Daily Archives: November 5, 2016

Seminal Events in History

I have always been fascinated by history, and what appears to be historical forces that seemingly change the course of events.

The Mongol Empire, for example, was the largest contiguous land empire in world history. Back in the 13th century it had literally overrun all of Asia and was on the verge of conquering Europe as well, when their khan (Great Khan Ögedei) died in 1241. The western Mongol army withdrew from Central Europe the next year to choose a successor. What would have happened if the Mongols had completed their conquest? They would have controlled most of the continent of Asia and Europe as well. World history may have changed on this one event.

In 1066, William of Normandy invaded England and won the Battle of Hastings. The infusion of Norman blood with the native Saxons created a new race that established the British Empire throughout the world, and encoded democratic principles in all of its colonies. The American Constitution was based on these principles.

Led by a young British MP named William Wilberforce, the Slavery Abolition Act or Emancipation Act of 1833 led to the legal abolishment of slavery throughout the British empire, and eventually throughout the world. This was an important step toward equality for all races and cultures.

The signing of the American Constitution and the Bill of Rights created a document that led to the establishment of a country that affected the entire history of the twentieth century.

Obviously there are many other events as well. Were these events merely coincidence, or were they part of some grand divine plan? Is there really such a thing as “historical forces” that guide human evolution?

Here is a more concrete example. I have been reading an interesting historical fiction book about the French Revolution, titled Master at Arms, by Rafael Sabatini. In it he describes the attempt in 1793 by the Comte de Puisaye and French emigres in England, with English help, to reestablish the king of France and the monarchy, during the Reign of Terror. The narrative is a sympathetic portrait of Puisaye, who is determined not to allow the sanscoulottes to further (in his estimation) damage France, and an indictment of Colonel d’Hervilly, the leader of the French emigres, who is portrayed as supercilious and incompetent. The story shows how d’Hervilly, with no battle experience, intrigued to place himself at the head of the combined Royalist forces, and destroyed the Royalists’ effort almost single-handedly.

Here is how Sabatini narrates it:

At Portsmouth [England] a fleet under Sir John Warren was rapidly fitting out, and the supply ships were loading the materiel, which comprised 24,000 muskets, clothing and footgear for 60,000 men, and a vast store of food and ammunition. Puisaye might flatter himself that all this was the miracle wrought by his energy, vision, and intelligence, and persuasive powers. His satisfaction, however, was darkened by the jealousies and intrigues that seldom fail to poison any Gallic enterprise. At every step these came to create obstacles for him and to add to the difficulties inseparable from so Herculean  labor as his. The vain and pompous d’Hervilly perceived here his chance to magnify himself. Endowed with few talents save the talent of intrigue, and endowed with this one to excess, he so shrewdly exercised it as to obtain, despite the fact that he held only a colonel’s rank, the chief command of the actual emigre contingents. In view of the support he had won, the four generals commanding the four brigades made no protest beyond relinquishing their commands, since it was impossible that they should serve under a man of inferior rank. Of those nobles who had raised the other regiments, La Chatre, Dresneay, and Hector adopted the same course. Nor did it end there. Every colonel in the service retired rather than submit to one whose rank was not superior to their own, with the result that the regiments were left under the command of lieutenant-colonels, who were not of the same authority over either officers or men.

The story goes on to show how the arrogant d’Hervilly, at every turn, almost single-handedly ruined the chances of the Royalists, and how the Royalists’ own arrogance and contempt for the Chouans – the peasant Bretton guerilla army who would do most of the fighting – lost the battle before it ever began.

All of Sabatini’s stories are engaging, and I found myself (as the author intended) getting very angry at d’Hervilly and the other Royalist officers as their laziness, incompetence, and hauteur toward their troops ruined the effort of Puisaye and thousands of his loyal followers.

This story got me thinking: Why are there antisocial persons like d’Hervilly in the world? Are people like d’Hervilly part of some historical force that is placed to alter history? When I say antisocial I don’t mean people who lack life experience or intelligence, but those who consciously work to destroy those around them. We’ve all met at least one in our lives.

If we look for a metaphysical explanation we might find an answer, because it doesn’t seem that Spirit would ever create a useless person, despite Henry Kissingers’s categorization of the elderly as “useless eaters.”  The great masters and spiritual leaders have always told us that each person is a valuable and divine aspect of a higher consciousness, and that from Spirit’s POV, all incarnated beings are of equal importance.

While I was contemplating the deviousness of d’Hervilly, I was shown a ... vision, I’d suppose you’d call it.

The Vision

The One consciousness, of which we are but physical aspects, divides itself into “good guys” and “bad guys” in order to play a game. To the good guys – those who are aware of Spirit – the actions of the bad guys are despicable, as they destroy families, groups, and causes. But from the viewpoint of Spirit, perhaps, the bad guys are necessary, and in fact, sometimes play important roles. Men like d”Hervilly are sometimes in place to break up movements that do not lead to an evolution toward the light.

The mission of the Royalists after the French Revolution was to reestablish the old, rigid caste system whereby the aristocrats lived in splendor on the backs of the other 99% of the population. Thus d’Hervilly (according to the vision) was there to ensure that Puisaye’s reestablishment of the monarchy failed. The “bad guys” were actually the good guys, from Spirit’s POV. I was also shown that in order to play the part of “bad guy,” a being must by definition have minimal awareness of self and the dynamics of life, and must be selfishly self-centered. How else could a divine aspect of the Creator perform such a role? It would be a defilement of their own integrity.

From this POV, to perform the role of “bad guy” is an immense sacrifice and a sacred duty. Consider the being (the vision said) who incarnated as d’Hervilly, just before he entered the body. He is going through his life mission and is being shown the potentials of what might happen in his life. The potentials exist for the Revolution and the breakup of a stifling caste system that has no potential for evolvement toward the light, and the inevitable attempt to reestablish it. The being known as d’Hervilly says, “All right, if the potentials are manifested I will intrigue and destroy the movement to reestablish my group, becoming a traitor to it and ensuring that I am reviled.”

Now that’s an unenviable life assignment! That would be a heavy assignment even for an old soul, but a very important one that appears on the surface to be of the dark, but is actually working for the light Thus the saying, “Things are not always as they seem.”

In Master at Arms, another dilemma is presented. The Vicomtesse Ballenger, herself a Royalist and the wife of the second in command, falls in love with General Hoche of the enemy Republican army, surreptitiously sending him the Royalist battle plans. She is regarded by the Royalists, after their defeat, as a traitor and a harlot. However, we know that love is the Om, the fundamental vibration of the universe.

Is it possible for love to act falsely? Can love cause evil actions? As I contemplated this I realized that love might cause one to change course; and to a political faction, or someone with a cause, such an action might be regarded as a betrayal. But the fundamental intention of love is always to uplift and support. Love, it seems, is an emotion that transcends the duality.

The next vision I was given was the earth, the human race, as a gigantic circuit board. I was told, “The resistors in the circuit board diminish and stop the flow of electricity to certain areas. These are the bad guys. They are necessary in order to redirect the flow of energy in a different direction, like a dam that redirects water for irrigation.”

“Are the resistors evil because they do not allow a free flow of energy?” I was asked. “All of the components are necessary for proper functioning of the electronic device. Without the resistors there would be chaos.” As with all of these visions from Spirit I have had over the decades, it came with complete, 100% certainty and a completely loving, positive feeling.

A part of me says that this is absurd, because antisocial people like d’Hervilly maim and kill and torture without mercy, and seemingly at random. There cannot be an enlightened purpose for activities like this. I simply don’t believe that all of these “bad guys” are necessary. But of course I don’t see the whole picture.

Consequences

Interestingly, the defeat of the Royalists paved the way for the dictator and militarist Napoleon, who further shook up French society. After Napoleon was finally defeated in 1815, the Bourbons were restored to the throne, with the brother of executed King Louis XVI becoming King Louis XVIII. On the surface it appeared that nothing had changed – but appearances can be deceiving! The old France – the rigid France where the supremacy of the aristocracy was unquestioned, by all social strata – was dead forever. This was, I was told, an advance because it allowed a little more light to penetrate into the planet.

In a previous vision I saw the purpose for both world wars in the 20th century, which was  the opening of communication lines, and greater understanding, between cultures and nations of the world. The two world wars allowed a LOT more light to penetrate through the veil. My reaction to this was shock and anger. “You are telling me that 40 million people were killed in WW II and 20 million in WW I just for that?” The answer was, “Every single being was shown the potentials before they incarnated, and agreed to it.” Oh really, I said. You are saying that 60 million people had to suffer just so that more light could come into the planet? And what about all the other wars in the 20th century? The answer I got was a feeling of incredible love and understanding. “YES,” was the reply.

Again, I think this explanation is not only absurd but contemptible. However, Spirit never argues with me. When I become too intellectual or too angry I just get a big smile and a hug and no more explanations (probably because my vibe becomes incompatible with the higher vibrations of Spirit).

When something like this happens to you it simply overpowers you with love and total certainty that everything is perfect, and that the world is evolving exactly as it should. It completely negates my intellect, knocks out all arguments, and I experience literally 100% certainty that everything is perfect. I can’t explain it rationally because it makes no sense intellectually. It isn’t FACTUAL! But the reality of the communication from Spirit is so powerful it cannot be denied, even though, when it’s over, my humanness DOES deny it. That is the curse of being me – with increased self awareness comes greater perception, both of the good and the bad. As I grow in self awareness I can see more of the bad and where it is coming from. Sometimes it’s terrifying. And, frankly, I no longer believe in the necessity for suffering: it seems evil and pointless. But again, I am just an average Joe with no claim to any superior understanding of life or people.

I think that the visions come to remind me that Spirit does exist, that all of us are playing an incredible, amazing, magnificent game here on earth, and that death is completely illusory. Part of that game is that the vast majority of us remain clueless (“the veil”). Sometimes life on earth makes little sense to me. I know that in our non-physical state we are perfect and filled with joy and love, so why do we need a physical universe where there is so much suffering? The answer always comes back, that not one of us down here would miss this for all the gold in the world.

My father always used to say to me, “Kenny, what if the answer to everything is that there is no answer?” I think my father was very wise, because the older I get the less I know. Maybe there is no answer, maybe there is no Theory of Everything, except that the world is perfect, that all of us are perfect, and that these lives we lead have incredible purpose, even if  many of us don’t know what that purpose is.

The Elephant and the Fly

Here is a humorous story told by my friend Khurshid Ali, who lives in Germany.

One day an elephant was searching for a way to cross a swollen river and discovered a sturdy bridge. Just then a fly alighted on his back. “Dear elephant,” the fly said, “Would you carry me on your back across the water? My wing is broken and I can barely fly.”

The elephant said, “Sure.”

Just as the elephant was about to take the first step, the fly said, “I am very worried about this bridge. Our combined weight may collapse it.”

The elephant smiled and began to walk.

“Look out for that loose board!” the fly advised as the elephant took his first steps, but the elephant, unperturbed, kept going.

“Do you see that rock up ahead?” the fly said anxiously. “Don’t trip on it!”

The elephant did not reply, but kept going very calmly.

In a similar fashion the elephant and the fly successfully negotiated the bridge, the fly pointing out obstacles for the elephant to avoid. After they reached the other side the fly said, “Whew! That was a harrowing journey! But with my help we made it.”

The elephant flopped his ears in amusement.

The fly pulled out his business card and said, “If you ever need any more advice, my number is on the card.”

“Thank you,” the elephant said gravely, trying not to laugh.

In the story, the fly represents the ego and the elephant represents life.

I thought this story hilarious because that is just how my own ego works.