“To do or not to do.”
While exploring the latest book by a “Teacher of Light”, whose vision I felt I shared, I came across the following passage: “The fact that there is any power over life stems from the illusion of separation”…
To do or not to do, that is the question.
To support this reasoning, she gives this argument that many people, including myself, share: “Like a drop of water that is part of a single ocean, it cannot detach itself from it in any way”.
She adds: “If we could really determine life’s events, would we choose famine, war and suffering?”
The reasoning seems to lead to the obvious conclusion that the only attitude to have would be to “let life happen”, since we have no power over what happens around us…
This rhetorical sleight-of-hand is undoubtedly one of the most dangerous temptations owe find in ‘spirituality’, along with the suggestion of ‘living consciously’, ‘living in the present’ and ‘freeing ourselves from the ego’.
The ego, a spiritual necessity.
But why?
Let’s imagine quite simply that my ‘little ego’, which is oriented towards managing the details of my daily life, finds itself placed in a situation that puts me in biological danger: a potential road accident, a physical or moral aggression, a toxic situation, etc…
If I start by assuming that I have no power over life, what can I do?
If I follow the advice : nothing.
This conception of ‘non-dualism’ does not take into account the paradox expressed within the image of the cross. It should be remembered that the use of this shape predates the use made by Christianity. The vertical element of the symbol expresses the idea of “I-dentity”. This represents unity, the direct descent of Spirit into incarnation. Archetypal man stands up between heaven and earth, between the spiritual and the material.
The horizontal bar creates a point of intersection. Through this, we see the shape of the body. The meeting point between the two directions (which we need to imagine in 3 dimensions) corresponds spatially to the heart zone.
This horizontality expresses the human “line of conduct”, the idea of the plane of material movement. If I’m content to live vertically, I choose to manifest myself like many spiritual masters who live 24 hours a day in that state of ‘trance’ called ‘Samadhi’. Most of the time, they remain secluded in their ashrams and communicate with their disciples in silence.
Spirituality is not a state to be sought after,
it is the embodiment of a self-evident truth
Living apart from the world, they may be considered to have chosen a vegetal mode of existence (trees are a good illustration of vertical existence. They link heaven and earth, and their apparent silence is animated by an intense inner life corresponding to Inspiration).
Choosing a contemplative existence is a choice, but it is not the royal road. What’s the point of incarnation if we live in a disembodied mode? To return to our original examples. When I run the risk of having an accident, I may obey an intuition and adopt a reflex movement that will enable me not to leave the plane of incarnation prematurely.
In the martial arts, through practice, we discover how to resolve this apparent incompatibility between the horizontal and the vertical. The role of the Vital Centre and the breath in Aikido , for example, help to resolve this conflict. The result is that, once again, you are able to “get away”.
When you find yourself in a toxic situation (a place, a job, a relationship or any other circumstance that is clearly hurting you), should you say to yourself: “There’s nothing I can do, it’s the way life is, I have to put up with it…”?
Evolve or disappear?
My experience in the field of personal development has shown me that this attitude of ‘letting life take its course’ runs counter to the very idea of evolution and inner freedom. To verify this, we need only look at the state of countries where this conception of life dominates or has dominated. The extreme poverty of India over thousands of years is proof enough.
Human beings are an expression of “Global Beingness” . They contribute as “humans” to the overall harmony of Creation in the same way as atoms and the most evolved forms, whether visible or not. However, we must not forget that incarnation is also an “evolution in progress”. We must remember that any form of life unable to adapt disappears from the plane of manifestation.
But we are still here. Not all species are. And not only have we been able to adapt to our environment, but we’ve come a long way since our distant ancestors couldn’t figure out how to make a fire…
To avoid being seduced by this all too tempting idea of ‘spiritual let it be’, it’s essential to understand one simple thing: everything is spiritual. The very texture, the essence of it all, is spirit. What’s the point of considering that ‘spiritualisation’ should be the main objective of our presence here?
An expression of the omnipotence of Spirit
Life is not about something to get, it is an expression. Through incarnation, Spirit experiences its own omnipotence. We can understand this ‘challenge’ by considering that SPIRIT is co-creating with itself. He is on both sides: letting it happen and doing it (Yin &Yang, Masculine and feminine).
Jesus expresses this paradox well when he says: “It is the Father who is in me who does his works”. Jesus speaks, travels, teaches, performs miracles… He was not content to prophesy, meditate and contemplate in silence. He was an active entity who went right to the end of his demonstration. He acts, but remains conscious of doing it “in the name of the Father”.
In this way, he showed us that we too are capable of living in “both worlds” without losing sight of our spiritual essence. Like him, and by assimilating the example he has given us through his “incarnation”, we are able to realise that, like him, we are capable of “turning water into wine” when necessary…
Through miracles, he shows us the way to “do”. Humanity’s mission is to “manifest every day”: to obey the evolutionary flow in order to manifest the creative power of Life at every moment.
