Since we are all created from the same source; being made out of the same “material”; a spark of the divine essence, then naturally, we are all connected as we belong to the same domain. We are one. Man is “made in the image of God,” he has the capacity to and the right to create.1 In being a part of the original divine source that created this universe, we may have that same power to create within our boundaries. The process of visualization works in a reversed way too. As we said earlier if a group of people are believing something negative; that it is happening, about to happen or will happen, they will visualize it in the way we described it and they will start to “see” it all around them, experience indications of the “facts” and starts to act upon it. As a side effect, other groups may actually perform this negative occasion as a counter-reaction and thus we have created what we did not want and what was not there from the beginning. This is how racism works and media is very active in creating the illusion that white people are discriminating non-white people and therefore non-white people, as a reaction to the “racism” against them, will start to discriminate white people and suddenly racism is a fact; they have created tensions that was not there from the beginning and that is what is happening now. It is a very effective instrument to distract, manipulate and control people and it has been used for a long time. The more people rebel against the Divine Law, the more will they enslave themselves and thus increasing their “suffering”. It is the law of cause and effect and it will have consequences for us all.
To sum up, if one person reaches this state of enlightenment and transcends himself, which we have been speaking about in the introduction, it will benefit all humanity; it will benefit the very transcendence of this universe, which we always will be a part of. Such a person will therefore be more valuable than all other humans combined, who finds them self on a lower level in their development and thus are still dominated by their physical part. ‘The Eye of the Heart’ is that which sees God – and that consequently “is” God – and by which God sees man2 and it is what will enable us to reach the higher domains; the next world. This potent spiritual force is stronger than the physical, material phenomenon and it will have a potent and profound effect. While putting the knowledge we receive into practice; living it, we simultaneously visualize it.
Let us return to Percival and the Grail epic for a moment. It was in the moment of total despair, emptiness and hopelessness that Percival gave up his own will in order to do whatever God may ask of him. Even life or death did not matter to him any more. He gives up his physical bonds to the material world, in order to let the Divine be his guiding star. He has suffered3 because of the erroneous identification with the physical ‘I’ and the ego is being transformed and resurrected into the divine Self , which is the true symbol of the crucifixion of christ. Percival has found the Grail, the hidden stone and this time he is able to ask the all-decisive question “Whom does the Grail serve? The answer is: it serves God!” The question signify: Where is the Grail of whom Amfortas, the king and the keeper of the Grail should be the representative of? By asking this “right question” Amfortas is forced to turn his focus to his interior, to be able to answer the question and it is in this same moment that Amfortas takes the first step towards his own salvation in “healing” himself and the “outer” kingdom starts to regain its former beauty and splendor. As we have indicated earlier, reaching the highest realization; Nirvana, has an effect on the people and this world. Living the knowledge we receive; returning to our original state is transcending one self and this universe, and it benefits all of human kind.
It is said that we currently are living in what in Hinduism is called ‘Kali Yuga’ or the “Iron Age” in the Greco-Roman tradition. In this era human kind as a collective has dangerously degenerated to the lowest point in the cycle; having almost forgotten that we are divine beings from a divine origin. It is for this reason it is important to understand and remember that legends, myths and sagas together with ancient texts and various symbols are veiled, simplified forms, containing valuable information; answers to the questions man has about our existence, in order to suit the people of this particular era. From our low level of consciousness, we believe that past civilizations were primitive, because of the legends and stories from past times having these simple outer forms and therefore must be on a lower level than our modern, advanced and enlightened civilization. The irony is that it is the opposite way around! All knowledge passed on to us was designed to suit our degenerated low level of consciousness. Being on this the very lowest level of consciousness, then obviously this is from where we have to start. Why give an advanced book to a child who has not learned the ABC? If the truth about what and where we really are was handed to us; if it were released to us in an obvious way, it would probably not mean anything to us. Advanced technical knowledge in the hands of people on a low level of spirituality has, as we have seen, had disastrous consequences and in the ignorant and egoistic nature of human kind, as a collective, lies our very own destruction. However, we are in the transition-period where the transformation of the new era is taking shape and it is taking shape in the “hidden.” The fall of man, degenerated to this ‘Dark Age’ is the creation of man and nobody else. As a collective, we still do not seem to understand the purpose and our task here on this planet.
The outer manifestations of the spoken word, the written word or artistic creation in the different forms of art; that has this core of Divinity, is not even necessary when it comes to transcending this universe. Just visualization alone; living it; will have the same effect as if nobody read the text one writes, the words that one speaks or the musical notes one writes. Even the very presence of such a person, who is affected by divinity, can have an immediate effect on other people. Martin Lings once described how Réne Guénon went out to visit the mosque of Sayyidnâ Husayn near al-Azhar. “Guénon had a remarkable presence; it was striking to see the respect with which he was treated. As he entered the mosque you could hear people on all sides saying: ‘Allâhumma salli ‘alâ Sayyidnâ Muhammad’, that is, ‘May God rain blessings on the Prophet Muhammad’, which is a way of expressing great reverence for someone. He had luminous presence and his very beautiful eyes, one of his most striking features, retained their lustre into early old age”.4 The truth can be picked up by anyone, it is provided and available to us and it is “out in the open”. Nobody is going to serve it to you; it is up to you to “find” it. The question we need to ask ourselves is this:
Why do we not “see” it?
- The Transfiguration of Man, Frithjof Schuon, World Wisdom Books, Inc.1995. [↩]
- The Eye of the Heart, Frithjof Schuon, World Wisdom Books Inc. 1997. [↩]
- suffering seems to be a necessity in order to reach enlightenment, as indicated in many traditions such as the tradition of the american indians [↩]
- Réne Guénon by Martin Lings from a transcript of a lecture given in the autumn of 1994 at the Prince of Wales Institute in London and sponsored by the Temenos Academy. [↩]