A Vision
My vision is not very original. In fact it’s been around for at least two thousand years. But it’s one I think is necessary to think about again and again, given the very material direction in which humanity is moving today.
Having the ability to envision the future is a good thing, even though it is usually limited to one’s personal life. It provides a sense of direction, an incentive to move from point A to point B. As the keynote of the sign of Sagittarius says: “I see the goal, I reach that goal and then I see another.” Without the capacity to envision, one would remain at a standstill. Fortunately the ability to envision is passed on to us by our Creator. It is our compass. Without it we would never find our way Home.
There are, perhaps, three basic conditions through which one can present a vision of the future:
1. that vision projected by an individual personality, which will likely be a reflection of his or her “wish-life”;
2. that vision as seen by the soul on its own level of existence, based on what it knows of the greater Plan of God;
3. that vision as seen by one who has achieved a high degree of fusion in consciousness between the personality and the soul. Such a vision will not likely have a personal element. It will be more universal in scope.
In all three cases, that which is envisioned will be conditioned by the relative clarity of the mind’s eye to see what needs to be accomplished in the world; what the next goal should be. One’s vision is conditioned by where one stands on the ladder of consciousness evolution. My vision, such as it is, is likewise conditioned by my spiritual and metaphysical studies which have placed me on a particular rung of the ladder.
Religious teachings state that the goal currently set before humanity is to bring the Kingdom of God into manifestation; or in metaphysical terms, the kingdom of souls. This seems to be the directive of our Creator. And the Law of Evolution (a cosmic Law) has brought us to a certain intelligent stage where the emergence of a new kingdom can happen here on the Earth. So the great spiritual task before us is to evolve in consciousness from where we are today (point A) to that more rarified quality of consciousness that will characterize a new species of human being (point B) in the future.
Such a being would be more a selfless soul than an individual self-centered personality. His or her consciousness would be an expression of wise, intelligent inclusive love whose main interest would be to raise up all imprisoned souls in the world to the extent that that is possible. Such a person would know full well that there is a greater scheme of things working out in the world, and that his or her own life plays a valuable part in that scheme.
This may seem like an impossible idealized vision, but these soul characteristics are already appearing. Witness the widespread humanitarian activities initiated by millions of people all over the world. This concern for the welfare of the less fortunate is the first attempts to raise them up. The soul impulse to redeem is getting through to the lower consciousness and awakening the human heart, even if, as yet, it is expressed mostly in physical and economic terms.
This vision of manifesting a new kingdom by a more rarified human being is probably thousands of years off before we reach a stage of critical mass. So this is a long-ranged vision. But it’s not too early to start thinking about how to arrive at such a goal. Obviously we need to start looking beyond the physical because the Self that exists in the non-physical world is also evolving, and its life and existence is far more important. So striving to create that rarified human being is not a matter of engineering a physical body that will live for two hundred or more years. Nothing could be worse for the soul than to be locked into such a body for such a long period of time. That could slow the evolution of consciousness to a crawl. What is needed of course is a definite recognition of the existence of the soul itself and the function it plays in this evolving system call Earth. In essence it is the cause of human evolution and not the result of this Law. The soul works with the Law to bring about a more perfect being. We need to look beyond the neurons of the brain if we are ever to explore the realm of consciousness and Life, the true realm and kingdom of the soul. This is not a new kingdom; it has always been here. It is not out in some fantasy heaven; it is right here on earth along with the other kingdoms—the human, the animal, the vegetable, the mineral, the deva kingdoms. We just have to be able and willing to see it; it lies within you.