Ralph Waldo Emerson wrote: “The raptures of prayer and ecstasy of devotion lose all being in one Being. This tendency finds its highest expression in religions writings of the East and chiefly in the Indian scriptures.”
I have always been fascinated by the Sanskrit writings and the Hindu Spiritual Teachings and Teachers. Sri Ramakrishna taught that observing spiritual students could open our eyes to their inner truths. He used the example of the scale. The heavy side goes down whilst the lighter side rises upwards. He made his students notice that the true adept is always humble and meek, whilst the fool at the beginning of his soul’s journey, pulls himself up with vanity and conceit.
Knowledge can become a heavy burden when we rely too much on its “weight” and give it too much importance. Unlike many others, our Spiritual Path is not one that is simply linked to the accruement of knowledge or to dogma. It is more the application of whatever knowledge we carry in our hearts, in order that we can become wiser and act in accordance. Our Pagan Paths are an experience to be lived as part of that all-encompassing reality in which we believe and within which we exist.
Let not despondency enter our hearts as despair is the greatest enemy in the path of Spiritual Evolution. We should strive to keep our thoughts, our words, our actions in line, for as we think and say, so we do, so we become.
As Pagans we need faith, devotion and love for the Gods and Goddesses before they can feel welcome in the shrine of our very hearts. We have to prepare our hearts as we would prepare a room for a very special guest or member of the family we wish would tarry a while with us, and in doing so, we should not forget that that which we manage not to find within us, we will not find outside of us.
If we entertain negative and violent thoughts, negativity and violence will be the fruits of our harvest. Let us, as our forefathers, sow positive seeds, nurture the saplings and patiently await the harvest and the abundance of goodness that will bring with it.
People who lack in ideals are always obsessed with what others have to say or do. One who is good finds a world of good, whilst the fearful man finds others to be afraid of life. The violent man sees and reaps violence. This is dictated and ruled by the irrefutable Universal Laws.
Could it be that mankind has suffered because we have forgotten the impermanence of suffering and have remained focused on the negative? Have our hearts become blind to the beauty, to the Divine as it reveals Itself to us through beauty, strength, virtue, truth, love, etc.?
We have to reign in the recalcitrant horses of our mind, tame them with love and bring our thinking abilities to harmony and the calmness of a worthy adept.
The best way to feel the Gods operating in our lives happens through keeping our word, being devoted to truth, being honourable in our actions and behaviour, being disciplined and kind, being industrious, self-reliant, generous, hospitable and above all through the practice inner peace.
I once read the beautiful story of two monks who lived in Alexandria who wished to keep themselves pure. They approached their goal in different ways. One created a protective and impervious carapace of thought about himself and kept all that was bane outside of it. The other, filled his being with Divine Love/Eros and projected it forth, in manner this keeping all negativity away from himself and thereby keeping himself pure. The mystic aims at becoming one with the Divine, whilst the Occultist labours hard to progress in attaining his own Godhead.
Keep safe our minds and our hearts pure, remembering that superstition is a sin against Love (Eros). Do not destroy the ideal of others, do not cheapen it or belittle it either. Let us remember that gossip leads to mental suffering and anxiety which depreciates the ideals of others. It is no better than jealousy, than false and unverified accusations, than vilifications. Gossip commences with an evil thought and eventually becomes a veritable crime.
Let us be active in doing good, being filled with the intense desire to serve our community, remaining alert to every opportunity to do so. Let us remember that we live so that the Gods may channel their Love to our fellow men. He who is on this Path, exists not only for himself, but often forgets himself in his service of others.
In taking on a pupil the Teacher actively sets out to gather the scattered pieces of the body of Osiris. He does this through Wisdom, Will and Love. Through Will we allow ourselves to be raised in teaching, step by step, up the Temple stairs, towards its Inner Sanctum. We persevere through the different initiations until our Consciousness merges with the All that pervades everything.
Lastly our relationship with the Gods is eternal and is evoked by the degree of devotional perfection.
"The first thing we ought to preach is reverence toward the Gods. For it is fitting that we should perform our service to the Gods as though they were themselves present with us and beheld us, and though not seen by us could direct their gaze, which is more powerful than any light, even as far as our hidden thoughts."
~Julian

BB
Morgause