Dear friends:
In our book when we speak hopefully of the benign state of spiritual consciousness to which mankind is evolving we fully realize that it is not new in the purely existential sense. There has been a veritable multitude of individuals throughout this age of Adam that have attained the state of consciousness described in our book. But there are two main factors that make this current movement new. One is the possibility that for you as an individual it is new. And secondly, for human society as a collective entity it would not only be new; it would be revolutionary. Thus to state that its time has come is to virtually make a declaration for the dawning of a new age of enlightenment.
One of the purposes of our book is to introduce readers to the idea that all human endeavor is, in truth, an expression and outworking of spiritual consciousness. Obviously when measured against mainstream human thought, this is a revolutionary idea. For this reason the book may have the effect of perplexing and even disturbing first-time readers. But once this hurdle of disorientation is jumped, the book becomes more friendly and its ideas less foreign. Thus subsequent readings find one not only accepting what the book has to say but actually having one’s appetite whetted for more substantial teachings. Our hope is that these “meatier” teachings will be forthcoming with the publication of other writings, some of which may appear on this website and some of which will be compiled in book form.
In any case, the New Consciousness is not essentially a scholarly pursuit. Its goal is neither to impress nor stimulate the intellect. Rather it is to bring about a complete transformational experience in one’s inner world – from its present condition of fractured ness and discord to a more harmonious, peaceful, and fulfilling one. This can be best accomplished without excessive philosophical conjecture or debate, through writings that are clear, concise, and illustrative. That is why Jesus, who was indubitably the New Consciousness’ greatest spokesperson, taught mostly within a parabolic framework. Jesus was by no means a simpleton. Rather he had gained the revelation that what men needed most was spiritual life, not intellectual stimulation. “My yoke is easy and my burden is light,” he once said (Matthew 11:30). What this means is that the New Consciousness is not only burden free; it is also universal – that is, geared to the understanding of all people.
“Once we have gained insight into the fact that we not only have a spiritual consciousness within us but that we actually are that spiritual consciousness, we will find ourselves living a new life.”
Human life is not as complex as we tend to believe it is. We human beings were created with the potentiality for great goodness, joy, and love. This potentiality is unlocked, not by developing our intellectual prowess, but rather by raising and expanding our spiritual consciousness. How do we do this? By opening ourselves to the truth about who we really are as human beings and how our universal environment operates.
Learning the truth as it has been taught by every spiritual master throughout this age not only causes our spiritual consciousness to awaken and expand; it calls us forth to an entirely new life orientation and sense of identity. Once we have gained insight into the fact that we not only have a spiritual consciousness within us but that we actually are that spiritual consciousness, we will find ourselves living a new life.
The vast majority of people living in today’s world do not identify with the spiritual consciousness within them. Rather they see themselves exclusively as an individual human personality – one who is born into this world, lives for 80 or 90 years, and then leaves again through the exit door we call death. This perspective of the sum total of life consisting of one short temporal human experience negates the possibility that we even have a spiritual dimension to us. But the teachings of the masters all share one point in common – that being that we human beings are essentially spiritual in our makeup and as such have the capability of laying hold of unending, undying life. Thus from a spiritual perspective to live life identified only with our temporal human personality is to live with blinders on.
When we can accept the truth that within each one of us there is a core spiritual essence that cannot die we will find our blinders removed and clear seeing effectuated. Then we will be ready to embark upon a truly wondrous journey – the journey of enlightenment upon which we not only learn about the nuances of the spiritual life but also begin to experience the transformational changes that this learning invariably brings to pass.
The benign potentialities we subsequently unleash are not of a human origin. They are not the product of human ingenuity or strength. Rather they have a divine impetus, manifesting from the inside-out as what the Bible calls the fruits of the Spirit. In other words, they are the result of the Holy Spirit’s activity in our inner world.
This cooperative outworking of human and divine energies is not as fantastic as it sounds. Its demonstration is all around us and has been manifesting on the Earthly plane since the beginning of time. Though pragmatists and skeptics cling to their unbelief, saying, “Show us the divine,” men and women of faith hold equally tenaciously to the Biblical injunction: “Let God be true and every man a liar” (Romans 3:4). In other words men and women of faith do not disclaim the divine initiative based on the fact that it is imperceptible to the human senses. Rather they develop other ways of perceiving the activity of the divine in our midst. In the Old Testament book of Isaiah there is a dialogue between the prophet and God that goes something like this. First, Isaiah says, “Truly you are a God who hides himself.” Then God answers with this rebuttal: “Maybe so, but I have not spoken in secret” (Isaiah 45:15, 19). In other words, when it comes to understanding God, both of these statements are true. God is not readily perceptible to us human beings, but that does not mean we must abandon our spiritual quest. Rather we must learn a new faculty of perception – that which the Bible calls spiritual discernment. Then we realize that God has been speaking openly and plainly throughout this age of man. In fact, He has been literally shouting His truth from the rooftops for men to hear.
True faith is a spiritual, as opposed to religious faculty. In the spiritual life we will not get far without it. Religious faith tends to be blind, but spiritual faith is based on scientific principles. We do not believe just because, rather accepting that God is imperceptible – that is, a God that hides himself – we learn the spiritual principles that enable us to hear what God has been speaking. Then we too discover that God has not been speaking in secret.
God is the architect and engineer of human life. He drew up the plans for an eternal cooperative dance between Himself and mankind. And He spoke, or engineered, those plans into manifestation. Through spiritual discernment we realize the divine aspect of this universal cooperative dance and not only include the presence and influence of God’s spirit in our affairs; we make it our constant awareness through an act of our own spiritual consciousness.
