In this essay my opinion is not given as a lecture on intelligence or on spirituality. Mental conditioning can be influenced by outside forces or from inner strength, and one is free to ignore or to accept ideas coming from other sources, laugh at or with me: no imposition is intended.
In the future I expect to put my thoughts to words in prose or in poetry, in fact on in fiction, and I intend to bring my writings out of the cabinet and boxes.for my soul-mates wherever they may be.
Willa Ramsaran
The Enduring and Overpowering Mental Forces
It is apparent that humankind is forever searching the misty corridors of Creation for divine Truth: how did Life come about? It proves an Intelligence that is tied to all of Life, an energy that keeps life ongoing in Awareness: in the pursuit of love and joy, in the motivation and development of desire, perception, assumption, attitude, need and greed, in caring and sharing in the inevitables of human beliefs and behaviour in communication for the security of flesh and blood. Are Spirit or Soul and the Mental one and the same? Are we not spirits dressed in bodies that we must care for with our spirit brain and nerves?
Closure comes when all the answers can be found for how and why one got to a certain place on the road of life. Can philosophy in its true sense banish misery and bring lasting joy?
Life experiences can tell that the heart is yours and yours alone; that there can be no influence from others on your heart, unless you want it; that your head can be influenced in a million ways at all times and in all situations, if only because you are tied in a plural existence with the rest of the world. The heart allows you to be yourself when your choices, good or bad, are motivated by you and you alone. All mental forces share an intelligence that lie behind self-regulation; all living forces are endowed with a unique gift for self-development, a gift that surpasses all gifts in magnificence. The eternal ride thrives on independence and interdependence in relationship.
Where is that cut-off from ancestry that goes back forever? It is likely that life evolved in whatever possible form from an uncreated Mental energy or divine Intelligence. Biology may tell us about the changes in DNA, yet the cause of changes, the thing that promotes change can not be cut off. It is timeless, because we are here. Change has to be an immortal function. It carves a vital and ongoing course in life. It is a gift from Divine Love for all of life, a gift for restoration or dissolution in accordance with needs that are good. It allows choices for self- becoming in life and death, for gladness of spirit, for health of body and soul. Choice leading to direction can be difficult to make because of that clash that can come from one's uniqueness in conjunction with the uniqueness of other life forces in operation.
Religion and faith say that God is everywhere. Art and science through knowledge and wisdom may see God in an ongoing Intelligence that is timeless and boundless. It is conceivable that living forces continue on and on through the miracle of change carried on by the Mental. Identity may wear thin, but does not become extinct. It makes us who we are. Identity and existence for all living forces carry on, keeping unique places in the order and chaos of Creation. We may see intelligence in the workings of physics and chemistry, in the nature of flora and fauna, in all life forms. Identity can not become extinct in as much as it functions mentally in and with a plural existence.
That which brings about motivation and growth, that which allows the freedom of choice for the fulfilment of all living things including the bugs, that which carries on restoration or dissolution at the same time keeping identity, that is the Mental in physical matter or energy which carries on life. It is the mental in organic creation that runs organisms, that cooperates in the life and change of species, that allows dissolution to foster restoration, that gives free choice in the pursuit of preservation and joy.
Free choice has the power to be constructive or destructive. Right or appropriate use of these forces brings wholeness or identity to the life form. One becomes oneself. It is the ultimate gift from Divine Love. Despite human error, failure and such, one's basic wholeness can make that detour to greener pastures. Direction and destiny are in our hands and we are blessed with that Intelligence that comes from the Divine source of life itself for our eternal well-being.
Because we are alive and here, and using our heads and hearts to fulfil our needs and greed, because we can think and dream, all being mental states that are prompted to traverse our nerves to reach our brain for getting business or desires done or done away with; because we use our bodies for better or worse to please our minds, we must come to realize that mental activity does not come from that soft grey bulk that sits in our heads, but emanates from our very soul, and all responsibility for self and others lie there. Organic life forms from the invisible to the mightiest must need food for growth and security, must have a form of intelligence and satisfaction to carry on survival that touches and influences the lives of other organisms including homo-sapiens.
Intelligence, knowledge and wisdom are our gifts from Divine Love for the enjoyment of life. When used inappropriately natural justice steps in to set things right. Everyone has met the never wrong person whose determination brings on the battle of the minds. We get into a conflict. Interpretation coming from imperfect culture can at times be misleading. Albeit, imperfection runs a natural course, allowing an opportunity for change and a new beginning. In conversation or in confrontation wise folk listen to the first speaker's idea, then come up with their own. They don't butt in. It makes for giving consideration appreciation and for getting information. The virtuous person finds contentment easily, the violent person courts misery.
It is obvious that one cannot feel another's evil unless one is struck down physically or emotionally. Standards do exist, but the thin line between right and wrong can be broken by a conscience that inevitably makes or breaks the spirit. In any crowded city there are angels and devils walking shoulder to shoulder, wrapped in their unique thoughts carrying on, to deliver good or evil to others, to society and to themselves.
The human spirit has the gift of awareness: in observation, in atmosphere, for recognising that there is love everywhere, from Mother Nature herself. Love truly makes the world go round. It can be a fact of science that one's lineage goes back to the unborn Creator who sends life on its endless journey, armed with awareness and intelligence, a journey as timeless as a new day. It has been said that the atom can be divided endlessly. Is it because it dissolves into life itself, an overpowering and enduring mental force that keeps its natural place in service to all things physical?
Recently we had a striking view of Venus and Jupiter, possibly one metre apart as it appeared to us. We may see that awareness, motivation and intelligence function uniquely in living organisms, in the micro and macro cosmos. We and all the lowly creatures carry on life, we are not puppets. The stars do not drop from their place in space. They appear to be self controlled, moving in conjunction with the Cosmos or heavenly bodies. We see independence working with interdependence. They keep in balance like our very own Mother Earth in our very own solar system, moving along with sister solar systems, and all encircling our very own galaxy, the Milky Way, which is itself travelling with other galaxies surrounded by their solar systems, and all resulting debris, gases, meteors, meteorites and the unimaginable whatever; all making the rounds, kept in place by their gravity in conjunction with some centrifugal force - humongous!
Is it possible that all heavenly bodies travel in galaxies with their load of solar systems, that together galaxies encircle a greater centrifugal force, that all go on to surround stronger and stronger centrifugal forces, that this mighty engineering force shared by all can go on and on forever? Space, balance and connection won by magnetic forces, gravitational, electrical and what have we, energy and matter driven by thought, what is the mystery behind existence? Who or what is responsible for the wonderful parade? Is it Love and Joy using intelligence in all life forms for the timeless mission? Human beings have choice; we can restore or we can disrupt the work of Mother Nature. Science and technology have given us the means to get to the moon, to release our garbage in space, to pollute the airways, to get to the bottom of the ocean to harvest the goodies down there and throw out the unwanted sea life. It is well documented that excessiveness in undertaking or overdoing, in destroying the rain forests and causing the extinction of species dangerous or beneficial to humankind alters the ecology. We can deplete and destroy life-giving oxygen from land and sea.
It is known that new strains of bacteria and viruses are naturally created to offset those we have destroyed, and antibiotics have become useless and can be destructive for the sick. Look around, Mother Nature wins out, surviving in transition and change, developing echo systems that go on to alter and affect the course of all of life, including humankind. The natural universe wins. We do have power over the natural order of organic creation, and we can make changes for our betterment, but when we over-do it, when we step outside the borders of grace, we become defeated by Nature.
Universal intelligence never sleeps. It seeks to make right the wrong in all creation from the invisible to the mighty galaxies. It is in all creation. The wobbling sun dances to the tune of the wayward planets, keeping itself and its wards in safety. Encroachment, hated culturally, is natural in the grand order of things: give a little, take a little amounts to smooth sailing, but disconnection can end it all. In the grand order of all life there is no disconnection. It can be seen that the mental seeks to maintain physical life in the micro and macro cosmos through the process of change and growth. Awareness is the common link all share. The drive for survival and stability is the responsibility of all organic life forms. It is won by intelligence variable and suitable for all, by peace or war, by choice.
We are thinking beings with the power to make or remake ourselves. We can choose to use or to discard intelligence as it pleases us. Direction following preferences play a great part in success or failure, and our preferences are tied in with others in our boat or in distant lands, as well as with other life forms far and near. We remain connected and affected by a universal intelligence at work, at all times. Animals have a way of decreasing and restoring population. Conditions in weather and the echo system follow a natural path that is being adversely affected more and more by the careless interference of humankind with hoarding the lion's share from Mother Nature for human benefit.
The green-house effect, the weakening of the food chain, the death of animal species, the cruel nature of wars coming from religious and cultural beliefs, the conquests of other lands, the subordination and planned genocide of so-called other people, this by the human spirit gone mad, decrying it a simple matter, move over we need your land and your place. It is ours because we are stronger. True to be strong for the preservation and well-being of the clan was to be virtuous in a primitive world where the forests invaded the homestead, and strangers stumbled in to conquer with moral rightness. Human nature can remain unchanged as change can itself come to a stop, or go on for better or worse with choice.Ideas and movements coming from free choice all point to an intelligence fashioned by thought which can be good or bad.
In the process of moving on, continental plates slide and compress, causing mighty earthquakes. Volcanoes in excess of energy let off rivers of fire in the drive for relief and balance, and twisters, hurricanes and floods seek the shortest route to freedom. What must be, must be done, seem to be the goal of natural disasters, unlike the psychic disaster of crime, violence and warfare carried on by humankind where choice has the power to set goals. There is intelligence in matter and energy, a force connecting all of life naturally, sooner or later to set things right in a timeless and boundless universe. Ignorance and intelligence abound in the human race and information is examined and put into use for human betterment by the socio-economic forces at work. Granted that information is wondrous and beneficial, one may observe that the computer age with an influx of information demands the accuracy and speed of robotic actions in the work place. Can the average thinking mind today run along with the flow of speed and absorb the information coming in for getting business done? The hectic all-day speed required for maintaining an average life-style in the socio-economic field might well be hazardous for flesh and blood: there is desk rage, there are missed breakfasts and fast foods, there is the drive for requiring physical and mental balance; there is so often the me-first followed by guilt, low self esteem, depression, and all the rest of the energy killers put upon human life. Is human destiny to race along the rocky tracks of life stumping toes, not catching a glimpse of the natural world as it seeks greener pastures coming from the deluge of information? Certainly the mind can grow to adjust to the demands of life styles. However, there is a natural state or closure to adjustment: there is growth and there is completeness, after which more demands on adjustment can become destructive to one and all. Research put into use can be invigorating for the mind at the perils of the body. One is required to take care of one's home of flesh and blood, but one can get carried away in the discovery of new knowledge and come to ignore the physical parts of oneself. The foolish mind slowly destroys the body. The nuclear bomb is lord and master in the hands of a Nut. Why is there an ongoing need to keep on manufacturing this hell on earth? All known life may be gone with its use, but Nature stays on and on supportive, restoring life and identity in transition and change. Nature or God Almighty, the uncreated mother and father of existence.
Intelligence supported by Wisdom and Faith would tell that all life comes into being with the potential to become an act which fosters self respect, that all life comes armed and can be disarmed by life choices, a great and grave responsibility in the drive for wholeness; that in self knowledge, virtue, mastery and achievement lie the strength of spirit or energy.
In the darkened future, direction can lead to chasms or fertile valleys, and still the human spirit fortified with hope and courage can find recovery with the help of divine grace. It can be conceivable that in the realm of opposites the psyche or mental go on forever, the soma or body coming from food go on to nourish the earth. Often we diminish the strength of hope and courage, we dull the eternal glow, but the mental forces coming from the timeless past can be invincible.
Mythology has been a good guide to what has happened in the past, though one must expect additions and dramatizations of valid occurrences. Noah's flood perhaps written before the writings of Genesis tells of the destruction of masses of people living in sin and brought to decay; except for the godly and gallant Noah who prepared for the great flood by building a massive boat to accommodate his family and animals. The world died, but Noah and his family and animals were saved. The world died because people did nothing to protect themselves, not because they were sinners. Intelligence and spirit involved and occupied in fun loving things had gone to sleep.
The spirit of Nature does not sleep. The moon stirs the waters to keep it clean for the life in water. The sun warms the tiny seeds in the fertile soil encouraging growth, knowing that the little seed can do it with a motivation all its own. There is intelligence in growth, and in decay there is life. Intelligence does not become extinct or vanish into thin air; it's in the air. Can one imagine the death of Intelligence? It never was born! How can something come from nothing?
In the art of living, culture differences may breed value differences which may come to ignite criticisms with adverse repercussions that give rise to all the human maladies, from simple vexations to blood letting and genocide. The strength of the spirit for good or evil far outweighs the needs of the body, needs that are amplified by greed.
An energy as strong and overpowering as Human Nature can and does ignore the meaning of Humanity when Ignorance the buddy of Intelligence steps in line to wave the flag of envy, greed and insecurity, hell-bent on doing battle for the stomach while excluding the glory of the Mind.
Research and Information in the Arts and Sciences adding to human knowledge carry on for the purpose of human betterment: an innate search that does not seem to have an end. It is viable that the source of knowledge comes from the uncreated All-knowing, that human knowledge is but a spec in the unlimited field of the Divine. Why do we know there is more to information leading to knowledge? Life style choices lie with us. Our fulfilment can be short-lived while our satisfaction carries on the search. We may keep on living for tomorrow by working "like a horse" today. We do have an eternity of time to get rid of stress.
We are needed to share in this timeless, boundless universe, to carry on in love and joy in harmony with all life forms, and the uncreated Divine source of benevolence and love. The practice of fairness, justice and compassion in life choices can lead to good direction and most of all to self enhancement. Evil is likely to know temporary happiness; it takes a measure of Virtue to know Joy. To give up all preferences to others is to lose identity or oneself. It is not possible: even in suicide the wish may be for betterment.
A healthy mind does not breed insatiability and dissatisfaction, does not promote an emptiness that inevitably becomes destructive, caught in an ongoing drive for more. The mind pays too high a price for the comfort of the body. Unless goodness takes over, the evil mind must carry on in destruction and unfulfillment in a never-ending existence going through change after change in the world of creation where the human spirit must abide in a plural existence, natural in all life forms.
People of the forests, the deserts, the frigid zone and other seemingly inhospitable places are known to use their environments as they can and must. They are guided by a desire for survival and must abide by the natural dictates of a strong socio-economic base. They live in an atmosphere which may tell them that there is more to that stretch of sky that seems to go up and up; to the green giants of the forests; the moving sand-dunes, the overpowering heat and cold, wet and dry, the safe and dangerous in the ecology.
In isolation they may sense a force in the growth and movement of all things around them; the wind swept trees, the lightening streaks intense and wild, the thunderous after-glow bursting the ear drum, and then the quiet beauty of Nature all around them. Organized religion may not reach them, but somehow they sense a spiritual force at work, a force that never leaves. Human kind of whatever mould or ethnicity follow a basic intelligence that serves to guide them in the search for survival, relationship and fulfilment. It is a powerful force that connects all into one race - the human race.
Human tragedies, the many and varied accidents that bring sorrow and despair to people far and near awaken the human spirit naturally. It gets to the gut of strangers. People rush in to help. It is love and compassion in motion. The psyche outshines the soma.It gets that opportunity to feel its invulnerability. It is armed with hope and courage. It displays unbelievable feats of strength and endurance in rescue efforts. It comes from an empathy that shows a common understanding, a oneness of spirit.
One is lucky to be drawn into the stream of life, to partake in the delights of head and heart, to share in the responsibility for protecting and maintaining the good in all life forms, to appreciate the timeless, enduring and overpowering mental forces that are ours, that gives us immortality, that makes eternity one bright wondrous day.