Just Do It

When talking about the spiritual path, one tends to call to mind the mystical and the transcendent. So when one hears that "character building" is one of the foundations of spiritual practice, the topic tends to have a flat taste perhaps because we have been exposed to this concept since kindergarten. Unfortunately, this early exposure also seems to have desensitized most of us to the importance of developing the virtues.

In my last article, I discussed the importance of character development not only in terms of its moral considerations but also in terms of the esoteric technicalities related to kundalini awakening. According to Master Choa Kok Sui in his book The Origin of Modern Pranic Healing and Arhatic Yoga:

Developing the virtues and eradicating weaknesses are very important for aspirants and disciples who are treading the spiritual path. Unfortunately, this is also the most neglected practice by the students. Without the development of the virtues, the disciple will eventually fall. (emphasis mine)

Those are very interesting words that we should take note of. I would even venture to say that if you can only do one thing on the spiritual path, it should be character building. One may notice that religion, that part of the Teachings that is taught to the masses, frequently emphasizes the development of the virtues.  This perhaps explains why there have been stories of ordinary people who became saints even if they did not have a library's worth of spiritual techniques available to them.

Knowing something is one thing, but putting that knowledge into practice is another ballgame entirely. After all, the Ten Commandments have been here for thousands of years yet human history has been remarkable for the contravention rather than the adherence to those same Commandments.

Character building need not be so complex but I believe it would really help to consider certain principles that will make one's effort more organized and practical.

The first principle to keep in mind is that of self restriction. This is also known as self control, self mastery or self discipline. It's more than just "not doing the bad things." Self restriction has more to do with moderation or taking the middle path. We've all heard the saying that too much of a good thing is a bad thing. For example, being miserly means you are too selfish, but being too generous means you are a wastrel or tend to get taken advantage of. We must strike a proper balance between helping others and also taking care of oneself. The key word is balance.

Self restriction develops the will because it calls for focus. To borrow Master Choa's words, steam spread out over open space is so much hot air. But channel that steam into the small space of a steam engine and you can move freight trains.

The second principle for character development is introspection and firm resolution. It involves constantly being aware of both the good and the bad that one has done during the day. The purpose of this exercise is not to burden oneself with guilt nor to get puffed up with pride. This exercise is used so that one may continue doing the good while identifying those areas that one needs to improve on, so that the next time a similar situation comes up, you already know the right thing to do. Some systems advocate doing this review in the evening before going to sleep, others suggest doing this in the morning upon waking. Just do what seems more comfortable for you.

Introspection and firm resolution mainly develops one's intellect and awareness, especially honesty. Honesty manifests as accurate perception and correct expression. One cannot correct something if one doesn't know what is wrong or does not want to admit to what is wrong.

The third principle is that of forgiveness. We have all been hurt at one time or another, to varying degrees of severity. Deep seated hurt can develop into a trauma and according to some systems the hardest traumas to root out and correct are those that happened at a young age. From an energy perspective, the trauma energy is lodged deep at the roots of a particular chakra, owing to how early in life it took place.

Holding on to the hurt and anger only saps our energy and makes it difficult for us to move on to better things in our life. Anger can also lead to vengeance and retaliation if the emotion is strong enough. So forgiveness is the key so that one does not remain entangled with others.

The practice of forgiveness develops one's ability to love and have compassion. With love comes oneness, and if the spiritual practitioner sees all things as one, there is no desire to harm others. "Whatsoever you have done to the least of my brothers, you have done unto Me" pretty much encapsulates this concept of oneness. One of the highest expressions of love and compassion is that of ahimsa or harmlessness.

Forgiveness also helps one to develop detachment, because the act of forgiving involves letting go of the hurt and all the negative thoughts and emotions associated with the hurt.


To summarize, three principles of character building are self restriction (will), introspection and firm resolution (intellect) and forgiveness (love). Intellect is often attributed to Light, Will is attributed to Power and love is self explanatory.

Interestingly, at the end of the Great Invocation, we can find the phrase "Let Light, Love and Power restore the plan on Earth." Fits like a glove, doesn't it? What better way to work towards building heaven on Earth than to start on ourselves?

But again, while knowing all this may be half the battle, the other half involves actually practicing and applying our knowledge. We all stumble and fall, but as the saying goes, success is what follows after you pick yourself up from the ground. So I say this with a smile on my face: What are you waiting for?

Character Building and the Spiritual Path

This may seem like one of those strange statements. After all, doesn't the fact that one is on the spiritual path imply that one is already molding one's character to be a better and more moral person? Not necessarily. When one is exposed to the wonderful field of esoteric studies, there is always the danger of getting too caught up in the myriad techniques and rituals of different spiritual traditions. We're talking about thousands of years worth of traditions across different civilizations, so there's really a lot of them.

I constantly have to remind myself that the techniques are only the tools that are required to achieve the objective. To quote a cliche, we must not be so focused on the trees that we lose sight of the forest. When there is an overemphasis on technique and ritual, we can lose the essence of why the techniques and rituals are there in the first place. The practice can devolve into something like a bodybuilding contest, where people flex their "muscles" to impress spectators. What is worse is that the promise of receiving higher teachings can be used to ensure obedience within an organization, particularly to those who are "addicted" to the prospect of higher knowledge. In this case, the techniques and rituals can become a distraction and a hindrance to one's spiritual progress.

This is not to say that we should give up the different spiritual exercises and rituals. Rather, a proper perspective should always be present. One analogy I can think of is the practice of traditional martial arts. By "traditional" I mean those systems that have a rich collection of preset forms or kata. If one focuses too much on the kata, one won't be able to fight effectively or react in a fluid situation such as sparring or a real fight, yet one could delude oneself into thinking one is a bad ass fighter simply because one is a black belt who knows all the kata. The forms are there to give the foundation that allows the martial artist to execute techniques in a fluid situation such as a real-life encounter.

What does this have to do with character building? Again, the goal of spiritual practice is the perfection of the self. The spiritual exercises are not ends in themselves. The techniques are the support, not the goal.

The work of character building takes on even more urgency when one is practicing advanced spiritual disciplines. Master Choa Kok Sui explains in his books that divine energy activates the kundalini (the serpent fire at the base of the spine) to a certain extent. The more advanced a spiritual technique or meditation, the more divine energy it brings down, hence the more tendency for the kundalini to activate.

There are many descriptions of what the kundalini is, but according to Master Choa, the important thing to consider is that kundalini is like a fertilizer. It magnifies both the good and the bad in us. This explains how there are priests and pastors who become sex maniacs or who embezzle the funds of the parish. Their daily spiritual practices activated their kundalini and made their negative tendencies stronger, often to the point of being uncontrollable. This is why character building is so important, so that advanced spiritual practices produce saints instead of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde parodies.

In pranic healing courses, one will notice that character building is a consistent part of every seminar. The fact that character building is constantly repeated, even in higher courses such as Arhatic Yoga, underlines its importance so that one may avoid complications in one's spiritual advancement. If one's negative traits overwhelm one's positive traits, one may spiritually fall or become worse off than if one hadn't pursued advanced spiritual practices in the first place.

There are many signs of kundalini awakening that are also called kundalini syndrome. But in Arhatic Yoga, "kundalini syndrome" is usually understood in its negative context, referring to problems associated with kundalini awakening.

Some examples of the positive effects of kundalini awakening include increased intuition, increased mental capability, more energy in the body (sometimes one would feel subtle electrical currents around the body or slight vibrations), activation of clairvoyance or other psychic tendencies, increased spiritual experiences, etc. Some negative effects that one might experience could be uncontrollable sex drive, a quick temper, overheating in the body even after meditation, increased bad luck, etc. although some of the effects are temporary and may just be signs that one's energy body is adjusting to the increased energy (like sore muscles after hard exercise).

Before you get scared of activating your kundalini, please note that everyone's kundalini is already activated. The question is how much it's activated. If you compare this to a faucet, most people would only have a trickle of water dripping out, while more advanced practitioners and yogis would probably have the faucet half-way open or more.

Also, the negative effects mentioned above are not inevitable. They are only likely if one has imbalances or problems in the energy body. Think of a dirty hose. If you open the faucet and the inside of the hose is dirty, you could end up spraying dirty water on the floor or the water gets stuck and the hose could burst. Since negative thought patterns, emotions and attitudes dirty one's energy body, then one's character (or lack of it) definitely has an effect on how smooth or rough one's kundalini awakening will be.

Again, the negative effects are avoidable and manageable, and one need not be absolutely perfect in order to start advancing spiritually. We all make mistakes. However, character building is also a continuous process, the same way a gardener prunes the leaves and pulls out the weeds before they grow further. The New Testament makes several references to gardeners and taking out the weeds, and those passages could apply just as easily to the practice of character building.

Lack of character building also explains why one may encounter genuine spiritual organizations that have worse internal politics and backstabbing than ordinary organizations. The spiritual teachings may be real but the practice of the teachings may be lacking, and so the activated kundalini of advanced members may instead fertilize greed, power-tripping, jealousy and other vices.

In case you are now confused about whether to pursue advanced spiritual practices or not, let me say that no single path is better than the other. Like in anything, it's all up to the individual. This is why the diversity of choices in life all have their place. Some people are content with sitting quietly in a corner and praying. Others need the direction and pacing a more structured practice gives. Only you will know the answer.

In the end, we should always ask ourselves, how has our spiritual advancement helped others? As we ennoble ourselves, do we also ennoble others? As quoted from The Science of Mentalphysics by Edwin J. Dingle:

Freedom in life comes through a knowledge of Spiritual Law and luckily the more Man knows the more he is responsible for.

Knowledge without right action is worse than ignorance, because an ignorant person does not know how to act any other way, yet a knowledgeable person has the power of choice, yet chooses irresponsibly. This is why knowledge, especially spiritual knowledge, is a sacred trust.

The spiritual path gives us access to higher knowledge. Character building is the bridge that allows that knowledge to flow from the head and into the heart.

The Wesak Festival

If ever there was a "Trending Now" indicator in the esoteric world, the Wesak Festival would be top on the list of trends right now. So what is it about this event that has esoteric communities around the world abuzz with excitement?

There are two aspects to the Wesak festival. The first aspect is that it's the most important Buddhist festival because it celebrates the birth, death and enlightenment of the Buddha. Think of Christmas and Easter combined into one. The Wesak is celebrated when the sun is in Taurus and the moon is full in the constellation of Scorpio, and this usually happens on the month of May.

The second aspect is that according to tradition, in the Wesak Valley high up in the Himalayas, the Buddha appears during the Wesak festival in order to shower the assembled initiates, holy men and lamas with the spiritual energy of Shamballa to empower them further in their world service. This congregation of pilgrims would have gathered in the valley at the approach of the full moon, there to await the appearance of the Buddha and other great beings who oversee the welfare of the world.

What is so special about this year's festival, aside from the fact that it's now 2012? We all know that the full moon brings about powerful energies. Even for those not sensitive to energy, you will find in police blotters and emergency room records that the amount of stabbings and other crimes in general tend to spike just before, during and after the full moon. The word lunatic actually derives from luna, the Latin word for moon.

The thing is, the full moon during the Wesak festival is also the most powerful full moon of the year. You can just imagine the magnitude the energies will be at right now compared to other full moons. What makes this May 5 full moon even more unique is that it's going to be a supermoon.

A supermoon means that the moon will be at its perigree (closest point to the Earth) and this particular perigree will be the closest of the three perigrees of the year. This means a brighter and bigger full moon as well as higher and lower tides than usual for the coming days. It's rare for the moon to be full AND at its perigree at the same time, so this is going to be a real treat for skywatchers indeed, especially if you're on a beach. The height of the full moon will be at 11:35 a.m. here in the Philippines, but Saturday night's full moon should still be something to behold.

So let's do a recap. This May 5 is the Wesak festival, happening on the most powerful full moon of the year, a Super Moon that also happens to be the closest perigree of the year. I think there are even meteor showers expected. With all these components coming together, you can already get the idea that the energies that will be generated during this Wesak festival are going to be really intense.

What does this mean for us? In his video address about the Wesak, Master Stephen Co (one of Master Choa Kok Sui's senior disciples) says that the full moon is a time either for crisis or opportunity, most especially this particular full moon (for reasons already mentioned earlier). For people not on the spiritual path, negative situations will tend to manifest more strongly, and thus it becomes a crisis. For people on the spiritual path, this becomes an opportunity to use the magnified downpour of energies to bless Mother Earth and be of service to others.

For those who do the Meditation on Twin Hearts, you are already of service to Mother Earth and all sentient beings. But during the Wesak, you can make use of these energies to bring down even more divine energies and thus be an instrument of greater service. This not only generates good karma, but it also serves to empower us in our spiritual evolution. This chance is priceless.

Master Stephen Co adds that with all the dire predictions coming out about 2012, especially the anticipation and anxiety surrounding the end of the Mayan calendar on December 21, it's even more important to bring down divine energies to our Mother Earth. Why? He cites the example of Sodom and Gomorrah, where Abraham initially asks God if He would spare the city if there were even 50 righteous people in it (with the number eventually going down to 10 righteous people), to which God agrees. However, as we know, not even 10 righteous people were found and so Sodom and Gomorrah were destroyed.

The lesson we can derive from the Sodom and Gomorrah story is that even with a few righteous people, localized disasters can be averted. If we extrapolate this to the world, the more righteous and spiritual people there are, the more these dire predictions can be averted or at least mitigated. This is because every spiritual person naturally brings down intense divine energy which influences the person's surroundings through the person's aura. Think of the spiritual person as an antenna or conductor of divine energies. Imagine if millions of people around the world do this, the possibilities are endless!

For this Wesak festival, will it be crisis or opportunity for us? The choice is always ours, but if you would like to make the most out of this opportunity, I would suggest that one try to be of service during this weekend, such as healing others, visiting orphanages and handing out donations, or simply being there to help one's friends and relatives. It may not seem much, doing one little good thing, but keep in mind that millions of people around the world will also be doing these "little good things." And that's going to make all the difference.

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.

Musings About the Astral Plane

A few days ago I was able to observe a lively discussion about the astral plane that was going on in an esoteric forum I am part of. The debate stemmed from a few statements from the writings of the Master DK through Alice Bailey, particularly in the book The Externalization of the Hierarchy.

Just to give a background, Alice Bailey was once a member of the Theosophical Society. From 1919 until her death in 1949, she started channeling the teachings of a certain Tibetan initiate named Djwhal Khul. He was termed either The Tibetan or the Master DK. These channeled teachings resulted in 24 published books on a wide range of esoteric topics that are still the subject of intense study among various esoteric practitioners and groups across the world. Alice Bailey has her detractors and her supporters, but there is no doubt that the writings she channelled from the Master DK are a rich source of esoteric lore.

The problem with Alice Bailey's books is that they are very heavy reading, not for the casual reader at all. Deciphering the meaning and intent of the books has proven to be a challenge for many an esoteric student and explains why there can be debates about the interpretation of certain statements and passages.

And so we go back to the lively debate I mentioned earlier. The statement in question was about the assertion that the astral plane was literally an illusion. One student clarified that what Alice Bailey was saying was that the astral plane did not exist for the ascended masters, but for the rest of humanity, the astral plane was very much real. It did not mean that the astral plane was literally non-existent. I'll have to review what I've read, but I seem to remember reading in Glamour: A World Problem (the Alice Bailey book, not the magazine) that the astral plane was literally an illusion and did not exist.

In any case, you can see how the debate might arise, because it's very difficult to validate the above statements. And for those who can do astral travel, they're in the astral plane so how can it be non-existent? Also, assuming that the astral plane exists for most of humanity, how can it not exist for the adepts and ascended masters?

Answering the above is not so simple. One needs to have some background about the different planes of existence and how they interact with each other. But in the name of making things interesting, I'll venture an explanation while trying not to make the both of us dizzy.

There are multiple planes of existence. That much is clear from all the esoteric literature out there. The most familiar to us is the physical plane we live in. Then there's the etheric plane, then the astral, the mental plane and so on. Higher up there is there is even the atmic plane, where the Higher Soul resides, and the monadic plane where the Divine Spark is located. There are even higher planes but we don't need to concern ourselves with those right now.

To say that the astral plane is an illusion would be to also say that the physical plane is also an illusion, because the physical plane is located "lower" than the astral plane. In one sense, this is true because of the impermanence that is a hallmark of the physical and astral. We can easily understand physical impermanence, but how can astral substance be impermanent? The astral body is also called the desire body, so you can infer that the astral plane is the realm of desire and emotions. You don't hold any particular emotion in the forefront all the time, i.e. you're not angry all the time, happy all the time, afraid all the time. These emotions may lurk below your conscious level but in terms of your attention (when you're feeling them), your emotions are always shifting from one moment to the next, hence it's impermanent in that sense.

A little more tricky is explaining why the astral plane does not exist for the masters and adepts. For me, I compare the astral plane to those aids we use when trying to learn something, like those side wheels when learning how to bike, or the multiplication table when learning basic math. They're not meant to be permanent and once you master the required skills, those training aids essentially "don't exist" for you anymore. In some Theosophical texts, there are statements to the effect that one must be completely desireless in order to elevate to the higher realms. Since the masters and adepts do operate on those higher realms, it may be said that the complete non-existence of desire in them means that they have no astral substance, hence they are absent from the astral.

The Rosicrucian Cosmo-Conception takes a similar tack in saying that the vibration of the higher realms is so high that beings there cannot occupy forms from the lower planes because the higher vibrations would destroy the lower form in short order, if not instantly. Imagine plugging a toaster directly into a high voltage transformer. The toaster is not built to withstand the higher voltage electricity coming from the transformer.

Below is an image taken from the Rosicrucian Cosmo-Conception. It will be difficult to decipher for most, but it does illustrate the different levels of existence and how far "down" a spirit takes form depending on the level of development.


In the above image, you can see that the Lord Jesus was of so high a vibration that he couldn't directly incarnate into the physical plane. According to Rosicrucian lore, there had to be an intermediary, in this case an initiate who developed his subtle bodies to a level that could withstand higher divine energies, at least for a time, which allowed the Christ spirit to make enough of a leap across the lower planes and do a walk in. Try to read the Rosicrucian Cosmo-Conception if you can, but I must say that like the Alice Bailey books, it's very heavy reading.

This is all very interesting, but is there any practical benefit we can derive from this knowledge? It depends on one's level of development, but at the very least it shows us just how far we need to go in order to get to the level of the adepts. It also emphasizes one important aspect about esoteric knowledge that the erstwhile student should be cognizant of: not everything found in esoteric literature is always applicable for the student.

It's something that Master Choa Kok Sui also mentioned in his book Inner Teachings of Hinduism Revealed. The example Master Choa cited was certain teachings on karma where some writings indicate that all good karma must be given away. This is applicable for initiates who are about to be liberated from the wheel of rebirth (because karma, whether good or bad, binds us to rebirth), but this teaching is not applicable for a young soul who has a lot of future incarnations to look forward to and/or a lot of negative karma to pay off. In this case, one needs all the good karma one can get, so it won't make sense to give it all away.

Perhaps this short discussion about the astral plane has stretched the limits of your understanding, but just like in weight lifting perhaps this has helped expand your mental threshold just a little bit more. It's just one small step, considering the scale we need to achieve, but like the Chinese saying goes, the journey of 10,000 li begins with one step.

Happiness In Perspective

Happiness is a state of mind more than anything else. A humble street vendor can find joy where a billionaire would only see misery. Perhaps this is why Aristotle said that happiness depends on ourselves. Yet however we view happiness, it is a state that is coveted by all. We have devoted our lives practically to the pursuit of happiness. In fact, this is how a lot of advertisements work, by preying on our desire to be "happy and enjoy life."

Of course, we cannot discount chemical imbalances in the brain that can cause feelings of sadness and depression. For such cases, there are natural and herbal remedies such as the saffron herb that can help mitigate any physical or chemical imbalances.

In any case, I recently happened upon a nice article talking about the 15 Things You Should Give Up To Be Happy. They're all common-sense advice, so try to read that article if you have the time.

Given our apparent obsession with happiness, I started to think through the idea that perhaps happiness is not really the purpose of life. Sounds like heresy, I know, given what I just stated earlier. After all, who doesn't look forward to a Friday night with friends? Or dinner at one's favorite restaurant? Or a dream vacation somewhere? A dream house? A dream job?

Let me clarify by saying that I think happiness is a necessary part of life, like air, but not necessarily the purpose of life. Let's think this through. For those who have meditated long enough, you may have had episodes of indescribable bliss. Many religions and sages have been consistent in mentioning the eternal joy and happiness of heaven, as well as accounts of peace and happiness experienced by some who had near death experiences. Don't we even term any experience of great bliss and happiness as a "taste of heaven?" They are all consistent: in the spiritual realms lie our true state of happiness. If that's the case, then happiness can't be the reason we incarnated. Why give up eternal happiness in heaven for temporary happiness mixed with suffering in the physical world?

There is something about difficulty and struggle (a staple of incarnated life) that is necessary for us. I don't have the answer to what that may be. It's something akin to the age old question: "Why am I here?" But if I were to make a guess, I would say this. When we are happy, we are contented, and when we're contented, we don't want things to change. Inertia builds up. However, evolution requires change and the ancient writings have made it clear that we all need to spiritually evolve. You get the picture.

However we may view our lives, I think it's important that we do not lose ourselves so much in the pursuit of happiness that we forget about everything else that makes life worthwhile, especially in these times when a lot of what we think will make us happy costs money (sometimes a lot of it), leading most people to think that money equals happiness. Yet how many times have we gotten what we desired only to ask: now what?

Albert Pike once said, "What we have done for ourselves alone dies with us; what we have done for others and the world remains and is immortal." Of course, Albert Pike was a Freemason, but whatever views you may have about the Freemasons, there is no denying the truth of Pike's words. Perhaps this is what will help us view happiness in perspective.

A Light Upon The Way

When the World Wide Web was introduced sometime in the mid-90s, we literally saw an explosion of information across the world. Part of the knowledge that spread included topics on esoteric spirituality and occult practices. Naturally, the spread of information has also given rise to a variety of "New Agers" (one of the generic terms used in the US to describe anyone who is into spirituality, occult or anything else esoteric).

For the most part, the spread of information has been very beneficial. E-book or scanned copies of previously hard to find ancient manuscripts are now a few clicks away. I'm certainly one of those beneficiaries and am thankful that all this has happened. Still, with the humongous amount of information available, it falls even more heavily upon the student to practice discernment when studying any new and unfamiliar topic.

One thing that has accompanied the popularization of the Internet are the so-called do-it-yourself teachings on the occult and esoteric practices. Inspirational articles about improving one's life and how to get the most out of praying are one thing, but I've seen some sites publishing different spells, advanced meditation practices and other stuff that the untrained shouldn't be touching with a 10-foot pole, let alone published freely on the Web. I mean, no one would read some blog about how to repair jet engines and then go out and try to tinker with an actual jet engine. So the same thing applies with advanced spiritual practices and techniques.

In ancient times, the exoteric practices of religion were for the masses while esoteric spiritual teachings and advanced practices were passed on strictly from guru to disciple. These disciples were taught based on their capability to handle the new teachings, because most advanced spiritual practices involve the downpour of tremendous amounts of energy. This statement would be hard to understand for someone who hasn't had experience with any energy system but let's just say that there are increasing levels of difficulty, and responsibility, as one climbs the spiritual ladder.

In today's fast food world, the relevance of a guru may be questioned by most but that doesn't decrease the guru's importance. Some Eastern sects of esoteric spirituality in fact put so much importance on the guru that they have a practice called guru yoga. As per the Wikipedia article:

The Guru or spiritual teacher is essential as a guide during tantric practice, as without their example, blessings and grace, genuine progress is held to be impossible for all but the most keen and gifted...The guru is considered even more compassionate and more potent than the Buddha because we can have a direct relationship with the guru.

The guru is a direct and living example of the Teachings, and this is why he is highly revered among the disciples. According to Master Choa Kok Sui, a guru has already made a path through the forest so that his disciples don't unnecessarily get hurt along the way. One may ask why we should bother trying to follow an established path. Aren't we supposed to learn for ourselves instead of being spoon-fed?

An example from the field of computer programming may help explain this. Programmers have this rule of thumb that when writing a program, if there are already a series of codes existing for a particular function (for example, a timer or form checker), they just incorporate or make use of the existing code in their program rather than write the whole code from scratch. It saves time and effort, and when project deadlines are involved, it could also save a lot of money. There is no need to reinvent the wheel every time.

The same thing applies to our spiritual practice. We could spend several lifetimes worth of trial and error in order to spiritually develop, or we could follow the teachings of a guru and proceed faster in our spiritual development. The choice is ours to make.

Of course, it's important to get a true guru so that one is not led astray, otherwise one may find oneself worse off than before one started. So how does one discern a true guru?

The word guru means "dispeller of darkness" so in my estimation, one indication of a true guru is that he should be a living example of his Teachings. A guru does not seek to control, but rather hopes to enlighten his disciples while training them to think for themselves and develop their intuition so that they have the free will to discern and decide how they want to pursue their spiritual development. It's an esoteric maxim that the guru can show the door, but it's up to the student to step through that door.

A guru's teachings should also be uplifting. In this sense, the spiritual teachings of a guru are the foundations that allow the disciples to stand on their own and become gurus themselves through the practice of the teachings.

The disciples of a guru are works in progress, therefore it brings us to one thing that one may encounter along spiritual path. One may notice that sometimes there are disciples of a guru who do exactly the opposite of the teachings. It's a fact of life, there will be those who are not the examples we expect them to be, and the practice of spiritual teachings is no different.

If ever you experience this, then this is when you will find out how much you have internalized the guru's teachings. For example, there are a lot of Catholic priests who are sex offenders, yet the existence of these deviants do not invalidate the Teachings of Jesus Christ. But if one has not internalized Christ's teachings, one may either convert to a different religion or become agnostic or atheist. My personal motto is to focus on the teacher and his Teachings, not on the personalities surrounding the Teachings.

This has now led us to another facet pertaining to spiritual practice: the practice itself. When a guru teaches, he does so not for the purpose of memorization but so that the student can follow in the path and experience the Teachings for themselves. Spiritual teachings are always an experiential matter. This is the only way to internalize them and have a stable foundation. Otherwise, if it's all head knowledge, then the slightest challenge such as an unfavorable situation or arguments by a skeptic and skilled debater will make you waver. Only experience can bring conviction.

But should one decide to embark on the spiritual path under the guidance of a guru, there is one very important thing that one should keep in mind. A guru does not exist by himself. By becoming enlightened, he joins the ranks of all other enlightened beings who work in accordance with the Divine Plan and Purpose.

"The teacher is the needle and the disciple is the thread," wrote Miyamoto Musashi, Japan's greatest swordsman, in his book The Book of Five Rings. By aligning oneself with the teachings, one also commits oneself to this Divine Plan and Purpose so that you also form part of this grand tapestry of creation. This should be the reason for one to seek faster advancement in one's spiritual development. As Master Choa said, one should become enlightened in order to become a better Divine Servant.

As we fully enter into this Holy Week, let us then reflect on the Teachings of the great guru Jesus Christ. The Christ's teachings have been passed on to us since we were children. If we were to truly follow Him, we should give serious thought to putting those teachings into practice.