What the human being is called towards is englightenment and not indictment!

We, the human species, referred to as Ashraf-ul-Makhluqat, or the crown of creation, are at a junction where we are free to make or break ourselves. Our worth as the best among creation comes from the trust that the Divine placed in us, leaving us free, believing in our inherent intelligence and judgment as an offshoot of the Divine Intellect, to lead us to the heights of all that is positive. When we study the term 'Hu-man Being' itself we understand that 'Hu' which stands for the Divine essence, and 'Man' which may be taken as a derivative of the Sanskrit Manas, the root of which means "to think," "to cogitate," "to reflect" - mental activity, in short, combine to give the meaning: The Divine Intellect or Reflection. Being gives it the quality of existence. In other words man or human-being is that which has given expression to the Divine Intellect. In this respect, the purpose of human existence is none other than providing a vessel for the channeling of this Light and lending a mode of reflection to it. If not in the heart of the lover, where would the Beloved see His Face? Mystical symbolism has shown the Real to be the Beloved, all of creation to be the lover's being, and the human being to be the heart of creation.

Looking at the world today, and the state of affairs of mankind, one is forced to question the raison-d'etre of one's being. Why do we exist? Among the endless goings and comings, between the entrance of life and the exit of death, amidst the countless toils and sufferings, battered by the blows of strife, deafened by the noise of discord, threatened by the fear of loss, weakened by the failing strength to hold, bruised by the vicissitudes of life, dizzied by the roller-coaster rides of emotional and psychological highs and lows, man is left bemused and benumbed at the apparent senselessness of his existence. This is not at all surprising from the ordinary stand-point that he/she has taken. The one standing at the base of a mountain would never know the beauty of the environs and so the one who wants to understand the sense behind existence cannot know it from the abjectness of his/her limitations. To understand wholeness we have to open ourselves to it. To know it we must scale the mountain of the Self.




The Path of Enlightenment is about recognizing, living and becoming the Light. It is to let the Light in and to enable its flow. This is why the human being was created. It was for the sake of the Divine Intellect to shine forth. We are all therefore, naturally, called towards it, whether we accept it or not. Indictment or incrimination is not the purpose of our lives. To believe that the Divine or Supreme Intelligence created us to merely judge and then punish or reward us, is a very simplistic notion of life to say the least. This is not merely simplistic but it can also prove to be misleading and ineffective in the pursuit of our true goal. What indicts or incriminates is the scattered and broken consciousness. Because it has become disconnected from its original source and has lost its continuity, it is prone to be hijacked and abused by the lower energies. This is the activity plane of the base or lower consciousness. The duality of existence is the major ruse of this level. When the focus is all on right and wrong and benefit and loss, then our identification with our actions and deeds becomes imperative. With this deed-identification, the ego thrives and congeals into individuated consciousness. Individuated consciousness seeks empowerment for the sake of survival. The result is a self-destructive fencing match played between shadow-selves that keep moving into the deepening darkness of ignorance and futility. It [self-consciousness] becomes self-destructive because its instruments for true realization atrophy, while the self engages in a meaningless shadow-play of its misdirected energies.

Some may evince surprise at the coupling of the words, Enlightenment and Indictment, but the objective is to startle one out of one's 'normal' understanding. It is just as fundamental and radical as it sounds. Our consciousness needs this basic shift for the planetary intelligence to rise to its full potential and to fulfill the purpose of its creation. Each soul is going through a process of purification so that it can be lifted up to meet the first cause that brought it into existence in order to fulfill its destiny. Whether a soul goes through this in awareness or in ignorance is the choice it has to make. The acuteness of suffering and pain is what comes as an envoy of awakening to man so that he/she can arise from the stupor of a futile existence. Those who heed the call and arise take conscious charge of their destinies, but the ones who remain heedless suffer the consequence of their own ignorance.

When we as human beings become fully conscious of the purpose of our existence and begin to realize it, then darkness itself will start receding and the light of illumination will fill up existence. When this happens then religion will never again be the cause for dispute but only an opening into the Real. All religions will manifest as different apertures into the one single wholeness of Reality.



By Naila Amat-un-Nur

March 2007