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Through the Western Wisdom Teachings, related to us by
Max Heindel, we are taught that this life is one of many in which man as a
Virgin Spirit prepares himself for the part that he is to assume in the
cosmic drama as a co-worker with God. Many lifetimes have been spent
preparing ourselves for the level of consciousness we now occupy, and our
continued progress depends upon the use we make of our present physical
bodies in their relationship to the growth of our spiritual
vehicles.
Effect on Future
Incarnations
A weak body cannot maintain the higher
vibration which accompanies any spiritual growth, and it is only through
spiritual growth that the present generation can prepare itself for the
coming Aquarian Age. Since our next embodiments may take place during this
Age, it is necessary that we make this preparation or we will be unable to
compete with beings incarnating on the new higher level, since they will
have prepared themselves for this coming event. Failure, in this life,
could mean that we will incarnate in the next as members of a lower race
group.
Many factors are involved in spiritual
development. This discourse will be limited to the discussion of those
whose continued use is detrimental to the upward progress of the
individual, namely: alcohol, drugs, and tobacco. Their importance lies in
the fact that they may impede or even reverse the evolution of the
individual. Volumes have been written about the effects these substances
have upon the physical body, and articles appear daily in newspapers and
periodicals warning of the problems which may result from their continued
use. It is the purpose of this writing, however, to point out the
spiritual implications which must be considered after all aspects of the
physical have been studied.
We learn in the Western Wisdom
Teachings that the desire body and the mind are in the early stages of
evolutionary development. Our growth depends upon the work that we do to
gain control of these important vehicles. The use of any substance which
weakens our control of these bodies prevents us from exercising the needed
discipline to learn the lessons for which we incarnated at this time --
lessons which must be learned if we are to continue our upward progress.
This means that we must put forth every effort to gain control of the
desire body and the mind.
Occult Purpose of
Alcohol
Throughout the descent of the human
Spirit into matter, substances were introduced into the diet of man to
enable him to proceed to the next and successive steps in his evolution.
Alcohol was one of these substances. Prior to the fifth, or Aryan, Epoch
of the Earth's revolution, man retained some of the spiritual sight that
was his heritage as an evolving Spirit, and so he was aware of his
spiritual being. Up to this time water had been used as the principle
beverage; now it became necessary. for man to lose his spiritual sight so
that he would be unable to have an awareness of his spiritual existence.
Only in this way would he be able to conquer the physical world and learn
the lessons of the matter-oriented individual. To fulfill this part of
man's destiny, "Bacchus," a God of Wine, appeared, and under his sway even
the most advanced nations forgot that they were also subjects of a higher
life. Later, we are told, Christ Jesus turned water into wine, which at
this time was being used by evolving humanity. Christ Jesus Himself was a
much more highly evolved being and did not need to learn the lessons which
were so necessary for evolving humanity. He did not need the wine, and
there is no place in the Bible where it states that Jesus drank the
wine.
Alcohol Retards
Evolution
It is now time for man to start on the
upward path of evolution and move toward the Christ Consciousness -- which
is to say, to develop his lost spiritual sight. Since alcohol was used to
enable man to forget his higher self, no one who feeds the body with
alcoholic liquor (the product of fermentation and decay) can ever know
anything about the spiritual realms. The coming Aquarian Age will demand
that man have knowledge of the higher self, and anyone who does not
prepare for future incarnations by attempting to develop spiritual insight
will be unable to cope with the higher man incarnating at that time and
will have taken a step backward in evolution. All forms of alcohol must,
therefore, be eliminated from the diet of those who wish to continue on
the upward spiral. Anyone today who is fortunate enough to have gained
occasional insights of the spiritual world jeopardizes the level of being
he has attained by work in previous incarnations with the continued use of
alcohol and will arrive in the Aquarian Age unable to occupy the place he
has worked so hard for in past ages.
Drugs and Addiction
The use of drugs takes its place as a
companion of alcohol when the spiritual development of man is considered.
Exploring the widespread use of drugs in society today, we find that the
need for their use revolves around three factors: 1) the relief of pain;
2) boredom; and 3) the hope of experiencing spiritual revelation. In the
Cosmo-Conception,
Max Heindel tells us that the purpose of life is not happiness but
experience. In our struggle for what we consider to be the best of the
material side of life, we let our desires lead us into paths of pleasure,
ease, and comfort. Thus we often fail to fulfill the purpose of our
existence, namely, to gain experience.
When we abuse our bodies we incur pain,
Nature's way of telling us that misuse has gone far enough and that it is
time to reverse the conditions which have resulted in our discomfort. Many
of us ignore Nature's warning and, preferring the comfortable way out,
resort to the use of drugs. The tragedy is that, being unwilling to make
an honest attempt to search for and correct the causes we do not stop
here. We accept the temporary relief afforded and permit our bodies to
build up a greater accumulation of toxins. Thus we create a condition
which requires more frequent use of drugs until we are forced into action
by a highly toxic and drug-oriented vehicle, one which has little chance
of making spiritual growth in this life. It requires a pure and wholesome
physical body and mind to give our spiritual vehicle the discipline needed
as a preparation for the work ahead. Only the individual himself can bring
about the conditions which will assure him of continued growth. He must,
therefore, refrain from the use of drugs or any other substance which will
interfere with the work of the brain.
Stimulants and
Depressants
Our society today is afflicted by a
self-imposed condition called boredom, which has become one of man's
problems as he attempts to fulfill the destiny of this incarnation. The
use of tranquilizers, sleeping pills, and pep pills has developed into a
way of life for a large group of the human family. This use could be
eliminated if the individual involved would endeavor to live as a
contributing member of society. Instead of wallowing in his own self-pity,
he must open his heart to his fellow men and seek to find the peace he
wants in the service of mankind. On a simple level coffee and tea, used as
beverages, are examples of drugs since they produce a mild effect on the
emotions. At higher levels, the barbiturates (sedatives) and the
amphetamines (stimulants) produce a more potent effect. That these affect
the central nervous system is well established. Unlike animals, who are
governed by Group Spirits, and therefore react to drugs in a similar
manner, man is individualized and there is no way of ascertaining for
certain the side effects on the body. These may be minor or serious,
depending upon the level of one's spiritual development. We can be
certain, however, that in every instance the effect will be to slow or
retard present and future spiritual growth.
Long Term Effects of
Drugs
Drugs such as marijuana, heroin, and
LSD, used especially by the younger generation to produce a so-called
"high" or "trip," are by far the most dangerous. To understand why the
young person is susceptible to the use of these mind-boggling drugs, it is
necessary to understand that he recently may have acquired the desire body
(at about age 14) or the mind body (at about the age 21). This is a time
for him to determine the limits of his ability and to see how far he can
challenge the status quo. Many young people are wilting to test the limits
of their adaptability. Others desire spiritual revelation, which they
believe can be induced by the use of drugs. At this critical period in the
life of the individual, he often lacks the confidence and warmth of an
elder companion, one who can guide him through this trying time. For too
many of today's youth it is a time of trial and error, a period of blind
growth. Drugs offer a way out, but as time wilt reveal, it wilt be the
wrong way. Being hallucinatory, they do not bring about the desired
results; instead, they put the aspirant in danger of being controlled by
undesirable spirits, of undermining the physical body, and of exposing
himself to extremely harmful effects on his spiritual bodies. Any damage
to these vehicles may require many lifetimes to restore them to the
adaptability they originally had. This means a decided setback in
evolution. A person, therefore, who made much progress in former
embodiments could lose the value of previous hard work by seriously
affecting the present life instruments.
Tobacco and Soul
Growth
The third member of the trio is
tobacco, a complex mixture of gases, liquids, and solid particles. Not
only do we find many chemical compounds in tobacco but also many more are
created by the burning of the substance. Any of these can produce harmful
effects upon the body; together they can spell disaster. As with our
previous discussions, our concern is not only the effects upon the
physical body but also upon the spiritual bodies. Our evolution as
spiritual beings depends upon the acquisition of the Golden Wedding
Garment, which is constituted from the development of the higher ethers.
No progress can be made on these ethers unless we raise the vibrations of
our dense physical bodies, and this can only be accomplished by
maintaining as pure a body as our present development will permit. No
athlete or any other person requiring a deft vehicle for excellence in his
work should do anything that he knows to be injurious to the body and the
mind. For the person who elects to follow the spiritual path, the need for
abstinence is much greater, since every faculty of the brain is needed to
learn control of the mind. No one with a muddled brain can hope to achieve
any lasting success regardless of the effort he exerts to raise his level
of consciousness. Not only should the seeker abstain from the use of
tobacco, but also he must try to avoid, if possible, areas which smokers
habituate, since non-smokers are exposed to the many compounds which are
produced by the burning substance as well as the material exhaled by the
smoker.
In summary, let us reiterate that, as
incarnate beings, we should be concerned with the development of the
instruments of the Ego, namely: the dense physical body, the vital body,
the desire body and the mind. The quality and condition of these
instruments will determine how much or how little the Ego can accomplish
in its work of gathering experience in the school of life. Alcohol, drugs,
and tobacco have a harmful effect on these vehicles to the extent that the
spiritual growth of the individual and his progress in evolution can be
seriously retarded by their use.
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