In his final "Sermon by the Sea" in 1959, Dr. Ernest Holmes spoke about the next step in human evolution as the development of someone who "is FOR something and AGAINST nothing."
This statement recognizes a deeper way of being, a more spiritual approach to life than ordinary human existence. How much of your energy is spent in opposition to something? Much of the peace movement is energized by those against war, or against a certain philosophy, or political party, or politician.
Ghandi saw this in starting the largest non-violent peace movement the world has ever known. His quote, "Be the peace you want to see," is a statement of deep spiritual conviction. Martin Luther King saw this as well, and today, the Season For Non-Violence covers the 64 days between the anniversaries of the deaths of these two giants.
In a recent conversation, a man saw a button I was wearing that says "May Peace Prevail on Earth," a button that I got at the Parliament of World Religions in Barcelona in 2004. The man saw the button and said, "So you are against Bush?"
"No," I said, "I am for peace."
"That means that you are against Bush and against America," he replied. "You can't have it both ways."
"Can't I just be for peace and have nothing to say about a particular leader or a particular policy?"
"No," he said, "If you are for peace, you are against our president."
I found the conversation frustrating, in part at least because I could not say that I had perfected the consciousness of being for something and against nothing. I was, at least part of me was and is, against war.
While I believe that I can be for peace and not against anyone or anything, I also recognize that this is an idea that is both alien to many and difficult to achieve. Our nature seems to be to resist what we do not want, not to take another, positive pathway to change.
Spiritualization is the overcoming of instinctual drives (at least in part). Arriving at the place of being FOR something and AGAINST nothing is, in my mind, a worthwhile goal. If and when I fully get there, I'll let you know.
One of the most difficult things to do is to be authentic - I mean to be true to your own inner identity without being lost in what society, and other people in your life, think that you should be doing. Joseph Campbell said, "It takes courage to do what you want. other people have a lot of plans for you. Nobody wants you to do what you want to do. They want you to go on their trip, but you can do what you want." While his statement assumes that you are mature and self-evolved and what you want to do is not to harm or destroy others, it is a challenge to most of us who may find it difficult to discern where society's demands leave off and our own identity begins. Every social group develops and tends to enforce social norms that members are expected to follow. This is true for every group from a family to a nation. This is a necessary step in social bonding and control. But the natural tensions between becoming a member of a culture and being an individual are varied and you can get lost in the social forms, lost to your authentic self. Social norms like being kind, stopping at red lights, and shaking hands as a greeting are good and beneficial. Other norms are not so beneficial, like the one in some families that everyone goes to a certain school or must become a lawyer, or marry someone from a specific class or group (or gender). The truly authentic person learns to strike a balance between the observance of social norms which are positive and productive and those that are not essential to well being and may stifle potential. I'll close with another quote from Campbell, referring to the Knights of the Round Table as they set out in search of the Holy Grail (symbolically, the true inner self): "You enter the forest at the darkest point, where there is no path. Where there is a way or path, it is someone else's path. You are not on your own path. If you follow someone else's way, you are not going to realize your potential." Love and Light, RevLockard
CEASE not from desire till my desire Is satisfied; or let my mouth attain My love's red mouth, or let my soul expire, Sighed from those lips that sought her lips in vain. Others may find another love as fair; Upon her threshold I have laid my head, The dust shall cover me, still lying there, When from my body life and love have fled. My soul is on my lips ready to fly, But grief beats in my heart and will not cease, Because not once, not once before I die, Will her sweet lips give all my longing peace. My breath is narrowed down to one long sigh For a red mouth that burns my thoughts like fire; When will that mouth draw near and make reply To one whose life is straitened with desire? When I am dead, open my grave and see The cloud of smoke that rises round thy feet: In my dead heart the fire still burns for thee; Yea, the smoke rises from my winding-sheet! Ah, come, Beloved! for the meadows wait Thy coming, and the thorn bears flowers instead Of thorns, the cypress fruit, and desolate Bare winter from before thy steps has fled. Hoping within some garden ground to find A red rose soft and sweet as thy soft cheek, Through every meadow blows the western wind, Through every garden he is fain to seek. Reveal thy face! that the whole world may be Bewildered by thy radiant loveliness; The cry of man and woman comes to thee, Open thy lips and comfort their distress! Each curling lock of thy luxuriant hair Breaks into barbed hooks to catch my heart, My broken heart is wounded everywhere With countless wounds from which the red drops start. Yet when sad lovers meet and tell their sighs, Not without praise shall Hafiz' name be said, Not without tears, in those pale companies Where joy has been forgot and hope has fled.
