An old
Chinese wisdom states: ”The best time to plant a tree was twenty years ago –
the second best is at present.”
The
statement fits well to human beings for which the best time in searching their
purposes passed a long time ago, the second best is now, and tomorrow it might
be too late to search.
Human
beings seldom take heed even of the second best but postpone serious matters to
the third best period. They think that in the future, they are able to solve
all things in a much easier way.
A Human
being is longing for secure fences within which he can pasture himself without having
to chew his cud. Of course, he is very experienced in worrying but poor at
searching such keys that could free him from the vicious circles which life has
developed in his inner being.
***
Other
Chinese saying states: “Words cannot change the truth!”
Many people
believe that true things can be expressed verbally. All verbal symbols are but references
towards something from which the real seeking must begin, so that in some point
the reality may open itself, and the word become flesh.
St. Paul
writes on verbal things in his second Corinthians: “For the letter kills, but
the Spirit gives life.”
It is the
Spirit, as soon as it has become the active center of one’s consciousness,
which represents “the living word”. It contains all unchangeable principles
without words and concepts – the kind of wisdom, which Jacob describes as being
“without turning shadow.”
***
Third
Chinese wisdom states: “A wise man thinks by himself, a fool just follows
common ideas.”
Organized
religious institutions have had a tendency of restricting and unifying the
thinking of their members even to the point where all individual reasoning is considered
dangerous for soul.
This kind
of control over mental activity, which is the most typical feature in human
beings, proves as an insane idea that the ability of thinking was once given to
human beings in order that they never used it.
The control
resembles the statement in Gen. 3:22,
“Now, lest
he put forth his hand, and also take of the tree of life, and eat, and live
forever..."
***
Krishnamurti
stated his reasons for breaking up the church that was planned on his person
and teachings by saying that it is completely impossible to organize the truth.
Organizing
forms almost automatically structures of wealth, which begin to live the life
of their own and defend their positions. Wealth blurs or darkens clear thinking
and understanding, and keeping up the unity of the system often leads to
arbitrariness or even violence.
It is hard
to find such an organization, the leaders of which draw their wisdom directly
from the source that is above all books and words. Learning is by no means a
bad thing unless it does not lead to a wrong kind of “pharisaism”, which
appears in excessive appreciation of formal activities and verbally defined
thoughts.
***
Charismatic
movements will arise and fall every now and then, but their leaders have seldom
walked their own narrow paths up to the final. Their activities are based on
human thoughts and feelings (psyche), which Jacob in his letter calls “wisdom
of demons”, for it is still mixed with human impurity and distortion.
The
incompleteness of leaders appears often at the state where their followers have
lifted them high on a stand and begin to wait for happenings that were more
wonderful than before. Only a few are able to stay humble and honest in their
tribulations and inner trials.
***
The
searching for ultimate purposes of life is important not only in Eastern
teachings. The same themes are obvious in Christian writings, too. The New
Testament urges to seek and find the Kingdom of Heaven as one’s primary aim and
target if one wants to find such food that satisfies one’s whole being and
helps to solve the problem of perishableness.
Every
Christian knows the statement and promise: “Ask, and it will be given you.
Seek, and you will find. Knock, and it will be opened for you.” Even in the
first Christian century, some factions of the movement strongly criticized many
members of the winning section that they were not severe enough but that they
just followed common habits and adapted literal ideas as truths.
***
Institutions
and organizations have slowed or prevented individual searching by offering
their membership and formal activities as mediums for salvation. One of the
worst statements was the one of Cyprian of Charthago. He claimed that there was
no salvation outside of the church because only bishops had right to forgive
sins.
Later on
the role of membership rose even higher as the church interpreted itself as the
true bride of Christ – so that membership was the way to join a person to
Christ himself.
***
Another
father of the church, Tertullian claimed that it was useless to seek and knock
for there were nothing to be found and no one to open – all that one should
need, was ready and open in the possession of the church.
It is no
wonder that even today in Christian churches priests utter the words: “Come,
for all things are ready!”
It is
evident that in God and in the timeless, eternal Kingdom of Heaven everything
is always ready and perfect. The only problem is that individuals are not ready
to change their outer ties and egos to any such principle, being or state of which
they have no concrete knowledge.
People may
be humble in front of authorities, but that is based on timidity or expectation
for some sort of reward.
It may well
be impossible for a human being to pass the narrow gate by his own will and
means, but scriptures have promised that a person gets aid and strength from
above if he is sincere and internally ready to loosen his grip or mind out of
perishable affairs.
***
It is often
said that all people seek happiness, but one can seldom find definitions for
the real factors of happiness or of the time that seeking will take.
Happiness
is often identified with physical and psychic pleasure that material wealth,
might and honor can produce. Such happiness seems to require continual addition
(as drugs) so that at some point nothing is enough to keep up the required
state of pleasure.
Philosophe
Nietzsche claimed that happiness takes something away from a person for it ties
one’s mind to outer things and phenomena so that he does not realize to start
digging his own treasury.
There is
some evidence to be found that human beings contain some sort of inner odometer,
which starts to alert or even kick as soon as one’s inner warehouse of digested
experiences is fulfilled, so that it is time to learn and grow out of all outer
things and return back home.
The parable of Prodigal Son in the
New Testament denotes to such a turning point in the secret inner mechanism of
grace.
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