by Dieter Duhm
This story reminds us of the training of the Samurai who is only capable of victory once he is able to not react to the blows of his opponents with fear or hatred. Here we encounter a basic rule of committed peace work: never react to an opponent with fear or hatred. Furthermore, never react to the general world situation with fear or hatred. With every occurrence of fear or hatred we lose power. A principle of successful peace and healing work consists of maintaining an inner state permanently free of fear and hatred. For this we need familiarity with higher consciousness.
Lao Tsu writes in the Tao Te Ching…
He who is skillful in managing the life entrusted to him for a time travels on the land without having to shun rhinoceros or tiger, and enters a host without having to avoid buff coat or sharp weapon. The rhinoceros finds no place in him into which to thrust its horn, nor the tiger a place in which to fix its claws, nor the weapon a place to admit its point. And for what reason? Because there is in him no place of death.2
What Lao Tsu claims here is utterly incredible. He says that there is an inner guidance that protects us from calamity. When we are holding the right frequency nothing will harm us. He who plunges down a waterfall and stays connected to his hara (see Glossary) will arrive at the bottom safely. This suggests that there is a frequency in which survival is guaranteed. Does it really exist?
I know it from my own experience. There is an inner operator, which in critical situations reminds us of a deeper knowledge or takes over the steering wheel when we are unable to find the corrective maneuver. Everyone has a so-called “guardian angel.” We can understand this as an aspect of our consciousness, which offers advice or drives action toward healing or salvation. The potentialities inherent within us seem to be unlimited. It is as if each of us has a kind of super-brain, which bestows upon us faculties far beyond our usual capabilities. Parapsychologists speak of psi abilities (see Glossary) in this context. No matter how we explain it, these abilities originate from a meta-world; a more comprehensive understanding would require thorough study of the functions and principles operative in the spiritual world. K.O. Schmidt, an expert in spiritual healing writes…
There is an omnipresent, omniscient, and omnipotent power within me. It knows what serves my well-being and how to achieve it. Originating in the divine, it becomes effective in my being, in my body, and even beyond in my environment, arranging and harmonizing, guiding, helping, and healing to the degree I remain open and receptive to its instruction and help.3
Are we really able to grasp the meaning of this statement?
This power exists objectively; it is the highest organ of human consciousness. With lightning speed, it sends saving impulses when we are in a hopeless situation. With lightning speed, Satprem could switch his consciousness in the face of assassins and they therefore could not harm him. With lightning speed, a higher power took over my steering wheel when my car spun out on an icy patch in the Harz Mountains and hurtled into oncoming traffic. We can give various names to this power. The “operator,” the “higher self,” the “super-brain,” the “supramental” (see Glossary), or simply “God.” What matters in this context is the acknowledgement of this power and to offer it much greater influence in our lives than we have given it so far. The presence and operative logic of this higher power should be studied in the universities of the new Earth.
Sri Aurobindo, the famous Indian yoga philosopher, worked on the revolutionary side in the Indian struggle for independence from the British and was about to be sentenced to death, alongside his brother. Briefly before the trial, Vasudeva (the Indian God) appeared to him and said…
Remember never to fear, never to hesitate. Remember that it is I who am doing this, not you nor any other. Therefore whatever clouds may come, whatever dangers and sufferings, whatever difficulties, whatever impossibilities, there is nothing impossible, nothing difficult. It is I who am doing this.4
Aurobindo was set free. His brother who had committed the same “crime” was executed.
Here we gain a first insight as to what this inner power could be. It refers to itself as “I” – it speaks about itself in the first person; it calls itself God. God (Vasudeva) tells the human being: I am this power, not you nor any other. But as this power is supposedly within the human being, as K.O. Schmidt claims, we need to recognize – in addition to the usual self – a higher self, which guides us as far as we are open to it. We are thus presented with a remarkable hypothesis which could characterize our existence in the approaching era: we “small” beings carry within ourselves the grand entity, that which we have formerly elevated above all things and called God. We carry within ourselves the abilities and potentials, which we had previously projected on an external creator! This mysterious subject of the world – the divine “I” – is ultimately us, once we have connected with our higher self. This could be the next steps on our journey through evolution, the inner journey from the egoic “I” to the universal or divine “I,” from private thinking to universal consciousness, from individual strength to universal force. The further the human being progresses on this journey, the more power he will gain over himself, his emotions, and his habits. He is on the way to regaining lost power.
It is the way of healing. It is the message of the new time. It is the big promise behind the small sentence: “let go and let God.” Whosoever is under such guidance need no longer worry, “for it is not you who speaks, but it is the Holy Spirit.”5 There is something carrying us when we cannot bring ourselves further, an intelligence beyond our own, a knowing that enters when we open the appropriate channels, as if suddenly the full hundred percent of our brain were activated (as opposed to the estimated ten percent of our usual usage.) Here a course in the spiritual evolution of humankind is revealed, the handing over of the direction of our lives to a higher intelligence, which is ultimately our “own.” The meaning and goal of humanity’s current transformation lies in this surrendering.
WORKS CITED
1. Satprem and F. De Towarnicki, My Burning Heart (New York, NY: Institute for Evolutionary Research, 1989). Back to reading
2. Lao Tzu, Tao Te Ching (Milano: Mondadori, 2001). Back to reading
3. Karl O. Schmidt, So Heilt Der Geist! Wesen U. Dynamik D. Geistigen Heilens (München: Drei-Eichen-Verlag, 1984). Back to reading
4. Makarand R. Paranjape, ed., The Penguin Sri Aurobindo Reader (New Delhi: Penguin, 1999). Back to reading
5. Mark 13:11, Holy Bible (New American Standard Bible). Back to reading
Chapter 8: The Sacred Matrix
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How is it that there has been a universal symbolic language which has repeated in all places throughout humanity’s cultural history? Why is it that the same basic mathematic pattern occurs in the genetic code and in the I Ching?1 Why have architects over the centuries attempted to design buildings according to sacred geometry (see Glossary)? It is because there is a pattern in the universe that shines through all that exists. The phenomenon of the analogy between the I Ching and the genetic code is a wonderful illustration of this. Both are expressions of a kind of “world formula” – the I Ching from the realm of mystery knowledge and the genetic code from the realm of molecular biology. The structures of both are mathematically almost identical; it is the same fundamental cosmic pattern in two disciplines that could not be more different!
The Sacred Matrix is the cosmic pattern, the morphogenetic field of the universe, which forms the basis for the organization of life. It steers the information and energies necessary for the evolution and maintenance of life. When the individual connects with this guidance, channels for healing open up. When humanity orients its Earthly existence, its social structures, energy systems, water and food systems in accordance with the Sacred Matrix, channels for global healing powers open up. The principle of global healing relies on the congruence of our actions with the direction of energy and order inherent in the Sacred Matrix. This congruence is encoded in the structure of cre
ation, for the Sacred Matrix is also inscribed in the genetic pattern of the human being, in the molecular structure of our DNA. It operates in our intrapersonal life as an original matrix (see Glossary) of love, and it operates our interpersonal lives as an original matrix of community. Healing occurs by activating the original matrix.
The original matrix of human community demands from us a new way of coexisting with the other members in the great family of life. It has to be a new form of “communism” or “socialism.” Historically these terms have been derided but their content is just beginning to gain meaning. This new socialism encompasses everything that belongs to the original matrix of community: the liberation of sexuality, the cooperation with nature, and the communication with cosmic entities. It is a task of our time to translate this original matrix into a new political language and to find forms of governance to coordinate the new cells of the global community without violence.
There is a genetic pattern steering our behavior. Through the mores of human society some aspects of this pattern (i.e. certain segments of the DNA) were activated and other aspects deactivated. The result is the collective orientation of a society toward a particular matrix of information. The peace workers of our time have the task to change this matrix and to develop information that is oriented toward the precepts of the Sacred Matrix. This shall not only happen symbolically (as in sacred geometry) but concretely and dynamically in the establishment of new societal systems. As soon as the new systems are compatible with the Sacred Matrix they will prevail worldwide, for all people are connected to this matrix.
WORKS CITED
1. Martin Maria Schönberger, The I Ching and the Genetic Code: The Hidden Key to Life (New York: ASI, 1979). Back to reading
Chapter 9: The Power of Christ
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Here we come to a difficult issue. The title of this chapter sits uneasily in the current zeitgeist. I want to describe something that takes place every time that two or more people are in a state of coherence or synergy with each other. This situation creates an opening through which a healing power enters that dissolves old hostilities and fears. When I witness this effect I cannot think of other words; I call it the “power of Christ.” In our healing work we experienced the disappearance of digestive disorders, abdominal inflammations and acute eczemas when this power enters. There are many such reports of extraordinary healings; this opening can even restore sight to blind people. In our pilgrimages in Colombia and Israel-Palestine we saw people, formerly hostile to each other, lying in each other’s embrace once they were taken by this power. It is a universal force that is clearly beyond any cultural or religious tradition and which becomes operative everywhere that an opening occurs.
In today’s struggle between ideology and emotions there is a problem that always crops up and about which I have often been challenged. Talking about Christ with the revolutionary vanguard pushes everyone’s buttons. Too much killing and lying has been carried out, too much suffering inflicted, in the name of Christ. I am aware how problematic it is today to use this kind of vocabulary given that it has such vile historic connotations. Were not the major religions of East and West used to subjugate people that they would serve the purposes of the ruling powers? Did not the most diabolical things happen in the name of the Lord, in the name of Yehova and in the name of Allah? Why would we not renounce religion once and for all and solve our problems in more sober and humane ways? In 1968 I was a spokesman of the Marxist movement and was an ardent proponent of the statement, “religion is the opiate of the masses”1 because religion was an opiate for the people.
I use the term “the power of Christ” nevertheless. In doing so I do not refer to a particular religion but to a universal phenomenon. In the current global situation we no longer need religious evangelism but to explore the interconnectedness of the spiritual realm from which we all come. There are discoveries of a spiritual cosmology which challenge us to use certain terms even when they have been abused and distorted for centuries. Christ is an archetype within the collective human soul, deeply inscribed into our genetic and psychological matrix. We all know and love this image even if we reject it.
The divine figure manifests within human beings through our connection with the divine world. All religious and spiritual traditions attest to this, calling it variously “Atman,” “Buddha,” “Shekinah,” “Christ,” or the “Higher Self.” When I speak of the Christ nature (see Glossary) in this chapter I have chosen, from all the historical variations, the one that I feel to be closest to the spirit of love. Christ is the epitome of love. Whoever finds the word Christ too masculine can replace it with the “Marian nature” because this is the feminine aspect of the cosmic Christ figure.
All authentic religions revolved around a shift in the perception and understanding of the self, a shift of the inner assemblage point (see Glossary) from a separated, ego identity to a divine identity – the “higher self.” This is the divine consciousness as it resides in individual human beings or as Teilhard de Chardin said, “the inner station of God.”2 Different impulses and information enter into our system when we are at this point. Our brains begin to function differently, releasing new “messengers,” neuropeptides, and our nuclei produce new proteins. Another hologram of life comes into being.
I venture right into a utopian direction when I say that the human of the future is a “Christ-being.” This is how it was meant to be; this is our entelechy (see Glossary). Today, when we speak of peace, healing and love, we are walking in this direction. In the words of Ernst Bloch this is the “consciousness of our advent.”3 We live in a state of “utopian latency”4 and activate this latent utopia when we engage, in the name of a new Earth, with the reality of our human nature beyond all religions.
One could also describe our Christ nature as the imprint of the Sacred Matrix within the human genetic system. By consciously bringing this pattern to the surface we enter a new stage in humanity’s erotic, social and political evolution. We access divine powers. This activation and opening takes place in encounters filled with trust when human beings recognize each other. The promises of love and happiness, made by the old religions, find their fulfillment in relations between people here on Earth. The Kingdom of God is no longer a matter of religious belief but of creating the new social structures of human community. As soon as the Christ nature within the participants of communities is activated, a morphogenetic wave could be triggered that draws us all in for it touches something that is the same within everyone.
Today we are still in the storm of an historic era of war in which the behavior of mankind has strayed far from its Christ nature. People like Jesus, Mani, and thousands of others who remained faithful to their Christ consciousness were overpowered by the system. Single human beings confronting an organized apparatus of power did not stand a chance. If the global peace workers of our time want to reach their goal they need to establish a new “system” wherein the Christ power is anchored in the social and ecological order of the communities. It is not the power of individuals but a complex combination of people, animals, waters and natural powers that establishes a force, coherent with the Sacred Matrix that is capable of offering evolution a new direction.
Christ is a futurological figure that is inherent to us as the butterfly is to the caterpillar. The transformations that the caterpillar needs to undergo in order to manifest as the butterfly can be seen as analogous to the transformations which humankind today needs to undergo in order to realize the goal of its entelechy. In the old power systems of state and religion this goal was barely visible but it has shone through time and again throughout human history. Plato’s theory of forms refers to the Agathon (see Glossary), the absolute goodness.5 This idea could not have arisen if the Agathon did not exist as a latent reality within humanity. It is not only in the thoughts of gifted philosophers that we find testimony to the existence of the Christ power; we find it also amidst the horrors of war. The reports by J
acques Lusseyran of his experiences in Buchenwald offer moving insights into the Christ nature of the erstwhile criminals who were his fellow prisoners. I have also been personally struck by the Christ nature in those who have helped me in times of severe illness.
As we succeed in freeing primordial images of love from false morality and sentimentality the participants within the new communities will recognize the grand goal to which we are walking. The history of the Tamera project is the story of journey such as this; it has just begun. All of the groups and projects collaborating in the great plan will undergo a process of transformation akin to that of the caterpillar. While the sentence, “God is love”6 has lost its meaning for quite a while, perhaps today we can understand it anew. To the extent that the Christ nature is manifested in human relationships, a morphogenetic field of love comes into being and thereby begins a historic cultural shift. Terra Nova is a love affair.
WORKS CITED
1. Karl Marx, Critique of Hegel's Philosophy of Right, trans. Annette Jolin and Joseph O’Malley, ed. Joseph O’Malley (Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press, 1970). Back to reading
2. Pierre Teilhard De Chardin, The Phenomenon of Man (New York: Harper Torchbooks, 1959). Back to reading
3. Ernst Bloch, The Principle of Hope. (Cambridge, MA: The MIT Press, 1986). Back to reading
4. Ibid. Back to reading
5. C.J. Rowe, Plato: Symposium (Warminster: Aris & Phillips, 1998). Back to reading
6. John 4:8, Holy Bible (New American Standard Bible). Back to reading
Chapter 10: Ananda
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Alongside the tormented world there exists another – the world of joy, of Ananda. Its laws should form the basis for the new culture. Ananda is what Indian yogis understand as the original state of existence. Ananda means something like primordial joy. Primordial joy is an integral part of life so long as its freedom is not violated. Playing dogs and cats are full of Ananda. We are touched by their playfulness, for we instinctively recognize what they are doing. We human beings also carry the “Ananda gene” within us and the plant world is full of it too. Ananda is the source of life; it is this that we see at work in the restoration of degraded ecosystems. I find it moving to see how quickly a parched landscape regenerates as soon as water retention basins are introduced. In a short time an eroded, arid zone transforms into a fecund biotope abundant in diverse flora and fauna. The work of the Permaculture specialist Sepp Holzer1 and Tamera’s Water Retention Landscape are good examples of this. One has to see it to believe it. It is as if the program for joy is always present in nature and can manifest immediately once people re-establish the necessary conditions. Nature’s original matrix only waits to be understood and newly awakened by humanity. The same applies to our contact with animals. Animals meet people with unreserved joy when they recognize they no longer need to fear them. In Tamera we have often experienced the growing trust of animals. Turtles in our lakes swim toward us, until they brush up against us. Water snakes weave around our legs; one rested on a woman’s belly. Pigs jump with joy when we approach them; one once turned a perfect pirouette. Eagles and vultures circle above us. We know of enchanting photos which capture trust between animals and human beings – a zoo keeper embraced by lions and a baby stroking the head of an enormous Python. One can sense the mutual joy of living beings as they discover each other. Could this world not be paradise? After eons of fear and separation everything yearns for contact and reunion. The world stirs from ossification and begins to dance with joy like the Namibian antelopes at the coming of the first rain after a long dry spell. This is the pure bliss of creation. This is the concrete utopia in its full abundance. This is Terra Nova.
