Divine Approach

2012: Divine Approach to Open in Jacksonville, Florida

Posted on January 22, 2012 by Frank

We are now moving along our path as we begin to create a center in Jacksonville, Florida from which we hope to provide the resources to help those journeying along their spiritual path or searching for one.

It is hoped that our center will attract those in the community at various evolutionary stages who desire to expand their awareness, and are willing to keep an open mind. We will also help those further along their path may desire to provide service to our brothers and sisters through their compassion and love.

We hope to provide a synergistic environment within which the individuals can expand their inner and outer awareness.

There is so much on the internet to read to help you expand your awareness, in fact there is so much that many get overwhelmed and give up. We will provide tools to help you navigate through the labyrinth and keep track of where you have been and where you are going.

It is a paradox that we are at the same time all the same and all different. Our center will accommodate all travelers along their path. Choosing no path is choosing a path.

Our journey will lead us through our minds, our aspirations, our feelings, our soul, and our spirit, as well as our daily life. We will help you integrate all these aspects in a unified whole. We will seek to provide books, artifacts, symbols, journals, art supplies, and other tools to help you express your spiritual, philosophical, or religious souls. Whether it be through meditation or instruction or participation we will help you along your way.

There is so much more we want to share, please check back. In the coming months we will list our location, hours and services. Thank you for your encouraging thoughts.

Posted in Uncategorized | Leave a comment

Who is Rudolf Steiner?

Posted on March 27, 2011 by Frank

I introduced Torkom Saraydarian and showed a sample of his work. Torkom also was a gifted musician and produced many CDs. I also wrote that there are many other spiritual teachers who are not well known and may be apparently ahead of their time.

There lived another man by the name of Rudolf Steiner. He lived Austria, Germany, and Switzerland from 1861 to 1925. When I first read his books I was immediately impressed with his understanding of both the physical and spiritual worlds. In addition to the vast knowledge his way with words moved me.

He certainly can expand our mental rings beyond belief. He will show us where our rings are too constricted. Thinking is our link with the spiritual world so we need to expand our thinking – expand our rings.

Whether we are philosophers, scientists, artists, teachers, or students he adds insights and new perspectives to our craft. I cannot begin to provide a complete description of this man.

There is a website www.rsarchives.org that contains information about him and much more. Many of his books are and lectures are accessible as well.

Here are a few statements about him found on the site (in italics).

RUDOLF STEINER, philosopher, scientist and educator, (1861–1925), has achieved world-wide fame as the originator of the Science of the Spirit known as Anthroposophy, and as a pioneer of genius in a variety of fields of learning.

“Steiner’s gift to the world was a moral and meditative way to objective vision, a way appropriate to the psychological and physiological constitution of Western man. If accepted in the spirit of humility, altruism and truthfulness in which it was given, it could bridge the existing cleft between a man’s religious conviction and his intellect and will. It could add comprehension to our existing knowledge and thus revive the vision without which our generation will hardly find the solution to its problems.”

Franz Winkler, M.D., Man the Bridge between Two Worlds.

In Rudolf Steiner-An Introduction to His Life and Thought
By Olin D. Wannamaker

The death of this Austrian thinker in the Swiss countryside near Basel, in March 1925, brought to an end a career of intense and varied intellectual and spiritual activities whose vital influence on contemporary culture was already manifest and seems obviously destined to permanent and profound significance. When a single individual, after spending years in the comprehensive study of philosophy and the sciences as well as literature and the arts, after having produced a number of volumes of a penetrating philosophical character and deeply spiritual import, applies his thought effectually to the creation of a new type of architecture, a new therapy engaging the active interest of numbers of highly trained medical men, radically new conceptions and methods in agriculture, fundamentally new and challenging ideas regarding the social order, and a school numbering a thousand pupils based upon an entirely novel departure from current pedagogy and attracting widespread favorable interest, such a person must embody unique human traits.

These tangible manifestations of the genius of Rudolf Steiner in the spheres of medicine, art, education, agriculture, and the social order become the more impressive when we trace them back to the soil out of which they grew — to his deeply spiritual philosophy. To state the elements of that philosophy at the beginning of this sketch seems almost to contradict the spirit of its originator; for Rudolf Steiner did not assume the role of a philosopher and a teacher of other men until he had reached the age of forty years and had brought to full maturity processes of thought which can be traced back all the way to his childhood. Nevertheless, it will clarify our conception of the man and will add to the interest of this brief sketch of his life and illuminate it in retrospect if we do here summarize briefly the fundamentals of his conception of the world and of man. Whatever may seem startling in this bald analysis of his thought will in turn be clarified when placed in its proper setting, which can be done only as we trace the genesis and evolution of his whole system of ideas.

Some of us may have heard about Waldorf schools which were based on the educational philosophy of Rudolf Steiner. He even wrote a book on bees that was fascinating and not at all what I expected. I have yet to meet anybody with his wealth of wisdom.

For those of us who are believers in Christ he takes it to the next level. Most of us have a mere historical knowledge of Jesus of Nazareth and know the rest from our own understanding of the bible. There are likely a lot of questions we have that have yet to be answered to our satisfaction. There is so much more to learn about his life and death that will immensely to our inner being.

Rudolf Steiner’s created the term Anthroposophy (An-thro-pos-o-phy). Here is Wikipedia defines the term.:

Anthroposophy, a philosophy founded by Rudolf Steiner, postulates the existence of an objective, intellectually comprehensible spiritual world accessible to direct experience through inner development. More specifically, it aims to develop faculties of perceptive imagination, inspiration and intuition through cultivating a form of thinking independent of sensory experience,[1][2] and to present the results thus derived in a manner subject to rational verification.

In its investigations of the spiritual world, anthroposophy aims to attain the precision and clarity of natural science’s investigations of the physical world.[1] Anthroposophy brings the spiritual traditions of central Europe – including transcendental idealist philosophy – into a modern context,[3] though its historical roots lie partly in Theosophy.

Anthroposophical ideas have been applied practically in many areas including Steiner/Waldorf education, special education (most prominently the Camphill Movement), biodynamic agriculture, anthroposophical medicine, ethical banking and the arts.[1][4][5][6] The Anthroposophical Society has its international center at the Goetheanum in Dornach, Switzerland.

I have been to the Goetheanum in Switzerland. Its architecture is amazing and the artwork and auditorium were spiritually moving.

We will see that he has studied the spiritual world using the same methods as a biologist studies plants. The difference is he studies aspects that can not be verified with our five senses. He was able to see these other worlds directly, but wanted to understand what he was seeing.

We must read his books with a completely open mind. He often stresses that he does not want us to believe it as fact. but just to allow it into our minds and let the powers of thought work on it for a while. It is only our own limitations that will allow it in. Our higher selves will help us decide its validity.

Olin D. Wannamaker used these words:

The open-minded reader, hospitable even to the most unexpected visitors from other minds, may at least be willing to entertain these ideas as transient guests until they shall either have established their right of residence or proven their incompatibility with the rest of his inner world of thought.

He also added:

It is important, however, not to make the radical mistake at this point of adjudging this first single element in the analysis of his world-conception and then accepting or rejecting the whole fabric according as we may react at this stage. Let us take what we may call, if we so choose, Rudolf Steiner’s postulates, though he would never have called them by a name implying purely logical and inferential reasoning, and simply let them lie in our minds like seed in the soil. If, when all these germinal ideas are planted within the mind, we do not discover that there is a vitality in them, that they spring into life and growth, then we cannot do otherwise than go our own way without any help from them. To reject one of the ideas before we have hospitably entertained them all together is to render impossible any reasonable consideration of a world-conception which, to many thoughtful persons, is proving to be in extraordinary measure stimulating and satisfying, and also capable of producing concrete results in varied fields of application.

I am amazed how such a man can be so unknown. He seems to have all the answers that we are seeking. We know that science is reaching its limits, but scientists are not equipped to know where to go next. We know religion in its current state has reached its limits. We continue to question. Thinking is our nature and is in our nature.

One final quote confirms my amazement.

“That the academic world has managed to dismiss Steiner’s works as inconsequential and irrelevant, is one of the intellectual wonders of the twentieth century. Anyone who is willing to study those vast works with an open mind (let us say, a hundred of his titles) will find himself faced with one of the greatest thinkers of all time, whose grasp of the modern sciences is equaled only by his profound learning in the ancient ones.”

Russell W. Davenport, The Dignity of Man.

We will see what he has to say about our make-up as body, soul, and spirit. We will learn much that will help us see our path more clearly. We will learn how to use our minds more completely. Remember we take in the impressions of the physical world through our senses and we also take in impressions from the spiritual world through our intuitions. When we learn to about these two worlds as well as the soul world we will have a firm foundation upon which we can base our future studies.

I could speak about Rudolf Steiner and his books for years and still barely scratch the surface. I will stop here for today.

Posted in Anthroposophy | Tagged Rudolf Steiner, Spiritual Science | Leave a comment

Clear Thinking for the New Age

Posted on March 21, 2011 by Frank

I would like to welcome those who have recently found Divine Approach. We began at the beginning of this year and hope to continue for many years to come. We plan to open our Divine Approach center in Jacksonville, Florida in the near future. Read about our vision in the About section of our website. We will keep you posted on our progress.

A lot is happening in the world right now that could make us fearful or angry if we do not have a solid foundation which can withstand the changes in the external (physical) world around us. We are forced to begin rethinking our view of the world. Events which at one time seemed virtually impossible are happening. Who thought countries would go bankrupt? Who could imagine that tsunamis and earthquakes could be so devastating? What if gas were $10 a gallon? What if we lost all of our possessions? How would we react? Would our foundation be shaken? Would we become angry or fearful? How will this affect our thinking?

We can control only how we act upon the physical world and how we react to the physical world around us. The physical world makes itself known to us through our senses. We see colors, hear sounds, and feel substances and by them become connected with the physical world.

We also have spiritual world around us in addition to physical world. However we can not become acquainted with this world through our five senses, rather through our intuition. In order for intuition to be understood we must have a clear mind. While it is full of a lot of noise it cannot be heard let alone understood. In order for us to rethink our view of the ever changing world we must have clear minds and clear thinking.

Torkom Saraydarian states in the chapter titled Clear Thinking in his book Education as Transformation Part II – Basic Education: (Note quotes from his book are in italics. My comments are interspersed and are not in italics.)

The success, prosperity, and spiritual achievement of any person rests on his clear thinking. If one does not have clear thinking, he will not be a successful person because he will contradict himself, create inner conflicts and confusion, and involve himself in time-wasting activities and problems. Even if he inherits money or other possessions, without clear thinking he will use them in such a way that he will increase his problems and waste all that he has.

Clear thinking also leads you toward spiritual progress because it shows you the most essential in your life which you should follow. Clearness of mind can be understood through the analogies of clear water, clear air, and clear windows and mirrors. Clear water does not have contamination, mud, or agitation in it. Clear air has great visibility. A clear window does not obscure your vision. A clear mirror reflects your face exactly.

Thinking is the act of using your mind to solve problems, to find better ways to carry out your spiritual perfection, and to make yourself happy, healthy, intelligent, creative, and noble. Thinking must be balanced by two factors – the ability to solve problems and the ability to find new ways for spiritual perfection. These are two factors that keep the activities of the mind in balance.

I like the analogies he uses.

Clear water does not have contamination, mud, or agitation in it. Contamination is in the water itself. Mud is something added to the water. Agitation is the act of moving the waters creating waves and therefore the reflections off of the water are not clear.

Clear air has great visibility. As we know the higher we go the clearer the air gets and the farther we can see. If we are in smog we can not see clearly.

A clear window does not obscure your vision. If our windows are tinted we will not see the world clearly.

A clear mirror reflects your face exactly. This means we have the ability to see something as it is. We do not think clearly if we our thinking does not reflect the outer world accurately.

Torkom further goes on to describe the various states of mind through which we go through as we evolve our minds. Let’s see if any sound familiar to us.

Confused mind.
This is a state in which your mind has no goal, no direction, and no discernment. Confusion is also a state of mind in which things appear to you differently than what they exactly are. Your chaotic thoughts obscure your vision. A confused mind does not have certainty, a center of control, principles, or standards.

When we are not centered we do not have a place to gather and organize our thoughts. Thoughts pop in and out of mind at random. We see no cause and effect relationships and all that happens to us appears as random events.

Conflicting mind
Such a mind is always split. It fights against itself. A person with a conflicting mind decides something, and the next moment he changes his decision or promise; he never fulfills his promise. He believes something, then denies it. This is a mind that assembles and disassembles. His personality is split, or his personality and soul are fighting against each other. In this stage, the awakening soul is trying to bring the personality in line and is creating conflict on the mental field.

Our minds can help us attain our desires, but they also allow intuition to enter which can cause conflicts in our mind. We know we should not do something, but we do it any ways.

Slave mind
When the mind is controlled by the blind urges and drives of the physical body, by the glamors and desires of the emotional body, and the illusions, vanity, separatism, and ego of the mental body, the mind turns into a slave and exists only to satisfy the wishes of the body, emotions, and lower mind. For example, your body wants sex, drugs, and alcohol. The slave mind says “Yes, sir, I will try to find a way to serve your wishes.

When your mind is a slave, even its knowledge does not help you reject the impositions of the lower bodies. This is why we say that it is not knowledge that helps your spiritual progress but your transformation and beingness.

When you discipline your personality and gain control of your lower bodies, you can experience true freedom. After gaining freedom, your lower vehicles serve your spiritual goals. Only a free mind can develop control over itself.

This does not just apply to sex, drugs, and alcohol. This could happen with coffee, food, video games, or gambling. Any addiction that is materially based will cause pain after death when it can no longer be satisfied. We don’t want our lives to be defined by our addictions.

Preconditioned or prejudiced mind
Some minds work under the influence of post hypnotic suggestions. They are preconditioned. A prejudiced mind is a mind that cannot open, unfold, and expand. There are limiting walls around it. This causes the mind not to see the important and essential facts in life and to lose opportunities for cooperation and expansion.

It is interesting to know that the human mind can be preconditioned in the fields of politics, education, philosophy, arts, sciences, religion, and economics. Preconditioned minds are always hindrances in their own field because they do not let their particular field expand and grow. Any time a mind is prejudiced or preconditioned, it becomes a dangerous mind and stands against human welfare.

This is one we don’t often realize. I often used the term “rings” to represent our various thoughts or groups of thoughts and our desires. We should strive to keep these rings as open as possible for as long as possible. When we our rings are forced to be limited to what our science or religion or philosophy permits we are prejudiced. We can increase our understanding by allowing other information to enter our minds. We don’t have to believe it, but by not allowing it in we are not thinking clearly.

Fanatical mind
This is a state which continues for many years. Or sometimes – if it connected to religion for many lives, until the accumulating shocks of disappointments crack the walls of fanaticism and shed light into the mind. Sometimes when a fanatic’s mind is opened, it goes to extremes, and the fanatic denies all that he had worshipped and becomes a slave of his pleasures. If a fanatic is caught at the right time by a wise person, he can be led gradually out of his shell and into new values.

This seems to be an extreme case of the preconditioned or prejudiced mind. This does seem to be tied to religion including the atheists.

Striving mind
A striving mind tries to find new ways to solve his own problems and expand his horizons. He tries to make his existence beautiful, intelligent, healthy, prosperous, and creative. A striving mind is an awakening mind. He tries to eliminate all that was built in the past as hindrances on that path of perfection. The patterns of various habits are attacked and the vision is seen. A call is heard, and action is taken to meet the call.

These are the first signs of striving:
• The person begins to search and ask. He tries to discover the causes of his limitations
• He searches for wisdom
• He tries to discipline his nature
• He tries to cultivate virtues
• He tries to come in contact with centers of light

This appears to be the opposite of a prejudiced mind. We strive to expand our rings and remove any limitations we may have already placed on them.

Clear mind
After striving comes clarity, but this is a gradual process. It takes sometimes a long time – years or lives – to achieve clarity of mind, but once it is achieved, you are almost one with the “mind which is in Christ,” the clear mind that sees things exactly as they are. A clear mind has direction, a clear goal, and a clear plan to reach that goal.

This appears to be the opposite of a confused mind. The Christ represents the highest in us in many ways. Be careful of limiting our Christ “ring.” This is a good example of a ring we may have limited. Do we think it is associated merely with the bible thumpers, or with the fanatical Jesus freaks? This is one ring we want to make as big as possible. However big our Christ ring is we should double it right now. It will be worth it.

Creative mind
After your mind achieves a state of clarity, it becomes a creative force in the Universe. You create all those art forms that make people healthier, more beautiful, more successful, more righteous, and freer.

The real artist does not entertain you and please your animal instincts by presenting violence and crimes, but through his art he evokes the divine and creative forces from you and challenges you to transcend your level of beingness.

When our mind is clear we are able to communicate with our higher self. We can better express our higher aspect in our art, music, and in every other aspect of life.

Enlightened mind
The enlightened mind is a mind that cooperates with the creative forces in Nature, having a deep understanding about the Purpose and the Plan of the One Who created all that exists. A person who has an enlightened mind can clearly see himself as he is and what he is going to be.

This may seem a bit confusing. After expressing our higher selves through our creative mind we are then able to see that it is not our will which will be done, but a higher will with a higher purpose than ours is working through us and around us. The sooner we realize this the fewer troubles we will create in our lives.

So here we see a small glimpse of where we are heading. So we might ask how clear thinking can be achieved. Here are 16 suggestions offered by Torkom.

1. Try to think from cause and effect and from effect to cause. Say to your mind, “If you think this way, what may happen to me, to my family, my nation, to humanity, and to Nature?” If the effect is not constructive or beneficial, think how you can eliminate or stop the cause.

In terms of our rings we should learn how they relate to each other. Which rings are caused by other rings.

2. Try to think in the interest of the greater whole: your family, nation, humanity, Nature. Use your thinking power to bring good changes and new visions for these units. Your thinking may seem right to you, but you may not have checked it from the viewpoint of the family, the group, the nation, and Nature. In relating your thinking to these greater wholes, you see the exact value of your thoughts.

This is an example of enlarging our rings. Think not just of our own personal desires and interests, but of ever expanding groups of people. By focusing on ourselves too much we are certainly limiting our rings are not able to think clearly.

3. Try to think not only for your physical body but also for your emotions, mind, and soul. You do things that make your physical body happy, but emotionally or mentally you feel painful, or you feel spiritually ashamed and humiliated. Your actions must make your complete being happy and healthy because you are a unit and your thinking must not be partial. Clear thinking has no partiality and does not create cleavages in your whole being.

We are made up not only of our physical body , but also a soul body full of desires, feelings, and sympathies and antipathies, and a spiritual body made up of thoughts, intuitions, and higher aspects. When we focus only on one of these aspects we are not thinking clearly either.

4. Try to think not only for your personal interests but also for your future interests, for the interest of your future lives. For a few days you enjoy things you do, but what about the coming years? How will your actions affect your whole life, or even your future lives Future lives are as real as your future weeks, future months, or future years. You must consider how to be healthy, happy, and creative in future years and lives.

This one is difficult. We prefer instant to delayed gratification. Why be good? Why tell the truth? Where is the payback? We need to take a higher perspective to understand that the payback is in being able to express our higher aspects. We know we feel better when we do what is right.

5. Never think within the boundaries of your habits, prejudices, superstitions, vanity, and ego. If your thinking is controlled by your habits, you will not learn how to think clearly. If your thinking is run by your ego, you will never achieve clear thinking. If your thinking is run by your prejudices, superstitions, and vanity clear thinking will be an unachievable dream for you and you will always be a slave to your habits, prejudices, superstitions, vanity, and ego. This is how a person loses his self.

We have discussed much of this already. Vanity though is when we limit our rings because to enlarge them appears as an affront to our ego. We would have to admit we were wrong to limit our ring. We should not be afraid to tear old rings down and build newer bigger rings.

6. Do not let your thinking be controlled by fear, hatred, jealousy, anger, revenge, greed, and hurt feelings. If you cannot think free of those factors, your thinking will be controlled by them and you will involve yourself with more and more problems and waste your time, money, energy, and health. Clear thinking is only possible when you stand above these seven factors. Most of our wrong decisions and actions are taken under the influence of these seven factors. This is why the world has so many problems in spite of so much knowledge and luxury. People feel happy when they think inspired by their habits, fears, jealousies, anger, revenge, greed, and hurt feelings…but they don’t realize that they are like airline passengers who are eating, drinking, and enjoying themselves when the plane is just about to crash. Some people think that hatred, fear, jealousy, anger, revenge, greed, and hurt feelings are stimulants to our thinking. It is true that they stimulate our thinking, but they lead us in the wrong direction; and sometimes they lead us to destroy whatever we have built or to lose whatever we have gained in the past.

This is pretty complete in itself. Not much more need be said.

7. Before you think, for a moment visualize a joyful or pleasant experience. Joy is a form of light, and it puts your mind in a condition where you think more clearly. Joy enlightens the process of your thinking. Most destructive actions, reactions, and responses are done by unhappy people. Happiness, joy, and bliss make you a constructive force in life. When one is in an unhappy frame of mind, his thoughts run in reverse gears and he seasonally the failure factors, instead of the factors that will lead him to success. A happy mind is a grateful, harmless, controlled, and creative mind. Before you think and make decisions, first feel happy.

This is probably something we would think intuitively but not really thought about. Just by where we are at the moment when we make a decision affects the decision. If we had a bad day at work and our child asks for some candy we are more likely to deny their request..

8. Do not let your racial, national, traditional, or religious background interfere with your clear and righteous thinking. Clear thinking can be can be carried on only at a certain psychologically high altitude. You must free and raise your consciousness above many limitations if you want to think clearly.

We have been taught many things in our life, many of which we tend to believe blindly because we learned it from our parents, priests, and society. As we get older we must realize how much this impact has had in limiting our rings.

9. Never try to deceive yourself or others with your thoughts. If your mind runs in the gears of self-deception, you will never be able to think clearly. Self-deception creates those hindrances which make your thinking contradictory to your own highest good. Self-deception is like covering your inner light with layers and layers of blankets and leading yourself into darkness.

Once we insert deceptions and lies into our rings we create a mess. We know this, but we justify it for many reasons. When truth cannot enter because it conflicts with our lies we create lies into we can see how it is a hindrance to our clear thinking.

10. Never try to fabricate and falsify facts. But people ask, how can you succeed without falsifying and fabricating? Is it possible to save your skin in this world without fabricating and falsifying facts? This is a tragedy. We are taught that it is impossible to be successful with honesty. But the life of the planet is proof that fabrications and falsifications bring success for only a short time while they bring problems, suffering, and loss for the rest of our lives. Can you catch yourself in a moment in which you are just beginning to falsify and fabricate things? If you can find such a moment in your life, you have already initiated yourself onto the path of health, happiness, and success. If you continue to increase such moments in your life, you will soon enter the superhuiman path.

It is freedom after we live in the truth. Remember to live life as if our thoughts and feelings are transparent and can be seen by all. It is by no means easy but that should be a sign of whether we are on the right path.

11. Never decide to take actions or make decisions under the pleasure of flattery, bribery, and showing off, Disobedience of such a rule can be disastrous. People try to bribe you with money, positions, sex, and many other means. Actually, those who flatter or bribe you are those who are using your brain to think through. When you show off, the controlling powers in your mind and those for whom you are showing off. Animals cannot make themselves human because they have no thinking as we do, but man can make himself lower than an animal though the power of his wrong and unclear thinking.

We may not always realize that while we are under such an influence our thinking is severely limited. We can see how this creates the conflicting mind as well.

12. Before you think, ask that the light of your Soul, or the light of Christ or the light of God guide you in your thinking. You will see that when you cultivate clear thinking, you will be exact , true, and factual in your conversation and you will clearly see how people voluntarily mislead themselves through unclear thinking

This is where we need to learn to be quiet and listen to our inner voice. It is able to penetrate a calm clear mind. We must not allow any extraneous thoughts from entering our mind.

13. Check your thoughts by the light of your heart. The heart is not a center of pity but a center which is in harmony with the Cosmic Heart. If your heart says so, obey it. But do not confuse your heart with your desires, glamors, and wishes.

This is a distinction which we must understand. Our desires, glamors, and wishes are not our heart. Heart is higher mind. We can usually tell the difference between the truths that are known in our heart and those that our known in our mind.

14. Let your thoughts be in harmony with the principles of Beauty, Goodness, Righteousness, Joy, and Freedom. If your thoughts do not agree with these five principles, your thoughts are out of order and you are in danger of losing your path.

This one is my favorite. It’s hard to justify thinking about thoughts that do not agree with these principles. Remember a confused mind did not have any principles. These are five principles to consider as part of our foundation.

15. Before you think or make decisions, for a few minutes keep total silence. Silence will help you focus your mind in the clear light.

Why is this so difficult? Many people feel so uncomfortable in silence either among people or within their own life. We prefer to be distracted in life to avoid being alone with our thoughts. Silence helps still our minds and keep our thinking clear.

16. Learn how to meditate. Continuous meditation eventually makes you a free and clear thinker

Meditation allows our minds to be completely open and communication between our higher and lower minds is formed.

We should strive to think a little more clearly every day. It is not easy, but we gain access to our spiritual self by doing do. And when this occurs we have a connection with our higher self and a firm foundation from which to center our consciousness.

In the coming weeks we shall discuss more about the various aspects of our make up. We are composed of spirit, soul, and body. Make sure to have our rings open. We will surely be introducing new ideas and concepts to your current Spirit, Soul, and Body rings. Make sure they are allowed to grow. Stay tuned.

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged Mental inventory, Thought forms, Torkom Saraydarian | Leave a comment

Seven Characteristics of a Spiritual Person

Posted on March 9, 2011 by Frank

In the last post we introduced Torkom Saraydarian and one of his many books titled

Education as Transformation Volume I Individual and Cosmos.

Today we will focus on Chapter 2 – The Seven Characteristics of a Spiritual Person.

We recommend reading this book if we are serious about learning more about our spiritual nature.

We provide some excerpts below (in italics) and sometimes some comments in between from me. We should learn to observe how we feel and react while reading them. Does it create hope or despair? Does it seem to promote unity or separateness? Does it resonate with our reasoning, logic, or intuition? Does it make us realize how we create our own limitations in how we choose to view and understand the world around and within us?

Spirituality is related to our beingness and actualization, not to our knowledge. We can belong to any religion, church, group, and fulfill our religious duties, but not be a spiritual person. Spirituality is the practical demonstration of certain characteristics which appear in our life.

The key is that we not only to think about spirituality (knowledge), but need to be spiritual and live spiritually.

A spiritual person is a very normal person. He does not need to use artificial makeup to appear spiritual. We feel and see his spirituality in his manners, in his relationships, and in his solemnity and simplicity. He does not try to impose his image on others by praying in the market place or showing others that he is fasting or helping others. His life has no artificiality, but, rather a radiation of inner richness. He does not stand on the street corner and preach, or knock on doors to bring a “divine message” to people. But wherever he goes he radiates the fragrance of wisdom and beauty.

First it should be understood that words like he and him can be replaced with she and her if preferred without changing the meaning.

It is likely we all know people who fit both types described. With which would we prefer to associate? It is likely that we intuitively sense the difference.

The spiritual person is a very balanced person. He is in harmony with both spiritual and human values; with Higher World and the world of human affairs.

Spirituality is a natural tendency of the human soul to aspire toward perfection, beauty, and light. Spirituality is right relationship with Higher Worlds and higher principles. Spirituality is the blossoming of the seed of the human spirit.

To be spiritual means to grow toward light, beauty, and wisdom.

These words likely resonate with our intuition, but not so much with our reasoning and logic. We will get more out of it after our reasoning abilities expand some more.

Torkom states that a spiritual person has seven characteristics. Before reading on stop and think about how we would characterize a spiritual person. It may be harder than we think as this may be the first time we try to bring out what was more a less an intuitive concept.

1. A spiritual person demonstrates continuous striving toward perfection, and perseverance and stability in his own Dharma.

Dharma is the field of action chosen by your Soul. Once you find it, be steady and stable in it. Some people jump like rabbits from one field to another, with many logical excuses to justify their lack of perseverance and stability.

A spiritual person is a person who always, everywhere and in everything tries to be perfect. In all his thinking, speech, and actions he tries to be accurate, precise, clear, and perfect. This applies to everything he does.

In some ways we never reach perfection and in other ways we are already perfect. The important part is the striving, not the outcome. Dharma is a term like Karma. Karma is associated more with the results of our past lives while Dharma is associated with our present life.

2. A spiritual person has a wholehearted dedication to his labor, without counting hours and days, without holding various expectations in his heart, and without giving up in front of difficulties.

Some of us know we must work eight hours, and still watch the clock as if we were in prison waiting to be freed in eight hours. Labor reaches perfection only when time is forgotten and expectation about the labor no longer exists.

When time and expectations control our actions, we become the slaves of time and reward, and the labor cannot reach perfection – which means we cannot perfect our selves.

Dedication and commitment are two powerful forces which either destroy any obstacle or make the obstacle assist the labor. A spiritual person progresses in spite of difficulties. Difficulties nourish our soul and make us invincible.

Most of us do not associate our labor more from a material perspective than a spiritual perspective. We have a lot to learn about ourselves by the way we do our work, regardless of the task.

3. A spiritual person lives by his conscience, in the light of the teaching, and in the presence of the Hierarchy.

If our conscience is not active, no matter how many Bibles are read we will be the same sneaky people.

Most of us have an active conscience, but it often is overpowered with our thoughts and feelings which have different goals.

The Hierarchy is formed by all those liberated Souls who anxiously watch the members of humanity and try to inspire them with Beauty, Goodness, Righteousness, Joy, and Freedom. To live in the light of the Hierarchy means to think, speak, and act as if thousands of eyes are watching us. If we do we will at least hesitate to lie, cheat, or use malice, slander, and gossip as our weapons. We will withdraw from any plan to harm or hurt people. We will be more dedicated in our labor, and we will to try to live a life that will be pleasant in the eyes of the Great Ones.

4. The spiritual person has an inclusive and expanding approach to all issues of life. This means we are broad minded and tolerant and that we look at all issues of life from many viewpoints. We have no religious, dogmatic, traditional, ideological, racial, and national barriers in his mind. We respect the freedom of religion and the rights of people who are trying to perfect themselves in their own ways.

While these barriers were once an important aspect of our spiritual evolution they are no longer necessary and if we do not transcend these barriers we will be going against the tide of evolution.

We do not jump to hasty and narrow conclusions, but wait until all the evidence is accumulated and analyzed. We do not judge by the measures given to us by our traditions and education, but uses various measures to understand the issues.

The bigger our rings become the more we realize how small they once were. This should make us realize our rings will be viewed as small when look back in the future. Whenever we come across new ideas and perspectives we create new rings with which we will give form to. We need to make them as big as possible at first. Then we begin to accumulate facts and begin to analyze the facts without jumping to conclusions. This is one way we shrink our rings. We should remain open to the truth wherever it leads us.

The spiritual person can belong to any race, tradition, religion, or ideology, but he has a deep understanding of the race, traditions, religion, and ideologies of others. This is because he does not live as a separate human being but as a soul who can identify with all human beings.

All only appears as separate and is actually different aspects of a single unity. The sooner we realize this the easier it will be to proceed along our Path.

It is not our religion that leads us to God; it is our spirituality that takes us to God.

This may cause a variety of reactions. It may seem to not make logical sense to us if we equate spirituality with religion. It may trigger a reaction if we believe that our particular religion is the only path that leads to God. We should avoid using these terms interchangeably.

5. A spiritual person carries out of all his activities, speech, and thoughts in the sphere of the three major laws: the Law of Cause and Effect, the Law of Reincarnation, and the Laws of Syntheses, Attractions, and Economy.

These laws apply to the emotional, mental and higher planes just as the laws of physics or chemistry apply on the physical plane. We will discuss them again in the future.

Remember all that you are and all that happens to you are fruits of our thoughts, words, and actions. We decide our future life conditions by the way we lived our life in the past.

This is the essence of the Law of Cause and Effect.

We economize time, matter, energy, and space. We attract currents of Beauty, Goodness, Righteousness, Joy, and Freedom. We see unity in diversity. We see the one goal in many diversities. We can collect unrelated objects and build a mechanism. We have the power to unify and synthesize.

Can we see how the other laws are summed up in this statement?

6. The spiritual person lives in the realization that he is an immortal spiritual being, charged with the power of unlimited creativity.

We are not attached to the changes in life and to material values at the expense of higher values. Success and failure do not determine our course of action, or our dedication to the service of humanity.

For a mortal being, the only purpose of life is to enjoy life, no matter whether our behavior hurts other people or not. The awareness of immortality gives us the sense of balance, fearlessness, detachment, strength, and courage. All great works are done by those who are not attached to their shells.

7. The spiritual person is aware that his victory is measure by the joy he has in his heart.

What is the joy that fills the heart of the spiritual person, whether we are in storms or sunshine, whether we are beaten or victorious, whether we are healthy or sick? That joy springs from the memories in our heart that we did our best to serve, uplift, transform, and encourage pilgrims on the Path. It is the joy of sharing our love and wisdom. It is the joy of daringness and striving in spite of conditions.

A spiritual person is a normal and up-to-date person. He is not a fanatic or showoff. His spirituality is not artificial, and he does not need to advertise it. His spirituality is known to others by the way he lives, creates, and relates to life in general.

A spiritual person stands against darkness and tries to dispel it with our light. A spiritual person is always enlightened by the light of compassion, without losing our measure of righteousness.

Does this not shed some light on our Path and serve as an inspiration to continue striving?

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged Spirituality, Torkom Saraydarian | 1 Comment

It’s a Pleasure to Introduce You to Torkom Saraydarian

Posted on March 7, 2011 by Frank

As our lives unfold we are introduced to various authors along the way. After we read their books we thank whoever introduced us to them, if possible. I have been introduced to several and among them is Torkom Saraydarian. I am almost certain his is not a name most of us would recognize. If we are serious about transforming our lives Torkom’s work is an excellent place to begin.

First a bit about Torkom: an excellent example of a spiritual person.

Torkom Saraydarian (1917-1997) dedicated his entire life to the service of his fellow man. His writings and lectures show his total devotion to the higher principles, values, and laws that are present in all world religions and philosophies. These works represent a synthesis of the best and most beautiful in the sacred culture of the world. His works enrich the foundational thinking on which man can construct his Future.

Torkom Saraydarian was an extraordinary human being. He was known worldwide as a renowned scholar of comparative religions. He was a great teacher, writer, lecturer, and composer of sacred music. His works represent a synthesis of the best and most beautiful in the sacred culture of the world by creating a truly universal approach to spirituality. These works enrich the foundational thinking on which we can construct our future of true global living.

The remarkable achievement in his writings was to synthesize and make comprehensible the huge body of knowledge known as the Ageless Wisdom. At the age of nine, Torkom began to receive education in the Ageless Wisdom under the guidance of his father. At that time, people did not discuss these things in the open, but would disappear to attend meetings – in caves, under the stars – where they would hold ceremonies and dramatizations to reveal the mysteries of the subtle worlds. This early training kindled Torkom’s inner questioning and yearning for truth. He entered a monastery at the age of eighteen.

In 1959 he left Jordan to come to the U.S.A. with his family. He saw people in danger of losing themselves; in need of direction, of guidance. In response to this need, he began inviting them into his home in Van Nuys, California to study and to learn how to lead themselves into more productive, healthy, right living via the principles of the Ageless Wisdom. This was the inception of The Aquarian Educational Group. For the first ten years, he taught classes and lectured in a one-room garage – to “hippies,” doctors, lawyers, philosophers – without a salary except for the small donations left by students. He took in strangers who came to him in crises and helped them to gain real independence. He asked for nothing in return. Despite his total dedication, compassion, and sacrificial nature, he was not “soft” with people. His “straight words” and honesty, grounded in clear observation, were given freely.

Torkom Saraydarian’s books are grounded in the seven principles of Right Living: Beauty, Goodness, Righteousness, Joy, Freedom, Striving, and Sacrificial Service. These seven principles are richly colored threads woven throughout all of his works, and they are the vehicle through which one’s inner divinity can bloom.

“We are an international group in which everyone can take part because it is the principles that give life -
not religions.”
“We didn’t build a religion. We didn’t build hatred between people. We emphasized great principles and these great principles worked.” (From The AEG 35th Anniversary lecture, 7/21/96)

Through the practice of these principles and others, Torkom taught people how to be successful, to have a good self-image, to have healthy, happy relationships; how to be cooperative, to have a life’s purpose, to be more creative; how to be healthy, joyful, responsible, and loving:

“‘Love each other’ is nothing. ‘Love each other’ is now obsolete. ‘Love others more than yourself’ is the new commandment!” (From Healing Through Love, lecture by Torkom, 1/13/93)

Torkom Saraydarian’s books are unlike any others you will ever read. They probe all aspects of our world, both personal and public, showing us the inner spiritual workings and how we can tap the energies around us, both to help ourselves and others. What makes Torkom’s books unique is that he does not feed us the lines we want to hear; he tells us the truth and then helps us navigate down this difficult path. A truly rare find in today’s world!

Among his books is the first of a two volume set titled:

Education as Transformation – Volume I Individual and Cosmos
Let’s just focus on the table of contents at first.

Table of Contents

Part I Foundation
1. The Foundation of Education
2. Seven Characteristics of a Spiritual Person
3. Education in the New Age
4. How to Help People Through Your Absence
5. Meditation and Education
6. Chakras
7. The Mysteries of the Moon
8. The Emotional Nature
9. Equilibrium
10. Equalization
11. Evolution
12. Contentment and Integrity
13. Karma
14. Labor
15. Light and Dark Sparks
16. The Light that Shines Within Us
17. Polarity in Thought
18. Psychic Energy
19. Punctuality
20. Purification
21. Purity of Body
22. The Law of Magnetic Rapport
23. Renunciation
24. How to Develop Right Relations
25. Solemnity
26. Thanksgiving
27. Planetary School of Life

Part II Questions
28. The Mechanics of Questioning
29. The Value of Questioning
30. Kinds of Questions
31. Questioning and the Inner Source
32. Self-questioning
33. Sensitivity
34. Questions on Teen Education

Notice there are two parts: Foundation and Questions. How would we define these terms? What would we consider to be our Foundation? How do view Questions? What value do we place on our ability to question? What kinds of questions do we ask? We can learn a lot about ourselves by the questions we ask.

As we read through the list we should be aware of our reactions to the various terms as we read them? How well do we understand the definitions of many of these terms? Many would admit we do not know what many of the words mean. But we may feel more certain that we know what some of the terms mean.

It is more likely that our own definitions of many of the words are too vague. Take the term “contentment” for example. We may equate it with the term “satisfaction.” However there is a big difference between these two terms. So take a minute to think about the difference between these two terms. Then read on to see how Torkom defines and describes these terms.

Here are some of the ideas Torkom gives in the above mentioned book (in italics) regarding the difference between contentment and satisfaction.

Satisfaction is a physical, emotional, and mental saturation beyond which we do not strive. We feel happy with what we are and with what we have.

Note the term saturation. Like a sponge that is so full of water that it cannot hold any more. We are happy with the water we have.

Contentment is the feeling of fullness physically, emotionally, and mentally, with deep spiritual gratitude, and with a strong spirit of striving to expand ourselves and to hold more light, love, energy, beauty and goodness.

Satisfaction has no striving. It escapes any labor if it feels its happiness is threatened. Contentment is not conditioned by outer conditions and circumstances. The content person can joyfully involve himself in hard labor, pain, and suffering and feel greater spiritual contentment. Contentment is accompanied always with gratitude for the opportunity to serve, to suffer, and to labor.

Satisfaction is based on outer conditions. Contentment is based on an inner flow of joy as a response to acts of sacrifice and lofty thoughts.

The inner flow is not influenced by outer conditions.

Contentment is possible when all our vehicles are aligned and integrated and the electricity of joy passes through them in harmony and rhythm.

We should align our thoughts, feelings, and actions with the inner flow of joy in order to become harmonized.

Contentment comes into existence when we put into our labor all we that we are, when all of our being cooperates with what we do, feel, speak, and think.

All the objects of our desires must be shared by our whole nature in order to bring contentment.

We may now see how vague our definitions can be.

We may feel more certain we know what “Punctuality.” We would be surprised to learn how limited our definition actually is. There are many ways to be punctual that do not involve being on time for appointments. Other words we may have heard, but not given much thought to defining them (like Karma).

Try to guess what each of these chapters might be about. We can learn a lot about the limitations of our own measures of many of these topics. Hopefully we will realize this book can help us overcome our limitations and open us up to new and higher thoughts.

What could the “Mysteries of the Moon” possibly or “Planetary School of Life” contain? They may even scare us away if we are closed minds. We should be open-minded until we have accumulated and analyzed the available information.

Part II is about Questioning. It is likely we give little thought to our ability to question things. We fail to realize how important questioning is in our lives. A few excerpts below are about the differences between religious people and spiritual people. One may be religious, but not spiritual. Another may be spiritual, but not religious. Others may be both spiritual and religious, leaving the rest to be neither spiritual nor religious.

There are millions of religious people in the world, but there are a few spiritual people. To be religious does not necessarily mean to be spiritual. There is a tremendous difference between religious people and spiritual people.

Most religious people are satisfied. They feel that they are already saved, that they are already sitting in the lap of God, that they already have wings to fly, and that they do not need anything.

To be spiritual means to always be progressive in your life. We cannot remain who we are. We must always be progressive – spiritually, mentally, emotionally, and physically, in our business, in our home, and in our relationships, in everything we do, even in writing a letter. If there is improvement there is progress. Only spiritual people can progress.

A spiritual person questions things that are given to him from the scriptures not because he wants to refuse them or ridicule them but because we want to know if they are facts, realities, figments of imagination, or fairy tales.

The questions of a spiritual person are different from the questions of a religious person.

A spiritual person has no preconceived, accepted stories. He is free to reject or accept anything to his reason, logic, and Intuition.

A religious person has already accepted all that the “book” has said to him. So for him it is blasphemy to ask any questions, whether the stories told him were true or fabrications. But in the meantime he does not reject the beliefs of other people, as long as their beliefs help them improve their own or others’ lives.

A spiritual person feels free to ask questions, and his intention is to find the truth – real, factual, objective truth.

We shall also get more into the benefits of questioning and some other chapters from this book in the future.

If we can’t wait the book is available. Even if we can wait this book is worth the investment of time and money.

We at Divine Approach will introduce more of these less known authors whose books focus on our complete nature, especially our spiritual nature. Their books will expand our consciousness and bring much enlightenment to our lives. We only recommend authors whose books we have actually read. There are certainly many other authors of which we are not currently aware. We will refrain from recommending any of them until we have read at least one of their books.

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged Spirituality, Torkom Saraydarian | 1 Comment

First Day of the Rest of Your Spiritual Life

Posted on March 1, 2011 by Frank

Many of us are realizing we live more than one life. We have our external life where we earn our living, raise our families, and focus on earthly desires. We also have our internal spiritual life where we focus on building our character, expanding our consciousness, and getting in touch with our higher self.

We strive to merge these two together. Little by little we bring these two lives closer and closer hoping to eventually merge them into one integrated life fully expressing our spiritual nature. This is a natural process as we tend to focus more on our spiritual life as we get older. If we only compared the percentage of time we focused on our spiritual life to the percentage of time we spent focused on our material life we would be missing the point. Going to church on Sundays to be spiritual and then returning to our material world on Monday is not the goal. Our goal is also to increase the percentage of our material life that is infused with our spiritual life.

Little by little we try to curb certain aspects of our external life which do not serve our spiritual purpose. Remember we need a purpose, plan, and a way to manifest it in the outer world. We begin to increase more spiritually inspired activities.

We should try to get the purely materialistic desires out of our system as soon as possible. Don’t dawdle with them. Do it and be done with it. When we get them out of our system we can replace them with higher more purpose driven desires. It may be the case that many of our activities in the outer world still appear the same to an outside observer, however we notice our spiritual focus and purpose has been elevated. Eventually we will no longer be attracted to new activities.

We will reach a point in our lives when the pursuit of purely materialistic desires is no longer as satisfying as it once was. Buddha warned us.

We must be aware that our desires are reflected and manifest in the outer world as the people in our lives, the possessions we own, the food we eat, and the choices we make. As we elevate our desires our outer lives will reflect this change. Do not expect the change to occur immediately. Where we are at today did not happen immediately either. This is the first day of the rest of our spiritual life. We should be willing to wait for the more elevated the desires the more tempering is needed to produce such external changes. The wait makes us stronger and the ultimate results are certainly worth the wait.

We need to take a thorough inventory of our thoughts, our desires, our plans, and most importantly our purpose. What parts have we outgrown? What parts are mere distractions keeping us from pursuing anything meaningful? After we decide which parts we can discard we should stop and take a rest before hastily replacing them. Start to listen to what our higher self might desire. What might our purpose be? How might we better align our desires with what is best for all? How can we begin to get in touch with our spiritual nature?

The more we learn about our higher nature and latent powers within us the easier it will be to let go of many of our sensual desires. The better we know ourselves and our role in the human family and even in the universe the easier it will be to focus our energies, control out thoughts and feelings, and develop our latent powers.

At the same time we try to infuse more of our higher self into our external world – which includes our lower self. We do this by adding love to all that we do. We do this by taking the selfishness out of our motivations. We focus on what’s good for all of us not just a few of us. We look for the good in others regardless of their current limitations. We do our work to the best of our ability regardless how mundane the task.

If our work does not fulfill us spiritually we must begin to change our work. That is not always immediately possible, so we begin by learning from our past and begin to build our future. This process may take much longer than we hope and may take a different path than we expect. We start by understanding how we arrived to where we are today. How much was under our control, how much controlled by external forces, how much by the ignorance of youth. How much was determined by our own personal desires, how much by desires imposed on us by family, friends, country, or church?

How much may help us in our future? How much have we learned about what we no longer desire? What has changed and what has stayed the same? What have we learned about ourselves? What obstacles did we create, which did we overcome? Did we have inner conflicts between what our higher self aspired and what our lower self demanded? What would we do over? Why?

We should remember that nothing happens by accident. Maybe we reach our low point in the valley and our distaste for staying in this condition serves as a springboard to begin our ascent. Perhaps our life experiences have balanced some karmic debt and we are just now able to move forward and produce a future full of positive karma. While our lives may seem to be a path of unrelated events, it may be going according to the plan made by our higher self. We just can’t see it because we focus upon the negatives and view it from a purely external perspective.

There is something to be learned from every single experience of our life. We need to assimilate all we have learned and continue to put our knowledge into larger contexts. Notice how each day the choices we make and the way we view the world determines how our tomorrows will be. What we avoid today is still there tomorrow. We wake up each morning to our life exactly the way we left it.

By looking backwards we learn to look forwards. We realize we will again appear ignorant to our future self. What advice would we get? Our higher self is nothing but our future self when our higher self is fully expressed.

Change starts in the present, but we do not change merely for the sake of change. We must be more deliberate. We must discriminate and understand the relationship between our inner changes and the outer affects. Start slowly and learn to become more objective. Think of how clearly we see the causes and effects in the lives of others, or the strengths and the weaknesses in others, but not in our own lives or our own strengths and weaknesses.

We should be objective and honest. The truth will become more clear. We will begin to hear our higher self attempt to communicate with us. We need to get out of our own way to hear. We should tell our lower mind and feelings that they are to remain silent and listen before starting their incessant demands once again.

Imagine a world where we could not hide our true feelings, thoughts, and motives from each other. How different would we be? Would we not want to have each of them be as beautiful as possible?

Write down the future and our role in it. Use our imagination. Write down our spiritual purpose, our spiritual plan, and the material tools we can bring to manifest it. Imagination is a very important part of our evolution. If desire and imagine are strong enough the plan will be devised and the tools will be crafted to manifest it.

Have fun, think wisely, and be loving.

Posted in Uncategorized | Leave a comment

Another Astrological Perspective

Posted on February 16, 2011 by Frank

Astrology has been a part of my path since I was in high school and it has led me to many interesting books and organizations along the way. One is the Rosicrucian Order. I was intrigued with the term Rosicrucian. I felt like I knew what it meant, but I didn’t. Nobody else did either. But I kept my ring of mental images surrounding it wide open and learned more about them.

They are one of several similar organizations that seem to hide from us along our path until we are ready and then they appear. It always amazes me how that happens. We will introduce many of them over time and provide links to the websites if more information is desired.

Elman Bacher was a Rosicrucian who wrote a series of astrological articles before his passing in 1951. He is considered among the top esoteric astrologers. If we are going to learn we might as well learn from the best.

As the truth and value of astrology become more and more generally accepted, his articles will serve increasingly to help people know themselves and fulfill their highest destiny.

Google “Elman Bacher” and you will find them easily.

Let’s see what Mr. Bacher had to say about astrology in his introduction. Remember it is better to read a few introductions before reading entire books.(Click here for full text)

To the Rosicrucian student astrology is a phase of religion, basically a spiritual science. More than any other study it reveals man to himself. No other science is so sublime, so profound, and so all-embracing. It portrays the relation between God, the macrocosm, and man, the microcosm, showing them to be fundamentally one.

Occult science, investigating the subtler forces that impinge upon man, the Spirit, and his vehicles, has charted their effects with no less definiteness than has academic science the reactions of sea and soil, plant and animal to the solar and lunar rays.

With this knowledge we may determine the astrological pattern of each individual and know the relative strength and weakness of the various forces operating in each life. To the degree that we are in possession of such knowledge we can begin systematic, scientific character building–and character is destiny! We note times and seasons cosmically advantageous to unfolding undeveloped qualities, correcting faulty traits, and eliminating destructive propensities.

The divine science of astrology reveals the hidden causes at work in our lives. It counsels the adult in regard to vocation, the parent in the guidance of children, the teacher in management of pupils, the physician in diagnosing diseases, thus lending aid to each and all in whatever position they may find themselves.

No other subject within the range of human knowledge appears to hold for this day and age the possibilities open to astrologers for helping people to their own dignity as gods-in-the-making, to a greater grasp of universal law, and to a realization that we are eternally secure within the caressing fold of Infinite and Boundless Being.

“Occult” is one of those words which probably involves a “knee jerk reaction” or a “limiting ring” described in previous blogs. Occult means hidden or subtle – beyond normal sensory perception. The effects can be seen, but the force cannot – like gravity perhaps.

Watch our reaction to the word “Rosicrucian.” Since we may have never heard of it before it is a good example of how we form our various rings of images. Did we create a big ring or small ring to start? Did we create it with an open mind waiting until more information until we can begin to form our own concepts about it, or did we reluctantly create it with the intent of proving it unworthy to merit a ring in our mental world?

Which words in this introduction did we meet with antipathy (repelling force) and which with sympathy (attracting force)? These reactions are mostly subconscious. We have either been taught to do this without our conscious awareness of it or we instinctively feel it from our subconscious memory. This is an area of ourselves which requires our understanding.

What is our definition of the word “science?” Why would a study of our soul and spirit be any less scientific than the study of plants or animals?

Why would we not want a science that reveals man to himself? Isn’t this information that could help us express more of our spiritual nature.

Sir Francis Bacon, the father of empiricism and a Rosicrucian, popularized inductive methodologies for scientific inquiry (i.e. a scientist). He was quoted as saying:

If one will begin with certainties, one will end in doubts; however if one were content to begin with doubts, one will end in certainties

This is a scientist alluding to keeping open rings of doubt instead of closed rings of (apparent) certainty. We want knowledge that is allowed to grow – not made to fossilize.

Character is destiny! Two more words for which we have likely already created mental images. Probably important for our path development.

Gods-in-the-making. Do we view this as egotistic or empowering? We have many powers latent within us just waiting for expression. Learning how begins by understanding their existence.

Mr. Bacher comments on the “Accuracy of Astrology.” Just as in the introduction be aware of our reactions as we read it. Whether it rings true or not we can learn much about ourselves merely by watching our reactions. Try to view the parts as well as the whole.

Millions of words, both printed and verbal, have been used in argument as to whether or not astrology is “accurate” and “scientific.” The anti-astrology group (the non-students, the uninformed, the exoterically religious and mentally unadventurous) hold forth with arguments that serve, in the long run, only as disparaging reflections on the personal abilities of those who “read horoscopes.” They argue that, if astrology is scientifically accurate, it should be proved so by the perfect agreement of all astrologers on any given point of the subject. All such argument is spurious and a waste of time since it does not pertain to the basic essence of the subject at all.

(A brief pause to inquire of these “antis” if all Christians agree as to the meaning of their Teacher’s message; all musicians as to the “correct” interpretation of a Brahms symphony; all doctors as to the “right” treatment of infantile paralysis; all parents as to the “perfect” way of raising children.)

Every protagonist of astrology varies in ability to interpret a horoscope from every other astrologer. Each differs from his colleagues in “approach,” in ability to comprehend symbology, in exactitude of mathematical calculation, in ability to sense the dynamic essence of the horoscope, in ability to understand the psychological problems represented and their potentials for solution. This is the “human variant.”

Astrology is an exact science because: Every factor in a correctly calculated horoscope is a symbolic representation of an exact and impartial effect of a specific cause. It represents the cosmic and immutable law of cause and effect operating in the conditions and experiences of a human being on his progress of many incarnations.

Nothing in a correctly calculated horoscope is there by chance, accident, heredity, or whim of blind fate. Every planetary position and aspect is one factor of the subject’s soul body, one phase of his consciousness, one milestone on his spiritual path.

To the degree that the astrologer identifies his horoscopical findings with the law of “as ye sow, so shall ye reap” will he be able to synthesize correctly the chart in its entirety, will he be able to reduce past causes of present conditions, will he be able to determine the potential solutions of difficulties.

So how did we do? Where do we see ourselves as we read this? How much do with sympathize with the “antis?” Does it stem from our own conscious judgment, the judgment of others, or from our subconscious feelings and judgments? We begin to realize the difference between subconscious and conscious reaction. Open up our rings and let the light of truth shine through them.

We must learn when to get out of our own way.

Posted in Astrology | Tagged Astrology, Elman Bacher, Rosicrucian | 1 Comment

Why We Should Understand Astrology

Posted on February 5, 2011 by Frank

Among our many mental images we each have our own ‘ring’ full of the various images of Astrology. It could be a very small ring containing only an image of a conman trying to sell you something you refuse to buy. It may include references to religious rules about it, opinions of others regarding it, our, images of overly simplistic daily predictions in the newspaper, and many other scattered images.

We must get rid of many of these images that keep our astrology ring (image) small or even empty. Remember it is best to avoid closing any of our rings prematurely. It is our own world that we limit by doing so and we become the fools if we think that ‘believing in Astrology’ will prevent us from missing the ‘real true’ scientific explanations of the world we see around us or prevent us from a relationship with God somehow. Regardless of the level of our understanding of it astrology is as much, if not more, of a science than biology, chemistry, physics and the rest. And nothing prevents our relationship with God – not even our own limitations.

We shall sample some more of Alan Oken’s book Soul-Centered Astrology – A Key to Your Expanding Self. Again this is one of those books that will help us regain our footing as we seek the next steps along our Path.

There are libraries full of books, some written by fools and some by sages. If we have a mental affinity for the fools, we shall be made more foolish what they have written. If we begin to vibrate to the keynote of the sages, we shall increase our wisdom by their books.

The wise invariably recommend the reading of sacred books as a preparation for unfolding the latent powers of Spirit. This reading is an exercise of the powers of self-consciousness. These books contain generalizations from experience we all must learn.

The sum total of their teaching is the doctrine that the Life-Power is a limitless Unity which uses personal centers as vehicles for its self-expression. From the time we are able to accept the doctrine, from that time it begins to act as a suggestion to subconsciousness which will eventually liberate us from every form of bondage.

Mere acceptance of the doctrine however is not enough. We must restore the Creator to His throne in the heart of man, and overcome the illusion that humanity is the slave of a blind necessity whose roots are in the animal nature.

The mistake which enslaves us consists in getting cause and effect inverted in our consciousness. Causes are never external. Effects are never internal. Nothing that is outside can change your inner life no matter how much you may seem to be affected by what people say and do, by stellar influence, or by anything else in your environment as houses, trees, tables and chairs.

Astrology allows us to attune ourselves to the essential qualities of the energies embodied in the planets, signs, houses and other astrological factors.

Because of its flexibility, astrology engenders many levels of perception of the rhythms of the “celestial and terrestrial dancing partners” as they interface within the Being of the Life Force. It is important to note that such perceptions of the essential Life Force are totally relative to the level of our consciousness. This level of perceptive awareness expands or contracts according to our evolutionary path.

The relationship between cause and effect is at the very core of metaphysics and is the reason why, of all occult (hidden) sciences and methods of investigation, astrology is the most refined revealer of occult laws and principles.

Astrology allows us, on a social level, as a growing group of men and women to speak a common language of perception, no matter what the differences may be in personal life-style. Astrology is thus not a tool for the viewing of an increasingly unifying humanity, but a vehicle for the gathering of those people who seek to know and share what they have discovered. This approach, in terms of group endeavor and unanimity (not to be confused with uniformity) – is a major principle.

Astrology adds to the appreciation of the basic unifying principle of life. Thus we continue to discover both within the study of astrology itself, and without, in our daily life experiences. Astrology teaches that everything moves in cycles and circles.

As we begin to transition from focusing merely on the external aspects of ourselves and our lives we likely will begin to experience the following during along our Path:

• We are consistently seeking those methods of self-improvement which give us the feeling of greater wholeness.

• We are interested in methods and processes which serve to heal other people from addictive and negative behavior patterns.

• We are becoming increasingly aware of others outside of our immediate family and social circle.

• We are finding it often easier to relate to people connected to us through similar ideological or belief systems than through simple biological or other social ties.

• We are exhausted and undernourished (either emotionally or mentally) by those civic, social, or spiritual activities which at one time or another used to be enjoyable or at least tolerable, Now such activities represent a distinct drain on our vitality.

• We are finding ourselves increasingly more attracted to love, and less attracted by desire. At the very least, we are finding a distinct conflict between the two and are trying somehow to unite them, This is resulting in a reorientation of our sexual attitudes (it’s not just a symptom of growing older – wiser, maybe, but necessarily older).

• We are finding we are growing increasingly dispassionate, detached, and discriminating. Sometimes this makes you feel guilty, sometimes fearful of loss

• We are definitely searching (and even finding?) a greater purpose for the use of our life energies. Service is becoming a very important factor in our life, and the need to create a field of service through which we may express ourselves is becoming a very dominant theme in our life.

• We are seeing through and are clearly dissatisfied with the “game structure” of non-regenerative, egocentric habit patterns. We would like to have a clearer understanding of how to become more detached from those magnetic traps which block the proper use of our energy.

• We are sensing, perceiving and experiencing another aspect of Love in our life – one which has an impersonal and detached quality to it. It is very different from the more personal kind of love. It is unconditionally supportive, demands nothing in return, and may be experiences by you in a “nurturing presence” We find ourselves radiating it, and being drawn to others who also express this non-demanding quality of the heart. The attraction goes beyond all difference in gender, and in ethnic, religious, and social orientations.

• We feel a growing need to be part of a group of people who are working toward the same inward and outward goals.

• Perhaps most important we are finding that we are becoming increasingly impersonal to all things that are personal and becoming personal to all that is impersonal.

The hope of Divine Approach is to provide a safe environment for each of us to learn more about ourselves individually and collectively. Astrology is one of many areas of study which will provide valuable insights to help us better understand our make-up both physically and spiritually. Watch us grow, help us grow, and grow with us.

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged Alan Oken, Astrology, Desire inventory, Mental inventory | Leave a comment

Transitioning to the Age of Aquarius

Posted on January 27, 2011 by Frank

I have been reading a book called Soul-Centered Astrology – A Key to Your Expanding Self by Alan Oken. It is one of those books that seemed to jump off the shelf at me the other night. It is amazing how many times a particular book will present itself at the time it is most appreciated or needed.

I recommend this book for anybody who is interested in really knowing who you are astrologically, where we are on the path and where we need to go. Anybody familiar with the signs and planets will gain a much deeper understanding of their qualities. I would also recommend it to those who know little, if anything, about astrology, but are convinced we can learn more about ourselves from its study. But I would caution that there is a lot to learn and we can become overwhelmed. Just know we receive what we need when we are ready for it.

A few comments on selecting spiritually oriented books. There are many books on many topics written on many levels. How do we select one from the many? Start by focusing just on the forewords and the introductions at first. That is usually where the author and/or a colleague explains why the book was written and for what purpose. For most of us still struggling to find our next steps valuable insights will be gained and our consciousness will be expanded.

Many forewords will be so good we will want to read the book, but then lose steam when we have to assimilate too much information. By reading just a variety of forewords and introductions you will avoid being overwhelmed. Hopefully by reading enough you will see the similarities and differences and start to gravitate towards some and repel others.

After we are convinced that the benefits are worth the effort then we will be less likely to lose steam along the way. We must have patience. There is no miracle book that will work instantly with little effort. It is a lifelong journey that is more fulfilling than any goal anchored in the material plane.

Be careful to keep an open mind, watch any instinctual reactions. This is another way we learn about ourselves. You are just looking for now and making no commitments. We are making a conscious decision. We must begin to use our minds as that is our only link with the spiritual world.

Soul-Centered Astrology – A Key to Your Expanding Self by Alan Oken describes very eloquently the various levels each of us may be at along our journey both individually and collectively. This will help us know where we are and where we are trying to go.

He states that we are in a transition period to the Age of Aquarius from the Age of Pisces. Each age last about 2,160 years. So the thought forms that have been created during the Pisces Age over the past 2,000 years are quite well entrenched in our subconscious. No wonder it will not be an easy transition, but one that will have to be made.

The transition from the Piscean Age to the Aquarian Age and this is causing a lot of the apparent chaos around us. The old paths no longer seem to work in the new age. New paths are now needed to move us along our evolutionary journey.

The old paths were based on emotions and devotion sacrificing our individual ego to a group. The ”my God is better than your God”, or the “my cause is sanctioned by heaven and yours is not,” or the ”my religion is the only true faith” mentality will no longer work in the new age.

In the old age the group leaders were authoritarian and patriarchal in nature. They received their authority from the collective mass of blindly devoted individuals who consciously or unconsciously give away their non-individualized, non-Soul-realized willpower.

Devotion based on faith was the key to the old age while for the new age the identification of purpose based on revealed knowledge will be the theme. We will move from an emotional based orientation to one that is more mentally and intuitively anchored

In the new age groups will form which are composed of individuals freely and consciously associating with one another and no longer held together by separatist religious fervor. Emotional fervor will no longer be the “psychic glue” which binds people together into negatively polarized Piscean groups. Guilt, fear, greed, and racism of any sort will no longer be the instruments of group impulse, purpose, and identification

No longer will the group be a nameless mass of “planetoids” gathered around a “star.” Tomorrow’s group leader will be the group itself. Imagine a great galaxy of individualized stars revolving around a common center, collectively and willingly moving toward a common purpose, idea, and focus of service.

New age teachers will act more like brothers or sisters, rather than as fathers and mothers, seeking to guide a person toward an ever-increasing state of Self-Realization. He does not demand that you wear the same clothing, eat the same kind of food, have the same kind of sexual orientation, or act in any other way accentuates an externalized, separatist exclusivity.

The new age group will consist of individuals who are united through a subjective, inner orientation. Our particular disciplines and life-styles will be stimulated from within and not imposed from without by authoritarian figures claiming divine revelation.

One will no longer gain spiritual merit through sacrificing oneself on the altar of any person or organization claiming spiritual authority over others. Our present goal is to create healthy, spiritually realized integrated egos that allow for the merger with our higher self.

Cooperation not competition is a key thought. Group cooperation is fostered through love, meditation, sharing, silent awareness, and communication. Criticism, devotion and attachment to personal ideals, and the assertion of dominating personal preferences create obstacles to cooperation and foster competition.

We will need to move from uniformity to unanimity. Unanimity means being of one soul. Uniformity is being of one form.

That which was based on separatist dogmas of exclusivity will be replaced with spiritual insights into those underlying laws and principles of inclusive awareness.

One of the most important avenues of social experiment in the new age will be a unified focus of group purpose through which the individual may contribute and evolve. Group activities and the participation of the individual in collectively organized social structures will be on the increase. People will be searching for a more specific sense of belonging and a more intimate identification with a particular group or groups. This will require a great deal of self-definition so that the scope of their personal contribution and service to humanity may be consciously rendered.

It will be through the outer forms of social organization and aligned group purpose and endeavor that the inner, esoteric dynamics of the coming age will flourish.

It is apparent that an emphasis on individual responsibility for the direction of creative and spiritual paths is more important now than ever before.

It is completely with this new age in mind that Divine Approach was created. We hope it will become a group based on these principles. We want individuals who freely chose to be a part of a group of individuals who wish to understand themselves better, who wish to expand their consciousness and express more of their higher self through their lower self, and wish to help others.

For those of you who have already began living in the new age it may seem like you are on an island as most still seem to living in the old age. Divine Approach will be a safe haven where we can pursue our path without ridicule or contempt. We will provide some tools to help you along your path and let you know of other new age groups which may be of interest. There are many new age groups who get it and provide valuable information and help guide humanity into the new age.

We want to provide an opportunity for individuals to help humanity spiritually in their unique way. Whether you are an artist, a musician, an author, or a teacher, we want to let others know about you and how to reach you. We want to help students find teachers, artists find art lovers, and individuals find their appropriate groups. We are all trying to do the job that expresses our higher self.

Please let us know how you can help us or how we can help you as we move forward.

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged Age of Aquarius, Alan Oken, Soul-Centered Astrology | Leave a comment

Astrology Rings

Posted on January 18, 2011 by Frank

There was recent attention brought to Astrology this past week with the so called extra astrological sign. People believed their sign changed while others did not know what to make of it.

This is a good example of what happens when we know of things only on a superficial (surface) level. We are easily swayed by various opinions and misinformation. By knowing the inner aspects of something we get a more robust view. Spiritual principles form the basis of thought and everything that is manifested is an expression of these principles.

Principles such as life, will, desire, form, love, consciousness, and self are behind everything we see.

Astrology encompasses all of these principles as they are to be understood by human consciousness. The signs represent the various stages of an evolutionary cycle as we see later. Aries represents the beginning of the cycle and Pisces the end. The seasons are a beautiful manifestation of a cycle. Our years are based on the position of the Sun. It begins at the Vernal Equinox or first day of spring. We evolve through these years.

The Sun is also evolving through its years. It is equal to almost 26,000 of our years. It is called the Precession of the Equinox. Our Vernal Equinox point is moving in a big circle through space. Where this point is does not impact us directly, but it does impact the Sun. It coincided with the constellation Aries a few thousand years ago. It is now in the constellation Aquarius thus we are in the Age of Aquarius.

It is known in our personal astrology that the signs and planets rotate around the houses which are fixed. The houses would correspond with the Sun’s cycle around the “fixed” stars (constellations). The signs would correspond to our human cycle around our “orbiting” star (Sun). These usually cause some confusion.

Here is an interesting analogy – like a miniature version of the various movements that need to be considered.

One (1) Mercury Day is exactly two (2) Mercury Years during which time the planet has revolved on its own axis exactly three (3) times.

Think about that for a while. It will bring up and expand your mental image of a day, or a year, and a planetary rotation. I will illustrate this at a later time.

The key point is not to blindly believe whatever you read regarding astrology – especially if you have only a surface knowledge of it. There a many mental images created regarding astrology. I will use the symbol of a ring to represent a particular mental image. A surface level may be represented by a small ring. As the knowledge gets deeper the ring expands.

We strive to expand our rings and increase our understanding of an object or idea. If we do not yet have an understanding of a topic – especially astrology – it is better to keep your ring open until you do understand rather to close it up and refuse to allow it to grow. If something is not true it will become apparent when your understanding increases. There is no need close our rings out of arrogance or ignorance. This is very important to grasp. When they are open the truth can enter. When they are closed the truth can not shine through them. They may be filled during thought, subconsciously in dreams, and even between lives. Have you closed your reincarnation ring already?. Answers will be found all of your to questions. Questions are open rings waiting to be filled. Closed rings are not generally helpful. Open them and see the light shine through. Search for the truth and it will shine through.

Many people closed rings subconsciously and many with total self consciousness. Take inventory of your closed rings. Many may appear to be totally justified. Once again we are focusing on rings having to do with your spiritual path or spiritual nature. How many are open and how many are closed.

How open is your ring when it comes to astrology? What about our rings of Tarot, or numerology, or the Qabbalah. How closed are our rings of Buddhism, Hinduism, Judaism? If we are Christians must our Judaic or Buddhist or Hindu can we not keep our rings open as long as possible. We should learn that each of these various rings point to the same truth just through different filters. We create our own personal filters as well and these are the ones we should focus on.

So back to astrology rings. Rings seem appropriate symbols for imaging astrology. Here are some notes I took on the signs and planets. Planets represent our forces, intelligences, and powers. Signs represent the various aspects of our consciousness. We need to become aware of them individually as well as collectively.

Which ones have to do with mind? Which with desire? Which with decisions, with which actions? Which with spirit, soul, or body (what is the difference?)? Who is the ONE? Even pf your astrology ring is closed look at your rings (mental images) of the concepts being discussed. Do they exist in you? Which are already there? Which do we have to work on? Be honest with youirself for best results.

Aries
Spirit
Begins pre-manifested consciousness
WILL is prime cause of physical existence

Taurus
Matter
Manifestation of spirit in physical form through matter – the WILL actually takes its form in order to manifest and function on a physical level

Gemini
Bring Spirit and Matter – the Will and its vehicle into a definite spiritual relationship.
This is a final phase of pre-manifestation opens door into physical

Cancer
Birth of physically manifested consciousness
Spirit taking form
Soul uniting with its body
Necessary prerequisite for the development of individuality – the evolutionary process of this quadrant

Leo
Through the vehicle of self-consciousness the individual is ultimately brought into touch with his soul

Virgo
Physical perfected and self-aware individual becomes aware of his Higher Self
Consciousness now includes both aspects of his being as he shifts focus from physical to spiritual

Libra
Harmony and equilibrium of soul and body within the individual awareness of the ONE
Leads individual awareness of the ONE by providing the only basis from which he could achieve that awareness

Scorpio
Energies of the free and conscious will of the individual
Will is his vehicle as he grows in his knowledge of the ONE
Unconscious process is evolution
Individual choice is key factor in continued development

Sagittarius
Opens individual consciousness to aspirational vision of the ONE and the PLAN
Through decisions to forsake the physical realm for the spiritual his consciousness is expanded and the awareness now includes the spiritual reality of all that is

Capricorn
Begin individual’s actual integration into the ONE
Body now works under the control and guidance of the Soul while the Soul itself is subject to impulses of the ONE
Fused and perfected individual begins to assume proper place in PLAN

Aquarius
Full and total integration intpo the manifested whole
Through material union with all existence, the individual ultimately gain his final achievement
Spiritual at-one-ment with ALL THAT IS

Pisces
Bring individual to total spiritual at-one-ment with ALL THAT IS
Merged with ONE on spiritual level
Prepares to raise his consciousness to other non-physical levels of evolution

We will end with the planets. Keep your mind open. Look at the concepts themselves. You may already have a mental image of Mercury in our mind – we just don’t have name for it or we named it something else. Think of them as labels for now. Just don’t close your images of planets to mere objects in space.

Think of our own images. For example, what is our image of a “Physical-emotional tie to the material-level” is. This is what is referred to as Moon in the list below. We could have called it anything.

Sun – Our overall integrated personality – Qualities manifest on all levels of our being
Moon – Physical-emotional ties to the material level
Mercury – Conscious mind and its present perceptions of the physical world
Venus – Intuitive awareness of our soul
Mars – Physical activity and direction
Jupiter – Intuitive awareness of our soul’s relationship to the Soul of the ONE
Saturn – Concretized physical manifestation of our fused soul-body unit
Uranus – Conscious awareness of the relationship between our fused and manifested Self to all of manifested existence
Neptune – Intuitive awareness of the inherent spirituality of all
Pluto - Quality we rely on as we evolve through the use of our free will

Posted in Astrology | 2 Comments

Today’s Inspiration
Truth is the basis of Righteousness.
~Bhagawan Sri Sathya Sai Baba
Browse by Date
January 2012

M T W T F S S

« Mar

1

2 3 4 5 6 7 8

9 10 11 12 13 14 15

16 17 18 19 20 21 22

23 24 25 26 27 28 29

30 31
Tags
Age of Aquarius Alan Oken Astrology Desire inventory Desires Elman Bacher Evil Groups Mental images Mental inventory Rosicrucian Rudolf Steiner Rules Soul-Centered Astrology Spirituality Spiritual Science Thought forms Torkom Saraydarian
Sign in or Sign Up
Archives
More from Divine Approach

January 2012
M	T	W	T	F	S	S
« Mar
						1
2	3	4	5	6	7	8
9	10	11	12	13	14	15
16	17	18	19	20	21	22
23	24	25	26	27	28	29
30	31

Today’s Inspiration

Browse by Date

Tags

Sign in or Sign Up

Archives

More from Divine Approach