(c) John, Rekesh 2004-2008. No part of this work may be copied or reproduced without the author's permission
12. Path (Part 3)
“Emma, let me give you an analogy instead. Last month I visited my hometown. And you know what? My old school is still there! All the kids of my age went through it and moved on. But the school still remains, looking more or less as I remember it, only the buildings now look older. But there are new kids, new teachers, new equipment; almost everything inside is new. But outwardly the school looks like very little has changed since I left it.”
“I am not getting your drift. What has the school to do with carnivores?”
“Well the school is what we may call a system. A system is an organization or a scheme of things through which various elements move in and out, following certain laws. Think of a tornado, for instance. We see it as a single body of air, moving along, spewing destruction. But if you look at the air molecules in that body, we see that a molecule enters the system of the tornado, goes through it and then exits. More air molecules enter. The tornado is sustained by the air molecules that flow in and out and gives the appearance of being a single body as it moves. Follow me?”
“Yes.”
“Likewise the school gives the appearance of remaining the same throughout the years. But it is never the same air molecules that make up a moving tornado, and never the same kids or teachers that make up the system of a school. Air molecules enter and exit the tornado, and new air molecules continue to enter and exit, even as kids and teachers also enter and exit schools. The school appears to remain the same, and the tornado too appears to remain the same.”
“You are saying that applies to carnivores? That carnivores are a system like a school or a tornado?”
“What you see as a leopard killing a deer in nature is indeed such a system. It is never the same leopard or the same deer that you see again, and the suffering you see has no continuity. Each system has its insights to offer to spiritual essences. And they move in and out of these systems. But we tend to see only the peripheral appearance, the outward system as such, which seems to persist over long periods of time.”
“There are many such systems?”
“There are innumerable such systems that spiritual entities can choose from, to live in and experience. It is not unlike the various systems that we see on the earth, like the tropics, the grasslands, the deserts, the mountains, the lakes and so forth, which come into existence automatically through interaction of the elements. And in such wide variety of terrain, you get to choose your vacation spots, don’t you? Likewise, a great assortment of life-systems exist, and they are used by only those entities that want to or benefit from them. And most importantly, it is through the very existence of such diversity that evolution is possible.”
“But what benefit at all could occur from a carnivore system?”
“Well, every system needs to be compatible with the spiritual genes that express through them. By such manifestation, one can observe one’s own natures much better, as it provides great insight. But let us look at just the suffering aspect of the leopard-deer system. There is again a possible analogy with a school.”
“Like?”
“Compare with our description of the school for a moment, and the teachers there. Now the teachers were also students once. One cannot teach what one hasn’t learnt oneself at least to some degree. Simply put, going through an experience or emotion is a prerequisite for being able to relate to it successfully.”
“I guess that is true,” acknowledged Emma.
“Now compassion is something one cannot generally learn until one has gone through situations of suffering. Even the term compassion means to suffer with. You cannot really empathize with a beggar in the streets of India unless you yourself could understand that predicament.”
“You mean the carnivore system helps to instill compassion?”
“Among many other things, yes. Spiritual essences lacking in aspects of love and compassion can particularly benefit from inhabiting such systems. In general there are very many purposes being served by any single system.”
Emma found these concepts boggling her mind. Was it that nature was quite the opposite of what she had imagined? Was it indeed benign? Was there indeed an evolution in the spirit, paralleling the physical?
Then she had an even deeper question.
“If that is true, Aliyah, why should nature appear to us often as bloodthirsty and merciless? Why should it hide its benign nature?”
“Well it does manage to reflect our own natures, no?” Aliyah smiled, and then continued:
“That view is simply a result of the framework of thought we have adopted. However that framework of thought is not wrong to have. Consider that spiritual evolution by definition requires this freedom of thought and expression, the ability to explore various modes of existence, viewpoints and so on. This is how variety comes into existence. And variety or variation is a fundamental necessity for evolution, whether physical or spiritual.”
“So spiritual evolution is, what shall I say, unbiased?”
“Yes. The spiritual universe does not suppress one viewpoint or one mode of being in favor of another, but offers a level playing field where multiple viewpoints and modes of being can be fostered simultaneously. However suppression or selection and expansion do come about through the evolutionary process.”
“Are you saying that our sciences, religions, and ethics are acceptable to spiritual life, along with evil, suffering and other perversions? That atheist, agnostic and religious modes of life are equally acceptable?”
“It is not a question of acceptability. These modes of life are indeed required to make progress, to understand ourselves and to evolve at all. And what we see today will change towards the better, and that which is unfit will be discarded after having understood it completely, inside out. That is the perfect way that unfolds and ends in perfection, for spiritual evolution is directed towards the Godhead.”
“You are saying that life is perfect?” Emma asked incredulously.
“From a very high perspective, yes, life is indeed perfect. But such a view does not yet apply to our perspectives as human beings. We do have our noses to the grindstone.” She laughed.
Emma pondered this for a while. Where was it all leading then?
“So there is a purpose to life, is there?”
“There is not one, Emma, but an almost infinitude of purposes, and at various levels. If anything had only a single purpose, then it would cease to exist as soon as that purpose is fulfilled. There are purposes we serve simultaneously at the levels of individuals, families, societies, cultures, nations and even at the level of mankind. By analogy there are even greater purposes at still higher levels and far beyond, which cannot even be expressed in human terms, for they would convey no meaning to us right now. We would not be able to relate to them at present, any more than an ant could relate to our conversation.”
“But isn’t there a final, ultimate purpose?”
“At the highest level there is always the Godhead, and our great return to it. But that return would be less glorious if we did not carry with us the fruit of our experiences. Emma, don’t miss the point. Life is the reason and purpose for life.”
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