mental attitude.

Monday 3 March 2014

AWAKE, OH, THOU SLEPER.

In his book, "The Path of Prosperity," James Allen wrote on 'The Lessons of Evil,' that unrest and pain and sorrow are the shadows of life. There is no heart in all the world that has not felt the sting of pain, no mind that has not been tossed upon the dark waters of trouble, no eye that has not wept the hot, blinding tears of unspeakable anguish. There is no household where the Great Destroyers, disease and death, have not entered, severing heart from heart, and casting over all the dark pall of sorrow. In the strong, and apparently indestructible meshes of evil all are more or less fast caught, and pain, unhappiness, and misfortune wait upon mankind.
In his journey to find out, under the circumstances, whether there is any hope for humanity, James comes across men and women whom, with the object of escaping, or in some way mitigating this overshadowing gloom, rush blindly into innumerable devices, pathways by which they fondly hope to enter into a happiness which will not pass away.
In their folly, they find themselves caught up in the web of the same evil they were running away from, in the yoke of Satan, which but entice them for a while, in the deception of immediate gratification to satisfy the demands of the lower self- the sensuous body.
Indulging in sensual excitement, they shut themselves, for a while, from the sorrows of the world, and surround themselves with enervating luxuries, subordinating all things to the achievement of that object; and to all the happiness sought seems to come, and the soul for a time, is lulled into a sweet security, and an intoxicating forgetfulness of the existence of evil, but the day of disease comes at last, or some great sorrow, temptation, or misfortune breaks suddenly in on the unfortified soul, and the fabric of its fancied happiness is torn to shreds.
All along, we see, through the eye of the spirit, this struggle of humanity in the object of escaping, finding themselves caught up in a similar scenario to that found St. Augustine, who explains in the  insights of his classical passage, in his confessions, before he embraced the way of life as shown by the Christ, obviously after he opened the bible and read Ephesians 5:14 which says, "Wake up, sleeper, rise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you." He states: :


Often does a man, when heavy sleepiness is on his limbs, defer to shake it off, and, though not approving, encourage it; even so was I sure it was better to surrender to thy love than to yield to my own lusts; yet though the former course convinced me, the latter pleased and held me back. There is nothing in me to answer thy call, ' Awake! Thou sleeper,' but only drawling, drowsy words, ' Presently, yes, presently; wait a little while.' But the ' presently ' had no present, and the ' little while ' grew long, for I was afraid thou wouldst hear me too soon, and heal me at once of my disease of lust, which I wished to satiate rather than to see extinguished ." 
And so, humanity, caught up in the heavy sleepiness that courts the Great Destroyer and finding immediate gratification to the happiness sought, fails, just like Augustine, to heed to the Master's call to wake up from the apparent slumber, but for the time of this short lived happiness, convincingly respond to the wake up call with drawling drowsy words, "presently, yes, presently," while the Master who stands on the door, knocking, while humanity, inside asks Him, like St. Augustine, to wait a little while, while all the presently he is lulled by the angel of darkness, in the enervating luxuries of the presently, failing, in the darkness that surrounds him, to see the Damocletian sword of pain which hangs over the head of every personal joy, ready, at any moment, to fall and crush the soul of him who is unprotected by the knowledge in the principles of the Christ.
But significant to the above verse, all things become visible when they are exposed by the Light, for everything that becomes visible is light (bible hub). For this reason, Let all humanity Awake from their slumber, and arise from the dead, and the Light of Truth will shine on us all; for this is the true religion, that will keep at bay, the unrest and pain and sorrow that are the apparent shadows of the presently life.

Saturday 1 March 2014

DO WE HAVE OUR IMMORTALILTY IN THE FACE OF OUR MORTAL BODIES?

The doctrine of Paul is a clear indication of our duality in the physical as well as in the spiritual sense after our re-grafting into the kingdom of God through the Christ.
This line of thinking is made clear in all the evidence laid bare through the sacrifice of  Jesus for our sake. It is also clear that before the fall at the Garden of Eden, man had with him the endowment in the inheritance of our sonship with the Christ, in that, as much as He was the first born of God, we were endowed with similar attributes to the Father during creation.
According to Genesis, it was after disobeying of God's command at the Garden of Eden that our immortality was affected. This immortality is in the attributes of God in us, which includes the image of God- our divinity.
The sinning of man caused the Spirit of God in us to fall from the center of our being  making our higher self to pay homage to the desires of the lower self.
But Jesus was to later, sacrifice his position in the heavenly kingdom and come to rescue us. It is, however, in the rescue that lays the greatest significance of our position in the kingdom of God, as well as our immortality.
To begin with, we see, according to the scripture, Jesus taking our sin and going to the lowest depth so that He may exchange the sin with our spirit in this lowest depth.
And so, we see in Ephesians 2:6 that God raised us with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realm in Christ Jesus. And in Him, we both have access to the Father by one Spirit.
We also see Him who descended to the lowest, ascending above the highest heaven, to fill the universe in every way according to Ephesians 4: 10, accompanied by our spirit according to Ephesians 4: 8.
We, likewise, see him seated in the heavenly realm, with our spirit, and being given power over everything in the heavens and under the heavens with our spirit still hidden with Him in God.
We also get insights from Paul, on how our spirit is hidden with Christ in God.
It is hereby, in this knowledge of where and how our spirit is hidden with Christ in God, that we get the understanding of our immortality.
It is also through the insights given by Paul in 1 Corinthians 2: 6- 16 that we get the revelation of the fact that we have been given the Immortal Spirit of Christ as well as His Mind.
It is no wonder, then, that we groan to be clothed with heavenly bodies according to 2 Corinthians 5:2.
It therefore, follows that, as we are hidden with Christ in God, we are omnipotent, omnipresent as well as omniscient, just as He is.
Immortality is not confined in time and is not constrained by space. This means that if we have our immortality, it cannot be based on future events as it is not bound by time. Similarly, as we have just seen, it cannot be bound by space.
This may be found to be the reason behind Paul's calling on us to focus our mind on higher things, for it is in the higher things, which is achieved by taking on the yoke of Christ, contained in His principles, that we may attain to righteousness and enjoy our deific nature found in the gift of the fulness of Christ in us.
It is therefore not only that we are immortal beings in mortal bodies, but we can enjoy the attribute of immortality while here on earth through the understanding of the law of cause and effect by fixing our eyes not in the seen, but in the unseen, for, according to Paul in 2 Corinthians 4: 18, what is seen is temporary and what is unseen is eternal. This focusing of our mind on higher things is in essence the finding of the kingdom of God in the unseen- the eternal, after which all other things in the seen- the temporary, are added unto us.