Keeping The Faith

Just yesterday I read this somewhat humorous article. In the article, Bishop Bacani says that atheists secretly believe in God in their hearts whenever they work for justice and do good deeds, it's just that they don't want to admit it. The writer, who is presumably atheist, retorted that people who sexually abuse children are secretly Catholic priests in their hearts.

Of course, the writer is mixing up religion with belief in God. Anti-religion is not the same as anti-spirituality or anti-God, though they often come hand in hand. After all, religion is what you call a set of approved practices that one is obligated to follow on a regular basis. But this is not the only way to search for the Divine, and that's why we have the mystics who become enlightened even if they don't necessarily achieve it within the context of a religion. But all this is really beside the point for me.

For someone on the spiritual path, encountering an atheist can be quite a challenging experience, especially if one is not yet firmly established in one's spiritual practice. They hold many arguments about why God does not exist, and at the same time there is no way for one to convincingly (by their standards) prove God's existence.  More often than not, atheists are so convinced about the non-existence of God that there is no argument that will convince them otherwise. I think it's rare for an atheist to actually follow an open-minded inquiry and search for God's existence. But this obstinacy is true not just for atheists but for anyone who strongly holds on to their views (fundamentalists and fanatics, for example).

One reason for the yawning disconnect between atheists and spiritual practitioners is that the experience of the Divine is precisely that: an experience. Teachers or gurus open the student's mind to the possibility of such an experience or state, and may even teach certain techniques or exercises that will help lead to such an experience, but it is only the student who can have the experience itself. This is the part that cannot be taught by the guru. Without that experience, the student only knows the theory, and the matter thus becomes vulnerable to debate.

Since such a spiritual experience cannot be induced in others except by their own willingness and effort, explaining the existence of God to an atheist would be like trying to explain the beauty of the Mona Lisa to someone born blind. There is simply no reference point that the blind man can use to understand the awe and respect of someone who can see and appreciate the Mona Lisa.

One may argue that atheists have all five senses and in fact there are atheists who are smart, articulate and very intelligent. Some of these guys can blow anyone out of the water with their skill in debate. How then can they insist that God does not exist?

One of Master Choa Kok Sui's Golden Lotus sutras is entitled Beyond the Mind and it deals with the subject of meditation. The very title itself already gives a clue. One has to look and go beyond the mind for the experience of the Divine.

From the point of view of the esoteric student, we are made up of several bodies. There is the physical body, etheric body, emotional body and mental body. There are even higher subtle bodies, but essentially at the core of all these bodies is the soul, the spark of God that is expressed individually. Now, imagine a ladder against a wall in pitch black darkness. The ladder only reaches up to a certain point but if you just stood on the topmost rung and stretched upward, you'll be able to feel a ledge at the tip of your fingers. You just need to jump a little bit to grab the edge more firmly.

When questions about God and spirituality rest solely with the mind, then it's like saying there's nothing else beyond the ladder. One needs a "leap of faith" to let it all go and experience oneself as the soul. This is why in meditation it's important to clear oneself of thought, to achieve an inner state of total stillness.

To allow for the possibility of something makes it more likely for that something to happen. It's the Law of Attraction at work, but it also has to do with one's mental attitude. As an example, let's say you were absolutely convinced that you couldn't get into a Fortune 500 company because you felt you don't have the skills that would matter. Aside from not actively trying to apply for any Fortune 500 company, you may even ignore opportunities that might bring you into closer contact with a Fortune 500 company (for example, a trade show or an invitation from a friend who worked in one such company). So your mental attitude would affect the way you treat your opportunities, and you've already failed before you even tried because you were already convinced of the result.

In spirituality, "allowing for the possibility of something" is called faith. This is why a belief in God is important, because this provides a way for you to have that experience. Experiencing soul realization is not just you reaching out, it's also God pulling you up. As I've said before, such a spiritual journey can last several lifetimes so it's certainly possible that for most people, spiritual practice would still mostly be a matter of faith. And yet it's that same faith that prevents us from faltering despite the lack of apparent results.

By developing this sort of openness, this faith, one's intuition gets more developed. Since intuition is direct inner knowing, then one's experience of God and the supernal realms becomes more natural, more deep. In that case, the existence of God becomes more than just a matter of faith, and it becomes more than just knowledge; it becomes a matter of wisdom and understanding. And that's something no one can argue away from you.