THE NATURE OF SUFFERING -- PART TWO

Many Forms of Suffering

 There are many forms of suffering. Some obviously involve pain, and when I talk of pain I am talking of physical, emotional and spiritual pain. Believe it or not, the easiest pain to bear of those three is physical pain. So what we are talking about is that eventually one learns not so much to overcome pain but to come to terms with it because one can see a meaning and a purpose in that pain. What is difficult to handle is when one experiences pain for no apparent purpose. If there is a purpose and a meaning for the pain, for example when in childbirth, then one comes to terms with that pain and can see it as an evolving process.

When you come to deal with emotional and spiritual pain that is something entirely different. Physical pain is something you can understand, but how do you come to terms with emotional pain, shall we say when your husband or your wife dies and you are left grieving at the loss. Then let us consider the next degree which is spiritual pain. Suppose that you were to die at an early age of a heart attack through abusing your physical body by wrong eating and wrong living and you left behind a wife and young children. From the higher planes of life you would then witness your family living in great difficulties and although you would want to help them you could do nothing about it. That would cause you spiritual pain. That sort of pain is very difficult to come to terms with, but it is something you will all have to face one day.

Basic Cause of Suffering

As individuals you are all going to suffer. The basic cause of all suffering is ignorance. There is no need to suffer, for where there is Light, where there is Truth, where the Love of your Creator is present, there can be no suffering. Suffering can exist only in Darkness (ignorance). It cannot exist in Light. So when you, as an individual, think that you are suffering, recognize that it is because you have not come to terms with yourself as an individual. You have not balanced yourself with the surroundings in which you live, you have not merged your soul, your spiritual wisdom and knowledge, with the physical evolutionary path that you have chosen.

Understanding Suffering

There is no need for suffering. With the understanding of suffering comes the removal of pain, both physical, emotional and spiritual. It is a hard lesson to comprehend, but it is true. If you think back in your life to when you have suffered you will discover that that suffering was born out of a seperation between yourself and your Creator. Suffering only occurs when you lose trust in Its Plan, in Its Perfection, in Its total Being within which you live, move and have your being. When you have fear you are not in touch with your Creator. When you have extreme emotion you are not in touch with your Creator. At such times you will suffer. It is in the harmonization of one´s being with the Universe of which you are all a part that there comes an end to suffering.

So as your progress through the years to come, as you face your lessons in life, some painful, some less painful, when you think that you are suffering, look at yourself. Look at that part of you which is suffering. Is it the soul or is it the ego, the personality self?? Even the Master Jesus upon the cross suffered. But what was the nature of his suffering? It was not for himself. It was for the World which he was soon to leave, the World which had apparently ignored his message and act of being.

He who was overshadowed by the Christ, who had come to lead the World into the Piscean Age, was about to be crucified and the suffering that he felt was the suffering of an evolved soul for a less evolved Earth. It came from his understanding of what the Earth would have to go through. He saw what was to come. That was the nature of his suffering. So when you as individuals suffer, think of that example. Think not of yourselves but of the Earth, for when the Earth as a whole suffers then truly you will suffer as well.

This article is taken from "The Fantastic Teachings of Ramala".

THE NATURE OF SUFFERING -- PART ONE

There are two kinds of suffering. There is the perceived suffering when you as an individual see others undergoing their trials and tribulations, their suffering, and there is the suffering which you as an individual experience because of your own actions. It is essential that we comprehend the significance between these two forms of suffering, for they are not the same.

Placing Responsibility

Many people today believe that all suffering can be externalised. They can place the responsibility for their suffering on God, the government, their job or some other person. Let us begin, therefore, by looking at the relationship between God and suffering, for if we understand that relationship we can apply that understanding to all the lesser examples. The question is often posed, both consciously and unconsciously, that if God is a God of love, how then can that God permit suffering? The answer is, of course, that God does permit suffering for suffering is a refining process on the soul´s path of evolution.

Suffering should not be seen as a punishment visited upon a wayward child by a dominant parent. Suffering is something which both individuals, groups and nations attract unto themselves. It is usually the result of what they have done, of the seeds that they have sown, both in this and previous lives. Although the power that you call God could alleviate that suffering if It so wished, It does not, because It too is ruled by the Laws of the Univers, Laws such as the Law of Cause and Effect and the Law of Equalisation. Therefore, in Its wisdom, your God sees the purpose of suffering. It sees the need for individuals to come to terms with what they have attracted and brought down upon themselves.


Reincarnation

 It is difficult, if your consciousness cannot accept the concept of reincarnation, of life after life after life, to see how suffering can be regarded as a evolutionary process. For if you lead only one life and then perish forever, and if you have suffered deeply and grievously in that one life, then how can there be justice in that? Truly, if that was the case, then life would not be just. But those of you who have walked a little further along the evolutionary path than most of Humanity are aware that you bring into being with you in your physical body all that you created in other lives, on other levels of existence beyond the physical plane of Earth. You bring with you not only your spiritual wisdom, but also the sins of the past, the lessons you have not learnt, the karma you owe both to yourslef and to others. So as you advance through the life which you now lead you will automatically attract unto youself the lessons which you have chosen to learn, the karma you have chosen to transmute.


A Choice Not A Punishment

If there is one point which I would like to emphasize now, it is this: That Suffering is chosen by yourself. It is not given to you by your Creator as a punishment. It is chosen by you, willingly as a lesson to learn, as a lesson which your soul needs at this particular point in its evolution. Therefore, when you who live here in the west, at this time observe the suffering of other countries, of other races, as they conflict with each other, you must realize that those countries and races are learning a lesson in which you have no part, for you have come to learn a different lesson, a different aspect of evolution. You can observe the suffering of others but you must not become one with it.

Recognize that the suffering is part of their lesson. You may express compassion for them, you may offer help when it is sought, but there is little that you can do to ease their suffering, their trials, their tribulations, for that is something which they as individuals have to resolve. You in your wisdom might see the resolution of their problem, the answer that must come about, but you cannot impose that answer upon them. They must bring it forth from within themselves in order to end their suffering.


Facing Your Own Path

As you look around the World today you can observe the quickening of the planet, and the fact that Armageddon is here. Because of this, suffering will abound and multiply all over the planet. No one can avoid it. You, as individuals, must come to terms with that. You must not allow the suffering which this great evolutionary step forward will create to swamp you. I may seem to you that I am inviting you to be hard-hearted, to shut your eyes to the suffering of others, but I am not.

Yes, you may have eyes for them. Yes, you may have compassion for them, but do not let the lessons of other people, do not let the karma of other nations, become your karma. You can, of course, take on that burden if you so choose. That is your birthright. But is it the destiny of your choosing? It is so easy to externalise your own suffering, your own lessons, your own evolutionary path, onto the suffering of others, onto the lessons that you have already learnt, because you do not want to face your own path, your own struggle. There are many today who side-track their evolutionary path by placing themselves on the paths of others.

Part Two follows...

This article is taken from "The Fantasic Teachings of Ramala".

UNIVERSAL MAN -- PART ONE

There is only one race -- The human race

There is only one language -- The language of the heart
There is only one religion -- The religion of love
There is only one God -- He/She is omnipresent
(Sathya Sai Baba)

If it were possible for you to view the Earth from a distance, or even for you to be able to stand outside your own physical body, you would probably obtain a new vision, not only of the Earth´s and your body´s purpose but also of their perfectness and of their beauty, and from that you might realize more of the nature and purpose of their Creator.

Earth as a Whole

Looking at the Earth from a distance you would be forced to look at it as a single unit. You would not think of the individual countries that you knew existed on its surface but rather of the Earth as a whole, comparable with the other planets, the other stars and the other galaxies that you could see around you. You might almost consider yourself a god, for you would be standing above all the countries of the World, all the happenings, all the events that were taking place, and then, perhaps, you would begin to realize how those Higher Beings who control the destiny of this Earth look down on it in a similar fashion. They too see the perfectness of the Earth. They see its beauty. They feel the emanation of its expression: UNIVERSAL LOVE.

However, as you descend towards its surface, so the Earth, which before you could see as a single unit would now have to be split up into segments and eventually into continents. Soon you would begin to see only individual countries and to think only in terms of those countries. The vision of the "whole" would be lost and you would once more return to your physical casing with its limited vision.

Destiny Of Earth

Man is born on the surface of the Earth with an individualised consciousness. When, after many incarnations on the one planet within the Solar Body which is less evolved than the Earth, Man first incarnates on the Earth, he struggles to estabalish his identity in the human physical body. Once he has established his own individuality, his personality, he then has to learn to control it. Man has to learn to control his own will and to subjugate it to the will of his Creator in order to fulfil the destiny of the Earth.

The basic lesson which Man has to learn is to sacrifice the self, his own individuality, to sacrifice his personal desires and wants, and to consider the other people around him, not only in his own country but in the World as a whole. He has to learn to think not only of his own race, of his own creed, of his own part of the Earth, but of the Earth as a whole. It is in this particular field that Man experiences the utmost difficulty for, at present, although Man has firmly established his individuality, he finds it very hard to sacrifice that individuality for the people around him, still less for his country, and even less for the World.

Learning responsibility

Great motivation is needed to make Man unite together, to make him think of his country as a single unit and be prepared to sacrifice his self for his country. This usually occurs only in times of conflict, of war, when the emotion known as patriotism moves Man to think not of himself but of his country, and to join together with his fellow country-men to defend his country in the face of aggression. Indeed, were it not for this emotion of patriotism he would not unite together. In times of peace Man finds it difficult to make the sacrifice of his individuality even for his neighbours, let alone for his country.

If Man will not look after the people in his own country then, of course, he will not concern himself with those who live in other countries, and no matter what reports he hears of disasters, such as famines or earthquakes, he will usually ignore those events which are far removed from his own country. Because they are not happening to him or to his country, he thinks they are not his concern. This is one of the great lessons which Man has to learn, and until he has learnt the lesson of total responsibility for every human being who lives on this planet, no matter what their country or their creed, he will not advance along the path to higher things, to mastership.

Man has to learn to sacrifice, to help all the people who live on the surface of this Earth, to give freely no matter what the cost and to share what his country has with the countries that do not.

Remember that "matter" does not belong to Man. Just because one country is capable of growing food and another country is not, that does not mean that all food belongs to the country that grows it, for all the countries in the World cannot grow food and it is the duty of those who can to share with those who cannot.

Divisions and comparisons

As he advances along the path Man has to learn to sacrifice the self, first for his community, then for his country, then for his race, and finally for the Earth. It is only when Man regards himself not as an Englishman, a European or a white man, but as a man of the Earth, that he may be said to have truly evolved to his Earthly potential.

When you can say that you are a man of the Earth, that you regard every man on this Earth, no matter what his colour or his creed, as your equal, when you show as much responsibility towards him as you do to your own family, then it may be said that you have progressed to the level of an evolved soul.

All of you must try to think not in terms of division, of comparing one country with another, one way of life with another, one race with another. Try not to divide the World into countries and races. Try not to compare national customs and characteristics but regard every human being as an individual spark of your Creator, the equal of you in every respect, merely walking along a different path in life.

Your Own Choice

Remember that all of you, being at different points of consciousness, chose to incarnate onto the Earth into varying families, into varying races, in order to experience the lessons and the vibrations of those countries and those races. You chose all these factors before you incarnated, knowing that you would advance your consciousness to a greater understanding along the path that you had chosen. The path that is right for one soul is not necessarily right for another.

No Right to Impose

Where Humanity goes so wrong today is in its thinking that one race is superior to another, that one race is more civilized than another. The countries in the World today that are more advanced technologically consider themselves to be the more civilized countries, and they seek to impose their way of life, their conditions of life, upon all the other countries in the World. No country, no person, has the right to impose their will, their way of life, upon another no matter how correct they might think their way of life to be and how wrong they think another´s is. It is up to the individual countries and their inhabitants to change of their own free choice, without interference of any other country.

The Masters who watch over you as you live in a physical body on Earth do not interfere with you. They know when you are wrong, when you make mistakes, but they let you make those mistakes, they let you advance your consciousness through your own actions and decisions. There is no "Big Brother" to come and make you do something in the correct way. So, mindful of the wisdom of those more evolved Beings who allow you to act as you choose, allow other countries to make their own decisions too.

Part Two Follows HERE