A Spiritual Outlook In Secular Times

Introduction

In many cultures, in times past, an individual

was raised with certain spiritual guidelines. Not
every individual excepted these beliefs, but the
culture provided the possibility of magical,
mystical and creation view windows.
Being born today, especially in America, a lot
of times we are not provided with any set
doctrine from an early age. The freedom of
religion we are blessed with slowly has become
an elective, opted out by many in today’s
society. This leaves little framework for a
working conception of a higher power or
interest in spiritual matters sublime.
 The material world acts like a curtain. It’s
solidity and availability to the senses masks and
dampens the subtle energy’s of the spirit. There
is a certain merit in raising children to be aware
that there exists more then the eyes see. Of
forces outside of ourselves that we cannot
perceive.
In America, the shift, whether an intentional
push towards population control by those in
power, an attempt to lure to sleep and
mentally imprison and dampen the spiritual
side of us by dark forces… or just a rising
capitalist bent… the reality is the material is
advertised and the spiritual not only minimized
but also flat out hugely censored.
We can see this is the separation of church
and state in schools where not only is
spirituality not allowed, but kids will make fun
and ridicule and label other kids as strange who
show public spirituality
 Also we see a growing intolerance of outside
religious beliefs like Judaic, Muslim, and hindu
spirituality. Traditons that predate America and
have long running and deep mystical roots.
What we end up with is a culture where
spirituality is a fad rather than an inherent
spiritual and moral teaching. Where company’s
are run by the almighty dollar. And legality
over- rules morality. Look at the mother with
children standing in the rain and the bus driver
who refuses a ride because she is short on the
exact bus fare, or the hohomeles that are
starving, while millions are spent on public
projects like statues or improving the sidewalks
with heat under the concrete around
courthouses.
My over all point is we as a people in this
country have lost a vital connection to the
mysterious, magical and divine and have had it
replaced with an immoral love of things, power,
prestige and calm detachment of the suffering
of those around us.

This at least to some degree creates an insular

atmosphere of jealousy, mistrust, and fear. We
lust after the things we don’t have, focus on
filling the void with material possessions and
judge each other not on the quality of our
hearts but by the make of our cars, the size of
our houses, and the quality of our clothes.
And it has grown to almost epidemic
proportions. Where no longer is it even safe to
be generous or kind. To pick up a hitch hiker, or
send your kids out trick or treating, and it is a
growing problem in this country I believe.
How can we be proud of our flag, and focus
on our foreign policy and projects abroad when
our larger inner city’s are decaying from the
inside out. When we imprison ourselves by the
millions in correctional facility and continually
cut funding to programs of recovery and aid.
When an individual must indebt themselves for
a decade to the government to receive any
type of higher education.
These are but some of the outward
manifestations of one fundamental problem. A
society where are elders are forgotten, any
form of heritage outside of the affluent is lost
or unimportant and above all where any type of
inner religious truth or teachings are almost
impossible to find by an individual who is lucky
enough to have an awakening desire to do so.
In total, the basic fact that there is an inner
void only the supreme can fill is not even
recognized by most, by people that blindly and
unconsciously spend there days trying to fill it
with things that not only don’t fill the hole but
often with things that are poisonous to the
mind and body. Solomon commented on this
with the view point that there is nothing new
under the sun, that every earthly pursuit
ultimately produces nothing but sorrow.
We argue over which Christian sect is right.
We go to church for social status, instead of to
connect with the spiritual. And ultimately we
are bombarded and hypnotized into a heavy
material bondage that over runs and blocks out
our natural ability to connect to the higher
realm around us.

A peak behind the veil

We could say that a catalog of all the

different philosophys, dogmas, opinions, and
religious theory among man kind could almost
be impossible to fully collect and organize.
There are as many religions, sub sects, and
doctrines as there are stars in the sky, with
more and more being created.
If we focus on the end goal. The crowning and
primary principal through the majority of these,
we find this one common theme. A longing to
connect with God. To feel at peace. To obtain
wisdom and an understanding of why we are
here.
Buddhism calls it oneness. The Sufis, La Ilaha
illallah. (There is no God but God). Gnostic
Christianity the mystical rose. All the rituals and
moral edicts thru all traditions point towards
living a life, in which one can invite the spirit of
the divine into their life. Whether it is the giving
up of earthly attachment as in buddhism, or
energized ecstatic prayer in sufism.
Piercing the veil of outward religious form,
we see one cosmic Divinity. No matter the
trappings of culture or the clothes of particular
paths. Occasionally thru every culture, time and
again, we are given examples of an individual
who has awakened and communed with the
Divine… then turned and tried to communicate
that experience to his fellow man. Outward
word religious dogma have been recorded by
their followers, and inner teachings formed by
secret sub groups,…designed to show the
special people among them who are ready a
path to the real goal…
Everyone of us is capable of connecting to
the divine in our own way. Religious teachers
are great. Following a particular path to learn
basic spirituality often neccesary. But each of us
was created in Gods image, and each of us, is
our own star, ( as Aleister Crowley put it), we
each have the ability to reach up to the
heavens and access the heavenly realms and
learn to live with its aid on a daily basis.
 We but have to A) awaken from the
proverbial sleep.
B) Decide we have seen all the material plain
has to offer and find it lacking
And C) have a desire to fill the hole with the
only thing it was meant to be filled with.
Which is the spirit and substance of God.
Walk a mile towards God with a pure heart
and pure intention, and he will walk 1000
toward you. Seek wisdom and understanding
and you will always find you holy guardian
angel waiting to direct you towards your higher
purpose.
I believe everything around us is the same
substance. And the egos attempt to cause an
illusion of separation, causes many people a
great deal of loneliness and suffering. Religions
around the world have said this for 1000’s of
years and science confirms it.
 Break the lie, that powers out there would
have you believe. Rise and awake. Live your
birth right as a being created in the holy image.
Stop settling for less and the delusion that you
are a sinner cut off from God.
Seek with a relentless heart, and help will he
provided unto you.