Compassion and the Individual | The Office of His Holiness The Dalai Lama

I got a little lump in my throat reading this beautiful article this morning. Please enjoy :)


Compassion and the Individual | The Office of His Holiness The Dalai Lama

The Ninth and Tenth Insights

The Ninth Insight - The Emerging Culture

As more and more people engage the flow of meaningful coincidences, interacting in an uplifting manner with others and compensating others for their timely messages, human culture will begin an historic shift. We will be able to spend less hours in jobs that are less than satisfying, as our income is supplemented by our participation in synchronicity. Focusing on our spiritual evolution will become our main priority, and the way in which we interact with all groups in society - from children, to adults, to those in authority - will transform to one of positive expectation and mutual support and upliftment.

But before the general fear levels in society can truly ease, we have to integrate the remaining three Insights - beginning with the Tenth.

The Tenth Insight - The View from the Afterlife

Our endeavour to spiritualise our life on earth is given true perspective by the view from the Afterlife. There, we discover the true nature of the control dramas - in reality they are an inner hell, wherein we repeat the same fear-driven scenes over and over again. But we gain hope by realising that our loved ones in spirit are always there, projecting their love and energy to us hoping we will awaken and leave our self-constructed hell-worlds.

The true nature of the coincidences is also revealed - when a meaningful synchronicity occurs it is in fact an echo of our Birth Vision, a sign that we are on track with what we intended before coming into incarnation in the earth. We all come in with the very best of intentions; where our lives go wrong is where we make bad choices due to being caught in Fear. In most cases our lives can only ever represent an approximation of our original Vision; nonetheless, when a coincidence occurs we receive an influx of energy as we are reminded of our Birth Vision.

Our individual Birth Visions always originate from and blend seamlessly with the World Vision - a plan for the entire human race and for the Earth which in truth is nothing less than God's plan for us all. Heaven is guiding us and as more of us remember the World Vision we can ease the rising burdens of fear, remembering a hopeful outcome for the future. As we hold this positive vision, ever working toward it, we participate in the creation of a new Heaven and a New earth.


Next: the Eleventh and Twelfth Insights, and the Twelve Integrations.

The Seventh and Eighth Insights

The Seventh Insight - Engaging the Flow

We can get quite precise and scientific with the way we tune in to the universal energy and get the flow of synchronicity going in our lives. First, we learn to take in energy by appreciating the beauty and breathing it in. We feel the measures of lightness, of the closeness of things and appreciation of them, and of a background feeling of love. Then, we expect inner guidance to arise and a meaningful coincidence to take place that launches us into a new life direction, one that pertains to our current life questions.

Part of the Seventh Insight is gaining ever greater clarity about our questions. Once we have performed the Sixth Insight clearing of the past and have found the silver lining of our relationship to our parents, we can keep in mind our broader life questions while narrowing in on the smaller, current questions of our life situation. Both the big and small questions will always relate to one another, and as we find answers to the smaller questions the big picture of our life will gradually fill in over time.

The Eighth Insight - The Interpersonal Ethic

As we accelerate our experience of the coincidences, we will totally change the way in which we relate to other people. We will realise that it is in fact other people who always bring us the information and timely messages we most need. Therefore we will always take care to stay connected with the energy within, and to send this energy on to others to uplift them into their higher self, enabling them to deliver the wisdom that will provide us with a synchronicity - moving ourselves in turn into a higher level of vibration.

We will realise the importance of neutralising control dramas at their source - in early childhood. Parents will learn always to send their children energy, reassuring them that they will always have the energy they need and that they will never have to fight or compete for attention. Meanwhile, adults will avoid getting too entangled in love relationships that have that addictive, obsessive quality that keeps us co-dependent. We will find our own inner balance of male and female by staying centered in the universal source that sustains all life.

As the Insights become known by greater and greater numbers of people, human culture will begin to shift - and the result of this shift is described by the Ninth and Tenth Insights.

The Fifth and Sixth Insights

The Fifth Insight - The Message of the Mystics

The way to resolve the competition for energy is to go within, to seek the divine connection within ourselves and end our reliance on external energy. Tuning in to high energy locations of natural beauty can help us in perceiving the energy and raising our vibration, as can meditation, prayer and other contemplative states.

The more we cultivate our inner connection to the divine, a condition to which the mystics of all traditions in all ages have pointed, the more we can rise above our competitive energy stealing and truly move forward with our destiny.

The Sixth Insight - Clearing the Past

The Jewish and Christian traditions emphasize that we should forgive our parents, as in the fifth commandment given to Moses. But how exactly do we do this, given that emotional wounds can run deep?

The first step is to honestly examine how our control dramas were formed in relation to our parents. These dramas are unconscious strategies we use to claim energy from others, whether through intimidation, being overly critical and superior, through being aloof and mysterious, or by playing the victim or "poor me" mode. We can easily identify how these dramas were formed by looking at the negative interactions of childhood, and by bringing this into consciousness we can now begin to transcend these learned patterns.

Full healing is facilitated by looking for the positive messages our parents modelled for us. Even in the worst of parents, we can usually find at least one positive quality that each stood for. We ask ourselves two critical questions:

1. What did my father / mother stand for? What was the main emphasis / pursuit in their lives? and
2. In what ways did they fail to achieve their vision, what were their shortcomings?

In this way, looking at the incomplete vision of each parent, we can gain clarity on the spiritual heritage they have left us - our own mission in life will usually correspond to a higher synthesis of each parent's incomplete vision for living life. In this way, each generation pushes forward the evolution of human consciousness by picking up where the previous generation left off. By looking at the positive contribution each parent made to our lives, we can feel energised and more clear about our own contribution to the evolution, and we can more easily move into a forgiveness state towards our parents.

We are now truly ready to engage the flow of synchronicity in our lives, as detailed in the Seventh and Eighth Insights.

The Third and Fourth Insights

The Third Insight - A Matter of Energy

Modern science confirms what religious traditions and mystics have long known - that we live in a universe of energy, vibrating at different rates to create the different organisms and structures we see in the world. This energy responds to human intention, acting to influence energy systems with which we interact, whether physically or mentally.

This universal energy seems to be the stuff of creation itself - and it is as if we, as children of God, have a similar ability to Him, to direct and influence the underlying creation energy with our thoughts, feelings and expectations.

We can influence plants to grow more robustly and productively; we can enhance another person's energy field. Or, we can influence others for the worse and this is the subject of the Fourth Insight...

The Fourth Insight - The Struggle for Power

One consequence of our ability to influence the cosmic energy is that we can force it away from others. Too often, human beings feel weak, insecure, cut off from the divine, universal energy. As a result, we engage in energy theft, seeking to pull another's energy into ourselves to help ease our fear.

Competition for scarce, human energy as a result of existential fear is the source of all conflict in the world, from the level of individuals and groups, all the way to nations and cultures.

Fortunately there are ways we can address this problem as detailed in the Fifth and Sixth Insights.

The First and Second Insights

I want to present a short summary of what the Twelve Insights mean as I see them (as discussed in the previous post on The Celestine Prophecy). So here, beginning with the first two Insights, is a series of posts that briefly capture the main points covering the meaning of the Twelve Insights.

The First Insight – A Critical Mass

The Twelve Insights as a whole describe the beginning of a mass movement towards a more spiritual culture on the earth, one where religions come together in common spiritual truth and the main purpose of humanity becomes to further pursue and actualise this truth. Polarities of opinion are gradually integrated and resolved, and fear is moved past as together we open up to the greater wonders of life on earth and the energies available to us from the heaven realm.

The first step in awakening to this spiritual awareness is to notice the coincidences. Many times in our lives we may have noticed that an old friend makes contact with us out of the blue right around the time we have been thinking of them. We may bump into someone we haven’t seen for a while, and then later that day or on the next day bump into them again and then perhaps a third time. We may need extra money to purchase some needed item, then either the money comes unexpectedly or we find some creative, economical way to obtain the item. Or more dramatically, we may need urgent help in some dangerous situation, and just the right assistance comes when we need it most.

These are all examples of synchronicity, meaningful coincidences that prod our consciousness into sensing another, more spiritual process operating under the surface of life. The Celestine Prophecy puts forward the notion that a critical mass of individuals who are at this time all wondering what these experiences mean will help push forward global human culture into a greater spiritual awareness.

The extended, historical context of this awakening is given in the Second Insight.

The Second Insight – The Longer Now

We have largely been brought up to believe that life is a mechanical process, that there are no miracles, that the universe does not interact with us to bring our dreams and wishes. Thanks to the decline of the old religious worldview and the rise of scientific materialism, we have for the longest time tended to reduce life to the very basics, instead of pursuing what Abraham Maslow called the “peak experiences” of life.

But the coincidences seem to happen at a rate that is beyond reasonable probability, and as we notice this fact we begin to awaken from the dream of materialism. The coincidences make us feel more alive, more excited and make us want to explore this dimension even more.

The universe we live in is much more mysterious than was previously supposed. During the materialistic era, we became convinced as a culture that life was purely about practical, day-to-day matters – mind your P’s and Q’s, look good in the eyes of society, go to church and pay your taxes, attend to the basics of survival and forget about the larger questions. But the findings of modern science, especially in quantum physics, remind us what the great spiritual traditions have always known – that we live in a responsive universe, and when we are pursuing our highest good and seeking ways to live our true destiny, then the universe tends to cooperate in leading us onward.

But how to maintain the flow of synchronicity? How do we maintain this heightened feelings of aliveness that comes with being in the flow? The answers are found in the remaining Insights, in further posts to come soon.

Observations on The Celestine Insights

I want to provide a brief commentary on my feelings about a book series the first title of which is The Celestine Prophecy, by author James Redfield. This was a book that first emerged back in 1993 – in what looking back on it seems like a much more naïve and innocent time. The first book was an immediate hit, launching the unknown and initially self-published author onto the New York Times bestseller lists.

Naturally it’s easy to be suspicious of trends, and I am the first to regard with scepticism such trends in popular culture. And I have certainly seen a lot of really negative reviews of this series on the net. But I want to posit that the insights and techniques described in these books are still very much relevant to our current times, and will continue to be well into this third millennium.

A book like The Celestine Prophecy is bound to raise all sorts of emotions in people. I’ve seen people criticise it on the grounds of religion, that it’s nothing people couldn’t learn from a traditional faith if they had taken the time to explore a faith; that it’s too cosy and new age; that it’s just a summary of everything that has gone before; that the writing is atrocious, and so on and so forth.

I sometimes wonder whether I and these other reviewers have read the same book. Certainly there are many people other than myself who also feel uplifted and inspired by the insights offered in the book, and speaking for myself I have been profoundly affected for the better by contemplating deeply the insights on offer. People seem to resent being offered a new perspective on truth, especially if it conflicts with their existing religious beliefs or with a strictly common-sense, down to earth attitude.

To me, what The Celestine Prophecy is all about is what alternative streams of thought have always been about – to explore truth, non-dogmatically. It’s my opinion that this is the reason it immediately raises people’s hackles – religious types tend to cling to their doctrines and dogmas for dear life, in the fear that if these were to be challenged then their whole religion would lose its basis of truth. But spiritual seekers have long known that the awesome, infinite and multi-various thing that is Truth cannot be contained within the rigid and confined structure of dogma.

I had a shocking realisation recently – shocking to me, at least, because for so long now I have been free of the restrictions of religion as I pursue my own spiritual path in life. Without going into excessive detail, the profound realisation is this: for many if not most people, religion equates to having a sense of the value of human life. It seems to be hardwired into people’s instinctual selves; take away religion, and then what is left? Many people seem unable to hold a set of spiritual values that places the deepest of importance on human life outside of the structure of organised religion.

This unsettled me deeply, and it at least helped me realise why so many people cling so tightly to religion – because they fear on a deep level that without religion, human life has no meaning or worth. It seems bizarre to me, because for the longest time it is religion itself that seems to me to have lost the value and the sanctity of human life. As far as I am concerned, religion (in the West, at least) deserted human beings long ago. And yes for a while I did go through a dark night of the soul over this. Maybe that’s why people fear to let go of religion – because they know they will have to face the awesome unknown and confront their deepest darkest fears if they do so.

I am blessed to be at a place in my life where alternative streams of knowledge and wisdom have made themselves known to me. From the ancient mystery traditions through Rosicrucianism and Gnosticism through to modern day Masonry, theosophy and Rudolf Steiner’s anthroposophy, I have become enriched by so many wonderful and venerable traditions that go back well before the Christian era and continue through to this day. There is so much that is undreamt of in the common person’s experience, just waiting for us to discover and enjoy and be enriched by. The problem is that many folk seem to be stuck in a dualistic frame of mind, whereby if a teaching doesn’t come from a recognised major religion then it must be the work of evil and have no validity (although I will unhesitatingly place Scientology in this latter category!).

And so back to The Celestine Prophecy, which actually mentions Gnosticism in the second volume, entitled The Tenth Insight (and I believe there is an implied mention of Freemasonry in the latest, The Twelfth Insight). These twelve insights do indeed constitute a summarising of the best of the wisdom that has come before, such as the power of faith and prayer, the power of love, the ability of humans to make contact with the higher, divine source and be assisted by God and by the angels. But so what? Every age needs the eternal truths to be couched in the vernacular of the time, and for me the arrival of The Celestine Prophecy was a true god-send, and a validation of all the other things I had been reading at that time.

In short, the Celestine series of books continues to inspire me and provoke awe and wonder at the marvellous scheme of life on this earth. If I was forced to find something negative about them, it would only be that there is barely enough space in the pages of one book to do justice to the depth of the topics being raised. But there again, the author is not trying to replace previous sources of knowledge – merely illuminate certain aspects of their highest truths. It is naturally up to each one of us to expand our knowledge and complement our own innate wisdom with the helpful teachings offered by the Insights. Perhaps that is why some people have such an issue with these books; they demand that one have one’s own critical view of religion and history, and for some that’s simply too much effort. I have to admit that when I first encountered them, although I was inspired I was simply too young and lacking in life perspective to make truly practical use of the Insights. Now that I am approaching the age of forty, I find that I have had enough experience and gained a sufficient level of wisdom to bring something to the table and complement my own intuitions and thoughts with the beautiful wisdom of the Insights.

So that’s my perspective on this sometimes controversial series of books. There is so much more that could be said, perhaps I will go into further detail in a future blog. For now feel free to offer your own opinion in the comments. Be aware though that I won’t look favourably on opinions that are not well-considered and at least balanced in their judgment. One of my strongest held values is that we should always test for truth – if a teaching does not align with our gut level feeling and our sense of right and wrong, then reject it. On the other hand if a teaching offers a new perspective, then we should not simply dismiss it out of hand but at least give it the benefit of our consideration.

There is more in heaven and earth than is dreamt of in most philosophies…

Blessed be