CC38: An Ancient Mystery Revealed

I'm old enough to remember the 1984 Wendy's commercial that featured three little old ladies and the snappy line, "Where's the beef?" Sure, the commercial was meant to sell Wendy's bigger hamburger patties. But the catch phrase went deeper than that. It quickly became a cultural metaphor for something that was "all talk, no action." Something without real substance. 

Many spiritual teachers are interested in selling you books about how to "raise your consciousness" and "seek wisdom" and be "one with all Creation." These books are full of platitudes and cliches, and they remind me a lot of the big fluffy bun that was being parodied in the Wendy's commercial. The bun looks impressive on the outside, but when you bite into it, you discover there's precious little substance inside. There's just the same old mystery teachings that have been taught by cult leaders for . . . oh . . . for at least five thousand years now. 

We are all One. Blah, blah, blah. Your soul is a spark of the Divine. Blah, blah, blah. Your physical body and your physical mind are drenched in evil and must be transcended. Blah, blah, blah. Specially chosen spiritual leaders have consented to descend into this corrupt world to lead the forces of light against the forces of evil. Blah, blah, blah. You can help in this great battle. Blah, blah, blah. The time is at hand when human beings will rise to a new, never before seen level of consciousness and enlightenment. Blah, blah, blah. In order to reach this new level, you must surrender yourself, let go of yourself, live in the moment, let go of attachments, let go of illusion. Blah, blah, blah. Only then can you know the bliss, peace, and joy of oneness with the Divine.  

At the beginning of Eckhart Tolle's bestselling 1997 book The Power of Now (Vancouver: Namaste Publishing, 1997), he describes an episode of spiritual awakening that took place after a "dark night of the soul" when he was 29. For five months, he "lived in a state of uninterrupted deep peace and bliss" (page 2). He then "spent almost two years sitting on park benches in a state of the most intense joy. But even the most beautiful experiences come and go."  

Really? They come and go? Because that hasn't been my experience. My experience has been that if you understand why you're doing what you're doing on the Spiral Path, and if you ground your spiritual journey in reality instead of in ancient mystical gobbledygook, you can get up every morning and go to bed at night and live every moment of your ordinary, ho-hum day in a state of profound trust and companionship with God.  

This makes every ho-hum day anything but ho-hum.  

If you see what I'm getting at here.  

Eckhart Tolle and his mystical predecessors are always talking about escape -- escape from the body, escape from suffering, escape from illusion, escape from evil forces, and (in the most extreme form) escape from death. They're missing the point. The Spiral Path has never been about escape. The Spiral Path has always been about forgiveness, healing, and redemption.* 

"I will instruct you and teach you the way you should go; I will counsel you with my eye upon you. Do not be like a horse or a mule, without understanding, whose temper must be curbed with bit and bridle, else it will not stay near you. Many are the torments of the wicked, but steadfast love surrounds those who trust in the Lord. Be glad in the Lord and rejoice, O righteous, and shout for joy, all you upright in heart" (Psalm 32: 8-11). This amphora, found in Etruria and dated 540-535 BCE, depicts Herakles killing the Nemean lion - the first of the twelve labours of Herakles. The spiritual journey shouldn't make you feel as if you're reinventing Herakles' terrible struggles. (Amphora on display at Royal Ontario Museum. Photo credit JAT 2017.)

If you want to feel deep peace and joy every day (and this is possible, believe it or not), your ongoing goal is to HEAL yourself, not escape yourself. 

In order to heal yourself (and perhaps others, too), you need to understand at a conscious level what's going on inside your biological body as you struggle to make sense of your spiritual journey. To do this, you need more than ancient myths to guide you. You need science.  

There are no exceptions to this general statement. Every mystic in every faith tradition in every country of the world needs science. There is no ethical mysticism without ethical scientific exploration.  

There is no science in The Power of Now. There's a great deal of mystical speculation, but there's no science. Put plain and simple, I don't trust any spiritual teacher who's afraid to look science in the eye.  

There is no need to postulate, as Tolle does, the existence of a "negative energy field" (called an emotional "pain-body") whose job it is to control your thoughts and your mind like some sort of "invisible entity" (page 29). This sounds little different than demon-possession as it was formerly understood. It's an irresponsible and scientifically insupportable claim. It confuses and frightens people. 

Furthermore, it relies entirely on the author's own authority as mystic and prophet. It starts with Tolle's personal assumptions about the interface between mind, body, soul, and brain. From there, he builds a pyramid of guesswork. My question in response to his thesis is . . . where's the beef? Where's the science combined with the heart? Don't talk to me about a corrupting "pain-body." Talk to me -- scholar to scholar -- about neurotransmitters and glial cells and underactive sections of the brain and seizure disorders and over-activation of the pain-pleasure circuitry (to barely scratch the surface of the neurophysiology that's involved). I don't mind if you use some analogies and even some mythical archetypes to explain brain chemistry to a lay audience, but if you yourself don't understand your spiritual journey in scientific terms, then you're not saying anything different than Plato said to a vulnerable audience 2,400 years ago. It's pure myth. And it's pure crap. 

I'm sorry, but it's just not true that human beings can somehow separate the spiritual journey or the spiritual brain from the everyday science of everyday life. You cannot find God by sitting on park benches for two long years. (You'll find something on those park benches, but it won't be enlightenment.) You can only find God in a lasting way by making lasting choices in your life -- scientifically based choices that will slowly heal your biological brain and your biological body, and allow you to live each day as an angel-in-human-form. Your spiritual task is not to become less yourself. It's to become more yourself -- more and more like the soul you really are.  

This depends, of course, on a belief in the soul. If you don't believe you were born as a soul -- a pure, amazing, unique soul that always is and always will be a pure, amazing, unique soul -- then you and I have no common ground for discussion. Everything I've learned from God the Mother and God the Father, and everything I've learned from the angel who once lived as Jesus, begins with the core integrity of the soul. Everything I've learned about healing and redemption revolves around the full integration of your immortal soul with your very mortal human body. This is a journey of science as much as a journey of faith.

Healing and redemption revolve around the balance of body, mind, soul, and heart. Around the balance (NOT the pyramidal, step-wise hierarchy) of Maslow's physiological needs, safety needs, love and belonging needs, and self esteem needs. Around the balance of physical joy, mental joy, spiritual joy, and emotional joy. Around the balance of work, play, extroverted relationships, and introverted downtime. Around using the whole brain, not just parts of the brain. 

Whole Brain Thinking is the only way to find the Spiral Path, understand the Spiral Path, and persevere on the Spiral Path.  

There. That's the Ancient Mystery in a nutshell: you have to use your whole brain -- your whole nervous system -- in a consistently balanced, healthy, emotionally mature way. When you do, you can more easily hear God's voice, because God's voice is as balanced and emotionally mature as can be.  

And guess what? You don't have to take my word for it! You can research all the ways to have a happy, healthy, fully functioning brain, and you'll come up with essentially the same ideas I've presented here!  

Science and spirituality together on the same page. Now we're cooking with gas.  

 

* On the last text page of The Power of Now, Tolle reveals that "the whole concept of forgiveness then becomes unnecessary (page 193)." Needless to say, Tolle and I couldn't disagree more.

CC19: The Life of a Mystic: Welcome to Groundhog Day!

In 1993, Columbia Pictures released a modest film billed as a "romantic comedy fantasy" that stars Bill Murray and Andie MacDowell. "Groundhog Day" continues to be a favourite for many people. It's a feel-good movie, a tale of redemption. Bill Murray is in top form as TV weatherman Phil Connors, a man who starts out arrogant, nasty, judgmental, angry, impatient, and not especially talented or competent (although he thinks he's quite brilliant). In short, he's a typical middle-aged North American. By the end of the movie, he's kind, empathetic, polite, patient, and very talented. At the beginning, he has no heart. At the end, he finds his true heart. Only then does the universe consent to release him from the time warp he's caught in.

"He also said, 'With what can we compare the kingdom of God, or what parable will we use for it? It is like a mustard seed, which, when sown upon the ground, is the smallest of all the seeds on earth; yet when it is sown it grows up and becomes the greatest of all the shrubs, and puts forth large branches, so that the birds of the air can make nests in its shade'" (Mark 4: 30-32). The human journey of redemption can be likened to the transformation of a small mustard seed into a life-sustaining shrub. Another way of thinking of redemption is to compare it to a heavily tarnished silver vessel in need of cleaning. Once the thick layers of tarnish are laboriously removed, the true nature of the treasure is able to reflect and enhance the light of Love. Photo credit JAT 2018.

This film is about the the universe's refusal to accept Phil Connor's excuses for his nasty behaviour. As Phil gradually comes to understand he's part of a bizarre karmic "catch and release" program, it's apparent the universe also refuses to accept his initial handling of the situation. The universe steadfastly ignores his denial stage, his angry stage, and his depressed stage. Only when Phil himself decides he wants to be a kind, empathetic, polite, patient, talented person, and only when he decides that he likes being such a person, does time start to move forward again. The message is clear: Phil can't control the environment the universe has chosen for him -- the time warp reality of Groundhog Day -- but he can control his own thoughts and feelings about the situation.

This film is the best representation I've seen of what it feels like to have a mystical connection with God.

That's why I put it at the top of my list of "best spiritual films." By way of contrast, I don't have a spot for Mel Gibson's "The Passion of the Christ" on my list of helpful spiritual films. To my way of thinking, "The Passion of the Christ" is a propaganda film, not a spiritual film.

"Groundhog Day" makes a number of powerful claims:

1. The universe (God) pulls out all the stops for everyone, not just for specially chosen Messiahs or the specially chosen sons of kings, presidents, and CEO's. Phil Connors is a regular guy with a regular job, not a person at the top of the fame chart.
2. The universe (God) knows Phil isn't choosing to be the best person he's capable of being. The universe has an opinion on this.
3. The universe (God) never gives up on Phil. Despite Phil's initial resistance, and despite the length of time it takes for Phil to decide he wants to be his best self, the universe is consistent and steadfast towards him. (This can be called God's Tough Love.)
4. The universe (God) sets up the painful learning environment. God is in charge of this part, and no human can control it.
5. The universe (God) gives each person free will.
6. People can change.
7. People won't change unless they want to (free will).
8. People are capable of amazing transformation once they decide they want to change.
9. It takes lots of time for changes to unfold. Redemption isn't an instant process!
10. It takes lots of sincerity for changes to become permanent. You can fake out your neighbours, but you can't fake out the universe. The universe (God) always knows your true intent, so you have to mean it when you say you want to change.
11. It takes hard work and consistent effort on the part of a person who wants to find redemption.
12. People need help from others as they struggle to change! They can't do it on their own. They need help from people who care about them.
13. People make mistakes on the journey of change and redemption. That's okay!
14. Engaging in active learning helps the process of change. (In the film, Phil starts to take courses -- piano lessons and medical training, for example.)
15. Engaging in active service in the community helps the process of change. (Phil develops a Good Samaritan routine in the timeloop community where he's living.)
16. The more Phil learns and the more genuinely empathetic he becomes, the more humble he becomes.
17. The more Phil learns and the more genuinely empathetic he becomes, the more dedicated he becomes to serving his community . . . and bonus -- the help he offers is actually needed!
18. Phil finds his heart when he finds himself.
19. Once he's found his heart, he's still a regular guy. But now he's able to trust himself. And he's finally able to like himself. He feels inner peace at last.

This is the process I had to go through, so I can really relate to it. My "Groundhog Day" initiation into the journey of redemption lasted for years. I had no idea at first what I was trying to do, and I made the same mistakes over and over again, but -- thank goodness for me and my family -- my angelic guide refused to give up on me.

And the 19 point summary I've posted here is the work I had to complete BEFORE I could begin to call myself a practising mystic!

I tell ya' -- those angelic guides are tough sons of bitches. And I wouldn't have it any other way.