by Mark H. Pritchard (Belsebuub)
December 20, 2015

from Belsebuub Website

 

Life is in a constant interplay between light and darkness.

Whichever is greater than the other predominates, and when darkness has greater force than light, it prevails. It's the struggle between the two opposing forces that gives us the gradients of experience and opportunities in life, and in this struggle, good doesn't always win.

We all have a set of values that are the moral foundation for what we perceive as right and wrong. As a society, we establish the rules for conduct and enforce corrective behavior in order to put those who oppose society back in line, or to remove them.

As individuals we also have standards of right and wrong and may feel the desire to put right what we consider to be wrong.

This kind of behavior also exists in animals, such as when a dog scolds its puppy for doing something wrong. So there's a mechanism built into us as human animals that works in ways that are defined by nature. These are laws that apply to ego states.

Laws and principles based upon animalistic values have limitations however, even though some may form the basis of objective thinking and lawmaking.

Yet those values are superseded by higher principles, which are the values of divine consciousness, and the scales and balance of its justice. These move according to universal laws of cause and effect, and are commonly known as karma.

The problem however, is that to live under higher principles we must meet them ourselves both as individuals and as a society.

When we fail to meet them, we live under lower laws and principles, which are those of the animal kingdom, with all the lower actions and events that they bring.

What is considered right in one society can be wrong in another

In different individuals and societies there's lots of variation in terms of moral values.

Some societies, for example, go to war and conquer other societies and regard conquest as amongst the highest of their values and ideals. And, to some individuals, a life of crime is perfectly OK.

So the sense of what's good varies from culture to culture.

But what really counts is that society reproduces itself and continues and so the values which triumph are those which facilitate it, but they may not be what is truly good. And, whenever society's values are threatened, it responds to try to stop the threat.
 

A society's laws are usually constructed from consensus amongst what serves the interest of those making them. So the laws in society are not an unalterable right that everyone has, but are rights and restrictions that we give to each other, or which are given by a minority in power over a majority with restricted power.
 

Yet, when we're brought up with certain values, we often believe them to be good and true ones. We then defend and admire those values even if they are against spiritual principles, such as in war-like societies considering that invading others is the height of success.

Underlying society is the survival of the fittest and so things often don't go according to what we think is right.

Bad things happen and we try to overcome them, thus we compete in the struggle for survival in nature's program.

The 'good' of higher cosmic spiritual principles

Yet there is actually a good, which is beyond what we create as a society and beyond the survival of the fittest and that is a spiritual good, which stems from higher cosmic and universal principles.

These give rise to objective values, rather than ego based ones.

These principles are often different than those held by society and thus conflict with it. This is why those who take up a genuine spiritual life face opposition from the majority who live a mundane life.

Now, how can we discover what these true spiritual values are? - by studying universal principles in nature and acquiring esoteric knowledge and experience, which is hidden knowledge beyond the limitations of the five senses.

Our sense of intuition and wisdom is innate within consciousness, and this gives us a spiritual set of values. These are not dependent upon society, because whoever has this sense enabled to a sufficient degree gets to the same source of wisdom, which is consciousness, in whatever society they belong to.

This innate wisdom can be enhanced by the right kinds of esoteric practice, to learn about things beyond the body, to get spiritual teachings that are not here on this earth, to be taught through astral experiences and through dreams, and, to have teaching by spiritual beings beyond the body.

The more we make progress in our spiritual development, the more we get in line with the laws and principles those beings adhere to and which nature and ultimately society are also bound to.

And by doing that, we may adhere to a different set of rules and values than those of society, if that society is in violation of the principles and laws governing the cosmos.

When a set of principles or values conflicts with society or an individual, that society or individual may perceive it as a threat, and may wish to stop it.

And therefore, it may try to suppress those who have adherence to spiritual principles.

How esoteric knowledge is useful to society

Esoteric knowledge, by its nature is hidden and has elements to it that are outside the comprehension and values of mainstream society.

Society generally wishes its values to continue unthreatened and unchallenged.

Yet society always fulfills at least some cosmic principles, as they are useful and even necessary for its survival. There is always a partial breaking of such cosmic laws - the issue is how many. If too many are broken, or key principles are broken, the result is that society collapses.

This is how esoteric knowledge is so useful to society. It can enhance it and enable it to develop in the most advanced and prosperous ways, whereas its loss leads to societies degeneration and destruction.

When cosmic principle are lost, what replaces them are the values of the egos, and then corruption, injustice, oppression, and lack of freedom follow. Dog-eat-dog becomes the norm and conflict arises, not only within society but between different societies, as people strive to take what is not rightfully theirs.

In the competition driven by the egos, societies fight other societies in order to maintain their own balance within the world, just as individuals compete and fight with other individuals.

Spiritual change elevates our personal values

But the person who takes up the spiritual work adheres to the higher cosmic laws and has different values.

And when cosmic values differ with lower ego values, those who don't have the desire to elevate their level of being to meet higher laws will often see those who do as outsiders who are in conflict with them, and even a threat.

To elevate oneself requires understanding and sacrifice and there are few individuals, let alone societies, that would elevate their level of being to match esoteric principles.

Many people hold spiritual values, but they are often no more than an extension of mundane ego ones - they are built upon spiritual ideals and beliefs. And although these ideals sometimes integrate well within society, that doesn't necessarily mean they are truly spiritual ones.

The truly spiritual is a revolutionary force. It is not based upon what has triumphed as the norms and values within a society, or what the individual considers to be correct and true.

No one possesses anything like perfect knowledge.

Yet some with what understanding they have, where they can, try to give this knowledge to others as part of the process of give and receive, which should be in a constant flow, since in nature nothing is isolated; if it were it would die out.

Those teaching spirituality have to give the knowledge in a way that is understandable to others. This knowledge is a different kind of wisdom from what a society possesses, which has developed its values without the wisdom of the Being.

Those values of society are acquired and constructed, which at their root have a mixture of the egos, the processes of nature, and cosmic principles driving them.

The 'good' needs a voice and action for it to succeed

In the inevitable conflicts between the ideas of individuals, groups, and societies, it's not the case that the truly good always wins.

There's no automatic right to good triumphing over evil.

The good has a chance to succeed because of the right actions of people in the world, but its success is not a right. Those who are in the truly good, the spiritual, need to fight, or work, so that good is brought to the world and is known in it.

It will not appear by itself, because society runs on a different track. It will not be given easily, because there is much to overcome. It may not be accepted by the majority, as something which is true and good must be valued, otherwise the other forces will prevail over it.

The good must be fought for. Nothing is given as a right. We have what we have because we as humanity have created it and allow it and wish it. And if we wish for esoteric knowledge, the spiritual knowledge of life, to be given in the world, then we must realize that we have to work hard for it.

It doesn't just win. And, in fact, it's more likely, due to the forces there are, that evil triumphs, and darkness prevails.

And then, the good becomes like a little speck of light in the middle of a dark, murky zone - just a little speck that illuminates and hopefully guides people to knowledge and wisdom. But that little speck has to fight its way, so that it can survive and keep the light going.

It's not set in stone that the good will win.

It only has its way in the world when there are people in the world who wish to work for it and fight for it.

Live Online Weekly Talks
28 February 2009

At the live online weekly talks in 2009.

Q: How, rather than just thinking,

"Oh yes, I want to have spiritual values and follow those,"

...what can we do to really have them within us, so that's what we pursue them almost naturally as much as it's possible?

Belsebuub: Whenever we want to do something spiritual, there are always forces that oppose it.

 

We will always find a resistance to it. We have to be aware that we're going to face that and measure how much we can do, measure our capacity to act. We can do our best, but we must be aware that we are going to face a resistance within us and outside us.

Earlier I was thinking about someone who came along to this study years ago. He changed and got out of the drug scene he was in, and his parents were very worried about him because he was no longer taking drugs and going to parties and getting drunk. Well that just shows the values that some people hold and how different they are to spiritual values.

 

And, such idiosyncratic values vary around the world.

Those who do a genuine spiritual work can potentially face opposition everywhere, because everyone is trying to hold onto their own values and ideals. And within us are multiple drives and desires and things which make us feel bad, and resistances like laziness and depression.

 

And, in order to face them, we need to really make ourselves to do things which benefit consciousness, the spiritual part of us. If we don't make ourselves do it, then those forces are overriding.

 

They are the forces of nature.

To be in the stream of spirituality is to be opposed by the drives of the egos and the life they create. It's like swimming against the current of a river - we have to make an effort to avoid the resistance of the current.

 

If, however, our level of effort drops below a certain point, we get carried backwards. In that way, we need to see, measure, and be aware of the resistance that we are up against internally within ourselves, and see realistically what we need to do to overcome it.

 

If we are just repeating the same things over and over again, then we're not putting enough effort against the resistance that we are facing.

 

So, it's a matter of applying the correct effort, the correct inner work, to be able to overcome the forces of nature.

 

Q: So for a person in their daily life struggling between the forces in society that are created by egos and trying to work to go towards the values of the spirit, what can you do to just go against the force of ego and work towards the spirit?

 

And, from your personal experience, what have you done to try and fight against that force, to not get bogged down by those values in society that may not be truly good?

Belsebuub: Sometimes there are values that are held in society that are beneficial to many things, such as certain freedoms that we hold as precious.

 

And in those cases, the values of society can have a positive effect, because they allow for different spiritual freedoms to exist within it. So there are varying degrees of things within society which are favorable and unfavorable, and only some things that are unjust. So, we work within whatever exists in society as values at the time and do what good we can.

And as far as overcoming things on a personal level, there were things that I would have held as important at one stage.

 

For example, I was interested in helping the environment, but my interest in spirituality was greater than that, and so I decided to give up my interest in helping the environment in order to pursue spirituality.

 

That's a fairly easy thing to do, but as you go along, there are many decisions and many things in life that go against you, and people turn against you and don't wish you to talk and don't wish you to teach and more.

 

So then, it's a constant work to try to get the message out and to get it across.

 

Q: So what you're saying basically is you just have to keep working and fighting. It's just how it's going to be.

Belsebuub: That's how it's going to be, but you have to be aware that nothing is given as a right, that you have to create the circumstances in order to make things happen.

 

You have to work in order to make things function. You have to put the effort in. You have to create and build the things around you and within you. It's not given just because we think something is true or we think it's right.

And, if we do create something of value in the world, then there's a need to defend it and promote it. If we don't do that, then the forces which are around will smother it and overcome it.

 

And that applies to the teaching as a whole as well.

 

Q: It can sometimes be hard to see what the right decision to make in different situations is, or whether it's bad or good, especially as there are different standards within any society and some things that might be accepted in a society are not accepted spiritually.

 

And so, how is it best for us to judge which things are right and which are not?

Belsebuub: We can only judge something upon what we understand at the time. So, we make our best judgment and act accordingly.

Now, in order to increase our capacity of wisdom, we would need to do spiritual practices and exercises, and then get esoteric knowledge beyond the body. When we can do that, then we have greater wisdom.

 

With greater wisdom, we can decide things in a much clearer way - we can understand the things that we need to do and how to do them.

But at whatever point, we can only do our best, and be aware that many of our values are not necessarily right or true; but, to be able to question them, to look into the things that we hold as normal and believe, so that we can get to the true good, true knowledge, and values which exist as universal principles throughout the world in a spiritual way.

Ultimately, in the trials of the great mysteries, we have to overcome that within us which is out of line with higher cosmic principles, and, as we go through it we gradually go through its tests and changes, and become more capable of clearer, spiritual action.

 

Q: It seems like the work itself ultimately is asking for perfection. And so, it seems like very often we're going to fall short and make mistakes.

 

And also, it seems like we can always do more. And, I think one of the things that I have a hard time understanding, and one of the negative sort of forces that I seem like I have to constantly work against, is that it always seems like we can do more.

 

And, is there only so much we can do, I guess, at a given time?

 

And, how do we come to terms with saying,

"OK, I'm doing as much as I can do right now and that's OK,"

...when we can always do more?

 

Belsebuub: At any given time, we have a certain capacity, certain limits.

 

We can't exceed those limits. They may be greater than we think, but we can't exceed them. Or, we may have ideas of grandeur about ourselves, that are fueled by pride and therefore our actual capacity could be less than we think.

 

But, we need to know where we're starting from. If we look at the end result, which we could perceive as perfection, then we can't reach that with whatever capacity we have at a given time. But, we can take the next step in order to change. And that means just taking one step forward. This step increases our capacity by a small step.

 

 And, with that capacity, we can take the next step.

 

But, if we think of all the steps that we need to take (which is just an idea in reality) in order to reach this idea of perfection, then we will defeat ourselves, because there is no way with the capacity that we have at a given time that we can meet that perfection at this moment now.

 

So, we must understand where we are, and see it realistically, and see what we are able to do. And then, work for the next step.

I'm sure that all of us can take the next step and reach higher spiritual stages simply by doing this. But, we always have to start from where we are and not be caught within illusions and goals, which are obscure and impossible to meet right now.

It has been said that to complete the process of inner transformation and return to source consciousness is just the beginning of wisdom, it's the kindergarten only, and that we continue to learn from there, as true wisdom is endless.