Re: Free Will, destiny, passive/active... Posted by Michael George on May 13, 2000 at 02:31:34:
In Reply to: Re: Free Will, destiny, passive/active... posted by Robert C. Cohen on December 07, 1999 at 13:42:26:
Like many adventures in life, I stumbled upon this Website and fell into
a well of warm remembrance of Hesse and many readings of The Glass Bead
Game. Too bad the current game has seemingly worn out its founder.
Hopefully, he will recover and return to this noble endeavor. Youth is a
wonderfully contemplative experience hence the previous post by Scott
nearly 18 months ago to which I respond:
I am not convinced of our common beginnings as part of one super mind
having been plucked and deposited here as human beings. Nor can I
subscribe to the theories that we are the result of some goo that
figured out how to crawl out of the ocean. The deep feelings of
independence, individualism, and loneliness are too strong. Rather, I
think, we never "began" but have always existed as individuals in some
way available for progression, experience, and growth. Some went first
and helped those behind. Until growth stopped. Why did it stop? Because
our capabilities were maxed. Our existence was too fine. Fine in the
sense that in our form we could not experience enough to move on. We
needed to be subject to a more coarse and brutish existence. Like an
open sore that shrieks at the slightest touch, we needed more physical
feelings-a mortal existence-juxtaposed with freedom and consequences. A
triad of difficulty, to be sure. But also the quickest way to
understanding.
A problem existed. In order to fully have our freedom, we had to lose
our memory of our pre-mortal existence, otherwise we would not really be
free. We would know why we had been given a mortal existence and,
therefore, would make choices based on that knowledge. Mortal life on
earth became a great Glass Bead Game played only with connections formed
while here. Why is that important? Because the object of the Game is to
discover the incredible creative and interconnected energies of love,
compassion, forgiveness, and sacrifice.
All of us will not discover these things. In fact, only a relatively
small number will. Most will be fooled thinking that this cage called
time in which we live as mortal beings, is reality. And they will live
for the seeming moment sampling all the sensational, sensuous
stimulation mortality can provide their mortal bodies while disregarding
that purer part of them that is eternal but forgotten. They will think
that these mortal bodies and their extant life are their sum total. Some
will even postulate that when mortal life is over, life is over. Mortal
death is the ultimate punchline. Hah! You're still alive and time and
the ravages of mortality are over. But you didn't learn anything that
will help your onward progression.
The real power of creation is not had by coercion or stimulation. The
powers of the Universe cannot be controlled or forced but must be
enticed. True love is a contagion without compulsion in any degree. One
who has learned these lessons well described it thus: Rules are useful
but these must merely mark where the borders of conscience end. Rules
have a way of pushing conscience back, and yet farther back. Besides,
each human and each human situation are sufficiently different that
rules thus multiplied become like the unpruned tree. A lively conscience
can cut through to the justice of any situation. And yet so many spend
their mortal existence searing conscience with stimulating lies. Hence
the thousands of laws we fool ourselves into thinking will organize us
and keep us safe, when few mortals are either.
So death brings an accounting of our response to the vicissitudes of
life. Will that accounting be a surprise to any. No. We surely know what
we've become. Especially when compared to a perfect standard. Fools
speak of Heaven and Hell when our eternity is simply what we've become.
To live infinitely as we are, is our lot. Many are stopped short in
their growth by their inability or unwillingness to see the finer way.
They take advantage, coerce, and rob. Others do nothing to harm but
nothing to help and find themselves missing something they do not
understand. A few catch the vision of peaceful living without reproof,
with love unfeigned, longsuffering and meekness. These find themselves
in an eternity of creative endeavors-continuing the process of helping
others to an earth to find their way.
And so my young friend, Scott, you have enormous cosmic potential. Your
life is just beginning and mine is well under way. At 50 I've probably
passed the mid-point and hope that my words have meaning for you. I've
played life's game every way I know how but always come back to love.
Find someone to love and care about. Find someone to help. Forget so
much about yourself. Ironically you'll find yourself as you lose
yourself in helping others. That irony is not lost on the Universe. It
is the way to true happiness now and forever. It builds a being of
character and integrity that will forever live in a state of joy that
exceeds all understanding.
Now there are many who will groan as such simple stuff. Some are
convinced that because they have one truth, they have all truth. Others
say that there is no truth at all. Another believes that all truths are
of equal importance. The common result is the same-the search for truth
stops. Allow one person to think that no matter what he does, it is not
wrong. Tell another that he has done wrong, but it is not serious.
Persuade another that he has erred so gravely that there is no hope for
him. Again, the result is the same.
It is my hope that you will never stop searching for truths that are
eternal. Those are the only ones that count. And if I pass through the
door of death before you, you may be certain that I and many others will
be waiting for you to welcome you as you make the change back to your
true self. Until then, do your best. Love your best. Be your best.