Discovery of the Presence of God by Hawkins David R

Author:Hawkins, David R. [Hawkins, David R.]
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub, pdf
Tags: book, ebook
Publisher: Hay House, Inc.
Published: 2013-08-18T14:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 10

Spirituality and the World

Serious inner spiritual work may sound tedious and demanding (to the ego), but is exciting to the spirit, which is eager to return home. Consciousness innately seeks its source. In so doing, it encounters obstacles from which it may periodically retreat, and this may result in periods of reflection and reorientation. Periods of resistance or even dismay are normal and to be expected. Their resolution is often the consequence of recontextualization.

Although the personal will and motivation, plus the mind and intellect, are strong tools, in and of themselves they do not have the strength to disassemble the ego because they are part and parcel of it. However, once a seeker becomes devoted, the strength of the spiritual Will via the Presence of the Self supplies the necessary power.

The inner work that arises as a consequence of commitment to Enlightenment is at times admittedly experientially difficult or even arduous. Although this is due to resistance, the sheer seeming difficulty may provoke discouragement or a temptation to abandon the goal. This, however, is also to be expected and therefore merely included in the material to be processed.

Contemplation results in insights consequent to redefinition and recontextualization. In the meantime, other spiritual practices continue, such as meditation, prayer, service, and spiritual group activities. The letting-go process encounters inner fixations and addictions to various ego pay-offs and lures. Sometimes periods of retreat are helpful, and at other times, active involvement in spiritual activities is beneficial. Frequently, the seemingly impossible obstacle mysteriously and spontaneously disappears and resolves itself.

Aside from ordinary resistances that are innate to the ego itself and therefore not really ‘personal’, there are inherited propensities as a consequence of karmic factors. These can sometimes be intuited either by prayer or even by specific investigation, such as with past-life recall techniques. Persistent patterns indicate that the source of the problem is still unconscious. A useful uncovering technique is to presume that there is a repressed aspect in the unconscious, and that the unconscious is not only personal but also collective, described by Carl Jung as the “collective unconscious.” Thus, certain problems are merely the karmic inheritance of being human.

In practice, for example, if other people persistently seem cruel or rude, it may be beneficial to forgive and pray for help for that hidden aspect in oneself that is cruel, rude, and unforgiving. These aspects can be accepted in that they are impersonal to some extent, yet one is responsible for them as a participant human being. For example, if others seem selfish or stingy, pray for that aspect in oneself that is that way. It is often surprising to discover that there is such a deeply repressed hidden trend that may well be just a consequence of human inheritance and experience.

Asceticism

This is a useful practice at various periods by which one accomplishes detachment from the senses and their endless search for pleasure and sensation. Success brings a sense of accomplishment. The senses search for pleasure via amusement, excitement, and the lure of enticements that increase appetite and desire.

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