(Editors note: This is the first
segment in a new series.)
Many ordinary people find
that something important is missing from life’s daily experience. The cosmic balance has been altered. The pursuit of happiness has, so it seems, evolved
into a mindless and impersonal pursuit of material gain. At times, it tends to consume us all. The more we have yields the illusion that
we’re almost where we need to be --- if only we could get a little more?
Why do the multitudes who
possess so little appear to have much?
Conversely, why do people who appear to have so much in reality possess
little? Perhaps it’s just a matter of
perspective.
Possession may mean
one thing, when the goal is competitive advantage. Its motivating force is a heavy burden which may consume the material aspirant. But
possession may mean something altogether different in a spirit of cooperation. For example, do puppies at play really fight
over a bone? Or is there another dynamic
involved?
What is the elusive
ingredient we are searching for, absent from this great experiment in democracy
we call the pursuit of happiness? It’s
not an easy question. Those who have
given it serious thought are content to label it a search for Truth. However, this search leads to a fork in the road: on one side is science --- on the other, spirit. A bright line divides the two.
In science, discovery
of any “new” principle is little more than a matter of black and white. If a principle cannot be scientifically
proven, reason dictates that it simply be rejected. Nor is it ever a matter of
interpretation. The idea that the earth
is round was first proposed in the 6th century BC. But it remained a matter of “philosophical
speculation” until the 3rd century BC, when the earth’s spherical
shape was “established” as a spherical given.
Surely the laws of
gravity existed before man “discovered” its scientific principles. Consider that nothing changed, in fact,
except man’s understanding. Would it not
be pure folly, then, to debate the scientific properties of light? But we can --- and should --- continue to
ponder life’s important questions: Where
does light come from? What is its
source? And so it is not difficult to
understand the controversy over whether global warming is “real” --- for in a
competitive landscape, many lives do hang in the balance.
On the other side of
the divide are those whose lives are guided by spirit --- an energy force which
surely cannot be explained by science alone --- if at all.
To them, reliance on reason alone is a limiting factor in the search for
Truth --- unacceptably limiting.
In the scriptures Pilate's questionioning of Jesus went something like this: “But what is
truth? Is truth unchanging law? We both have truths. Are mine the same as yours?” To say that these questions are provocative ---
in such an unequal exchange --- would be a gross understatement. Will ordinary man’s consciousness ever be
raised to the point where such answers do become scientifically defensible?
Liberated from the
limitations of science, those who are guided by spirit are driven more commonly
by intuition. This allows for the potential of a
broader understanding --- Theodore Roosevelt labeled it The Search for Truth in a Reverent Spirit --- and a higher trajectory. Non-discriminatory by its nature, this path is available to everyone. And the
transformational principle --- is faith.
While scientific
skeptics may be constantly nipping at the heels of spiritual mystics, somehow
the latter remain undeterred. “When an
interest in Truth exceeds any interest in blame, expectation, or any form of
comparison,” notes Matt Kahn, the spiritual teacher, “it is an indication that
life has successfully prepared you for the soul’s true journey.” As we progress and aim higher, that journey supplies
the richness by which we --- and our lives --- will come to be defined.
-Michael D’Angelo
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