Chapter 46 - Metaphysical Materialism - Strength for the Journey
We seek not to invalidate, nor discard, the bountiful Blessings of Science. Instead, we work to fulfill Her, breaking up logjams, restoring Her to the proper station in the Divine Order. We have unjustly and unduly burdened Science with loads She was not born to bear. She herself never claimed supremacy, nor strived to unseat Wisdom's throne of Insight. A devoted & misguided priesthood, ostensibly working in Her name, gradually lost sight of Reality in the very quest to illuminate our vision of her. How did this happen? One word: Excitement.
Many men (and fewer women, a fact worth contemplating) sought from Science answers beyond Her capacity, precisely because of how much Truth was uncovered, and how many social issues were solved (albeit incompletely), by means of Her fruits.
Unfortunately, we created problems & challenges that no level of Scientific knowledge can single-handedly remedy. We hold fast to the (rapidly deteriorating) Hope that one day, Science will ultimately save us from ourselves. This Hope is vital to us, because our Awareness of any more sovereign power in Life has slipped away. Perhaps 'driven away' is a more accurate representation.
We also want all the answers to be found in Science because we believe it to be the final extent of Mankind's domain, the ultimate limit of what we can control. This is (thankfully) True for the Materialist (a saving Grace, rather than the inconvenience he thinks it to be), as his worldview unconsciously confines his sphere of influence to the material world (I include certain invisible dimensions in this 'material world').
Now is as opportune a moment to segue into our slightly tangential, yet title observation, that of a conceptual viewpoint I am terming 'Metaphysical Materialism'.
Much of what we have come to call 'New Age', or the more generic 'spirituality', or even 'metaphysical' (something of a departure from the Classical definition, but I digress) movements and/or belief systems (speaking as one in the West), borrow neighboring Materialistic precepts & approaches to deal with extra-physical, paranormal and/or 'psychic' phenomena.
What is not widely appreciated is the extent to which the invisible dimensions most commonly accessible are an extension of the great 'illusion of the senses'. Upon realization that our typical five senses cannot be relied on to divine ground truths, there is a strong tendency to place an undeserved weight on indications arising from our 'inner senses'. In fact, most of these inner sensations are still subject to external manipulation, and are often dominated by this situation.
Materialism puts a lot of stock and faith in observation & experience, and therefore our Metaphysical variation is more easily deceived & diverted from its ends for a very basic and scientific reason, namely, the complete lack of a control group.
Logic requires a firm foundation, and when one is seeking a footing, this is taken as an invitation to provide a deceptive footing for the seeker. If one is not starting from a firm, inner conviction, one cannot truly start at all, anything attempted merely becomes a sad display of confused floundering. As the existentialist is getting at, with no center, everything becomes relative. The common thinker (and this is more compliment than indictment) immediately perceives the immense societal danger inherent to this outlook, and therefore (even if marginally) clings to some sort of Higher Authority (often in religious garb).
The axiom 'Do as thou wilt' is clearly recognized as black magic by the average man, whether he puts it into practice or not. A greater confusion moves in upon the more paranormally (perhaps 'extraterrestrially') experienced. Having observed, as astute historians have long intuited, that our difficult situations extend past historical and/or physical bounds, he (or she) counts this as further 'evidence' against the final supremacy & sovereignty of a Divine Benevolence. This often leads to an internal solidification of cynicism and/or despair (various manifestations of Fear) of a considerable magnitude, when compared to the conventional philosopher of our day.
Good things may seem to happen even less in dimensions referred to as 'astral', 'etheric', etc (these terms being today almost hopelessly meaningless from a linguistic standpoint). While it is not exactly true that one sees what one expects to (or wants to) in these realms, there is a widespread situation that might be best called a 'conditioned consensus'.
When one has not developed an adequately individualized, personally-derived bedrock of Faith over Substance, thus gaining a 'clairity of clairs', then he (or she) is more influenced by the 'collective consciousness' (more like 'unconsciousness'... see Jung, et all.) than influencing it himself (or herself, as I again apologize for the English language's inexcusable lack of neuter... we work with the tools we have at hand).
This situation has not escaped detection, hence the ever-growing proliferation of propaganda ('information operations') at every level of society. There is a sense of responsibility to 'steer the masses' towards a Higher (or lower) state of consciousness, and almost anyone with any shred of individual thought, no matter how dilute is consciously & actively involved in this situation ("it's a hot mess" is the most concise way to describe this from a strategic perspective). To make matters more complex (and therefore unpredictable), this is fairly unavoidable from an unconscious level as well. I am not herein condemning this approach (for that would be me taking a more active role in the fray), but seek to offer my personally observed conclusions, leading to a greater understanding of the matter. I encourage you to 'Do as you feel guided', a contemporary, and slightly more compassionate version of the ancient Chinese curse.
Simply put, the 'Highest', or most potent approach to influencing the collective situation, and thereby bringing about 'Heaven on Earth', with all its abundance, is by working indirectly. All this effort spent on 'waking people up' is a massive drain on the personal energy & resources of all involved (perhaps that's the point... how meta do we get?), if/when those doing the 'awakening' become emotionally entangled, that is, attached to certain expectations (especially temporal in nature). There is no need to drop or diminish the final vision, but be prepared to adapt, adjust, and overcome adversity.
We feel the pressure most whenever we pause to wait for others to 'catch up', because rather than taking the opportunity to hustle, our delay is interpreted as license to repeatedly hit the snooze button... dawdling is an art form these days. We need not become 'late' ourselves merely because others appear incapable of maintaining the 'proper' pace. This appearance of helplessness and/or diminished/inadequate abilities and/or resources is just that, illusionary. Start driving the bus away, and bear witness to abundant miracles, as many cast away their crutches, sprinting after you.
We live immersed in a culture of spiritual malingering, but the cure is not to spread oneself thin, covering this vampiric behavior. This is the root cause of karmic confusion (on many levels), and represents an 'implied consent' on the part of the 'helper'. Handing out maps is one thing, but there are not as many toddlers as claimants to the title. Whiners don't actually need help, and you have no obligation to endure any measure of malcontent. Who knows, maybe they love the sprinting, don't rob them of the pleasure!
The 'secrets' of (True) 'Magic' are granted by Nature to be employed in the service of self-mastery, through the conditioning of the world inside our personal boundaries. Just as an ancient, well-grown tree enables an entire ecosystem above, below, within & without her environs, so too does the Natural man provide an ever-present shelter from the storms of illusion to those Beings in his/her wake. A forest of such trees can be a literal 'Heaven on Earth'.
May we all become a collective Table in the Wilderness!