Why We Should Look to Them for Guidance
by Leatrice Evanne Asher
This earthly plane is where lessons that need to be learned by its inhabitants come into being. If adversities were received as such, they would be approached differently, not as something undeserved, not as another irksome event that we have to try and get through. If we are always recoiling from difficulties how can we know their true nature? It’s our resistance that makes our lessons grow formidable. Yet, once we allow whatever is trying to reach us, the opportunities for growth and for experiencing deeper, more profound levels of enjoyment, appreciation, relationship, and self-knowledge can be limitless. We can penetrate deep and mysterious regions of our being, regions we may not otherwise consider investigating.
Beneath physical and emotional disturbances lies another source of discomfort often difficult to name. Angst is a vague but deep-rooted feeling of dread or foreboding usually related to philosophical or metaphysical uncertainties, such as questions about death, and beyond; why we are here, and the purpose of it all. Although angst is experienced by many, it’s not easy to address because it’s a more generalized feeling of something being out of sync. But what is that something, and what is it out of sync with? Hopefully, wherever we turn for that understanding and solace, such as psychology or religion, will also include the broader sphere of Eternal Truths.
Eternal Truths represent the inherent, immortal, and supreme system of justice that is absolute, objective, and unbounded by time or place. We can be in accord with these Higher Laws, which are recognized and accepted in many Eastern sects and practices. We can perceive things as they are. When we feel stuck in painful situations and are struggling to return to equilibrium, willingness to look beyond our usual operating system, to that which is perpetual and abiding, can bring to light the reason for, and thus the knowing of, underlying feelings of uneasiness and apprehension.
This earthly dwelling place is a version of reality that is transitory. It is of time — the arising and falling away of nature matter. Whatever unsettles us will only find temporary relief if we continue to view what disturbs us from that transient reality. Through reasoned thinking, we can bring logic and clarity to our daily affairs. This is a knowing that can be accessed whenever correct information and guidance are needed. In this way, we take our troubles to the wisest and most judicious place we can look to for Truth — the place of Eternal Truths. Here, we can access knowledge about our human condition—our true nature, the origin of our lessons, and how and why the same type of situations continue to show up in our lives. We can make sense of things. Making sense of things is essential because we can’t change our habitual response to difficulties without acknowledgment of another way to turn them around. As the reasons for our lessons become apparent, the resolution of them will be there as well because making sense of things is a knowing that is transformative.
Karma, a Sanskrit word that refers to the universal principle of cause and effect, is one such Eternal Truth. If denial and all the other ways that we try to deal with pain are unsuccessful, the understanding of Karma and other universal realities can reshape our response, ease our perturbations. If you feel stuck, you can unstick yourself. That’s saying a lot, that we can partake of information that will set us on a different path, one that we can trust because we will have directly experienced its trustworthiness. Through these universal and absolute Truths, we can make comprehensible the lessons that are ours to learn. Lessons once learned can liberate us from pain, quell our disquietude, connect us to higher degrees of consciousness. Anyone can align with and apply the wisdom of these immortal principles to their life circumstances because these fundamental truths are constitutive to all existence.
Often, we are so immersed in the phenomena of the physical world that our perceptions don’t reach ultimate knowledge. If we want freedom from our conditioned responses so that we can begin to understand and resolve the many lessons that confront us in this, our schoolhouse, if we want greater joy and freedom in our lives; we can free ourselves. We can make fathomable that which may presently seem lofty, puzzling, or enigmatic. The ability to reason is a powerful conduit for accurate information to reach us. Once we come into the knowing and application of these Higher Laws they will become enduring, the place we intentionally turn for liberation from our heartaches. Our experiences will have made clear the interconnectedness between what arises in our life and the application of these Truths. The feeling of well-being and confidence that accompanies this understanding is palpable and important to acknowledge—we can return ourselves to equilibrium. We have the ability to self-govern.
At some point in a lifetime(s) pain and the desire to be pain-free will spur the urge to look beyond our usual field of inquiry. All earthly experiences, whether pleasurable or troublesome can be investigated from a larger vista—a system of laws and justice of a higher order where all is governed through rightness and reason. This is where presence is throughout, and Eternal Truths prevail. It’s where we can turn for clarity and certitude. Usually, we lodge in sensations of the conditioned body and psyche, crave their removal or continuance. The knowing of Eternal Truths can place us in the position of a conscious agent for change instead of someone who is just acted upon. When the desire for correct information is stalwart and unwavering, an opening is created for those Truths to reach us anywhere, at any time, in any circumstance because illumination is a wellspring within the province of our being.
Published: 11/2021 by The Edge Magazine, Community for Higher Consciousness
