Nothing but the good, the real, possesses duration— Lillian Dewaters
Is the highest reality all about “faith,” or can we actually test for and validate the presence of the higher reality we call Spirit or God or Creator, or as 4th century mystic, Gregory of Nyssa, says “the one that is above all (secondary causes), the cause of all from which everything depends”? Prepare to have your mind blown and your heart opened, for the answer to that question lies in the subtle depths (and heights) of Spirit itself dwelling within us.
I have claimed in past essays that it is Spirit, especially in the form of Love, that is the only lasting reality. In other words, Spirit is DEVELOPED and availed, NOT aspired to or imagined. I am making a testable practical claim: Spirit is a verifiable, truer reality, and spirituality is a practice of the heart that demands much MORE from the practitioner than simple belief and faith. This stands in contrast to naysayers, would claim the opposite— that the world is “real” and that spirit is simply a naive psychological fantasy to escape the grim realities of a human universe run on power and might over and above the niceties of love and faith.
Who is correct, and how can we test both orientations? We will take on these questions in this essay.
Spirit is real, and the “real world” is illusion
Those of us who have dedicated our lives to spiritual development are often condescendingly called “idealists,” fuzzy-headed children whose naivety is no match for the “real world” by which is meant the practical, material, dog-eat-dog world. The assessment by the so-called worldly is that intelligence starts with street smarts and advances to the pinnacle of more sublime intellectual heights. This is ostensible the ceiling in this worldly view of reality.
There is general derision among the worldly for those who believe in “childlike” mantras like “Love will conquer all” and that in the realm of love and spirit there is no ceiling at all, “ain’t no mountain high enough, ain’t no valley low enough,” as the Motown hit would say. “Yeah, really?”, the jaded proponents of the world would counter. “I don’t see love winning in this war. I see power and violence winning.”
I contend that this perennially offered worldly “logic” is one based in profound ignorance. One can CLAIM that cubic zirconium is diamond, with plenty of selective evidence, but that does not make it so. Cubic zirconium appears to be a diamond, but it is not. A diamond appears to be cubic zirconium but it is not. The higher and truer can easily be confused with the lower and falser on outward appearances. One can use appearances and selective “evidence” to appeal to common sense prejudices about the world to claim that spirituality is the constructed fiction of a daft and immature mind, but that does not make it so. This merely assumes premises that guarantee a particular conclusion.
And observe the contradiction of their assertions and their actions!: These wordly “adults” scoff at the childlike and then, ironically, plunge themselves into an infantile world called “virtual reality” that they construct and control, often with the most primitive of motives (sexbot anyone?) They simultaneously admit to and lionize their ability to create UNREALITY and then call it reality! Therefore, it may not even be necessary to offer our own dis-proofs of worldly orientations. The mundane, by their own actions and impulses are disproving themselves. Indeed, why would anyone interested in “true reality” want to create and escape into false, virtual worlds?
Now let’s turn to laying out the case for the higher and truer reality of spirit: What DID Jesus, for instance, mean by “ye must become like children to enter the kingdom of heaven”. There IS a general acknowledgement, even among the jaded, that there is something special about the “beginner’s mind”, which does NOT see the limitations and does not assume the grim servitude under which “adult” world has placed itself. Even the worldly admit that creativity comes from a space of childlike newness and openness. They grudgingly concede that inspiration gives rise to the most profound scientific discoveries and technological innovations, but they dismiss these as accidents, points of coherence that simply poke through in a chaotic universe.
What would happen if genius were understood to be generated from spirit, and that the spiritual realm is the higher, more sophisticated and more powerful realm, and one that has its own provable reality and requirements. We know the worldly would have none of it. Of what use is this exploration to them? They’ve proven over and over again that they are not interested in something that is not a sellable commodity, a hedonistic escape, or a weapon of war. Would-be kings of the world want their domains and realms which they can rule over, and the spirit is notoriously immune to such pretensions.
Being “ruled” by spirit frees one from the rule of a claustrophobic, primitive world
In fact, one does not rule over spirit, but is “ruled” by it, which is to say “liberated” by its power and demands to create and love, rather than destroy and subjugate. Why be a tin god in a small universe, when one can be a disciple in an infinite one? Why not co-create, rather than call oneself a “god” simply because one can exercise destructive force over others and exercise a brutal so-called power.
First, is there really any room for conversation between these two contested realities? Is this conversation between the reality and truth of world vs. spirit doomed to a mere he-said-she-said, or “I say to-mah-to and you say to-may-to.” No. There are ways to discern the higher, the deeper, the larger, the more substantial, the more intrinsic, the better, the realer, the truer: That which is higher (Spirit, I am asserting) ENCOMPASSES the lower (human) and indeed produces the greatest of what we call humanity (conscience, morality, dignity, decency, care, etc.)— the exact opposite of the “dominion” of the so-called world— power, violence, vice, exploitation, deception, and hedonism.
In fact the initial test of this proposition can be found in the nature of virtual reality itself. What encompasses and produces virtual worlds? The human world. Despite all worries that artificial intelligence may take over the human world, it has shown itself to be remarkably limited by its mandate, which is to emulate humans. The more low-frequency humans are, the more base and vile humans are, the more base and vile (and dumber) artificial intelligences become, stripped of good judgment, just as humans have allowed themselves to be stripped of a discerning and caring spirit when turning their attentions to the lowest, rather than the highest, of their capacities.
Humans, as with AI, appear to have been created by some higher intelligence. Our given and created higher order capacities (emotions, reason, and intuition) outstrip what we can create for computers. Like all created things, we have a beginning and an end. If credible accounts of near-death experiences are to be taken seriously, we do appear to transform when we die (or near-die), as if waking from this life dream within a larger spiritual reality. Indeed, we recognize that our actual sleeping dreams are another “unreal” world, and yet many of us refuse to consider our own lives on earth as simply a MORE real dream within a larger reality governed by far more sublime and powerful creative forces.
Imagine we are in a similar relationship with God, as artificial intelligence is to us, and we are living a dream in this world, not unlike the androids who “dream of electric sheep” in Phillip K Dick’s story which served as the basis for the sci-fi film Blade Runner. Let’s say we aspire to emulate God as Spirit in goodness/love, truth and beauty, just as AI is designed to emulate humans in emotion, expression, and decision. We would find ourselves with the same “garbage in, garbage out” challenge that computers experience.
We may attempt to “be better than we are”, to be “true to God,” or to be more refined, but through FILTERS of habit that are hopelessly primitive. We are trying initially to IMITATE or ASPIRE, just as AI does with us, but this is not the same as APPREHENSION, true learning, or change of character. We literally would need to open ourselves and BE TRANSFORMED to a deeper intelligence within us, rather than to transform ourselves. The higher must work within us for true learning to occur. [I don’t know if that is possible with computers, which seem geared toward novel and impressive SIMULATION, modeling, and algorithmic recombination, if not true creativity.]
So many humans are driven by a fear of death, that we follow a crowd to “believe in God” and “save our souls”, not unlike a computer who tries to “please” a human by reflecting back to humans what they want but in altered form. This has led to hilarious attempts by AI to “be human” by simply fabricating “bogus judicial decisions with bogus quotes and bogus internal citations” to “please” a lawyer who used ChatGPT to form the central basis his legal case. Humans also, stab at God, by using the Bible and God-fearing imitation to “please” God, often quite removed from a true connection with the substance and higher reality of God. And we appear to get similar results! We make sincere, imitative attempts at “the good and the God,” but they ultimately fall flat if they are rooted in our lower fears and capacities.
How can we approach this serious problem, of attempting to AUTHENTICALLY reach the higher through “a glass (lens) darkly” conditioned by the lower?
The higher, the deeper, the larger, the more substantial, the more intrinsic, the more durable, the better, the realer, the truer
Two mystics can help us in our exploration, one from the fourth century (Gregory of Nyssa) and one from the twentieth century (Lillian Dewaters).
Gregory of Nyssa has a quote from his Book Two on The Life of Moses (p. 13-14, Essential Writings of Christian Mysticism) that sums matters up well:
In my opinion the definition of truth is ‘being free from error about the nature of reality.’ A lie is an illusion in the soul about what is real, which suggests that what does not exist in fact exists. Truth, on the other hand, is a firm perception of what really does exist… The only reality that truly exists is the one that is above all of them, the cause of all from which everything depends.
Lillian Dewaters begins to outline the nature of this primary (spiritual) reality in her essay The Practice of Reality:
Perfect body, perfect universe, are ever prepared, finished, and at hand. However, until we think, act and live from the standpoint of the Truth, the perfect Facts and Principles of Being, we cannot consciously experience them; nor enter into the perfect Answer, which is Heaven… The war of today is the result of imperfect and improper viewpoint of reality. It will vanish when the pure Principle of Being is more generally accepted and practiced.
What are these “Facts and Principles of Being” and how can we distinguish them from life illusions that seem very real. Principles of Being (vs. Principles of Having and even Principles of Becoming) are those that are higher (more primary, point to nothing greater), deeper (more profound or moving), larger (more comprehensive, able to explain more), more enduring (have an eternal or perennial nature), unconditional (non-contingent), intrinsic (self-sufficient and universal), substantial (have gravity), truer (not disprovable), and that make life provably better, not worse.
A simple example would be the difference between pleasure, happiness, and joy. Pleasure dwells in the lower, less substantial, more illusory realms.. and one can tell by simply evaluating. Pleasure is physical and fleeting, and it usually comes at a cost. It is getting drunk one night, and waking up with the next night with a hangover. It is having a one-night stand this day, and sneaking out the back door with a note left on the bed the next morning. Even the healthy pleasure of getting a massage with the healthy effects on one’s muscles lasts only until the next emotional crisis freezes one’s muscles up again.
Happiness is a step up from pleasure. It tends to last longer, run deeper, and be experienced as more substantial or fulfilling. It is essentially mental and emotional pleasure associated with a good and satisfying job, for instance, or a loving family life. “Things are going well,” is its mantra. But then, the job disappears due to outsourcing, or a tragic death in the family plunges everyone into depression. Happiness proves MORE durable than pleasure, but its conditional nature is revealed through time. Each of us values health and finds happiness in good health, but each of us will wither (hopefully gracefully) with aging, and none of us escapes death. We can reflect on a good earthly life, but we must acknowledge that it will end.
Then there is joy, the practice of the heavenly goodness and life at the core of an eternal spirit operating in this world, experiencing pleasure and happiness, and even death itself, but persisting through all these forms and transition in a self-knowing, peacefulness which understands that one’s utmost being is not permanently diminished, but rather enhanced by all experience, both difficult and celebratory. It is in the space of joy, where one most deeply experience the privilege and blessing of being a contradictory human, the “harmonious alternation of extremes” (Nisargadatta), rather than being confused and torn by opposites.
Nisargadatta’s full quote might be a good place upon which to end this essay as a kind of meditation and contemplation on higher truth and reality, that which fulfills, informs, deepens, and uplifts over the VERY long haul of eternity and in a way that transcends earthly conditions, but indeed brings “a new heaven and a new earth” into view and into our embrace.
Open the shutter of the mind, and it will be flooded with light. Absolute perfection is here and now. Not in some future, near or far. The secret is in action, here and now. It is your behavior that blinds you to yourself. Disregard whatever you think yourself to be, and act as if you were absolutely perfect. Whatever your idea of perfection may be, all you need is courage. With self-awareness, you grow more intelligent. In awareness, you learn. In self-awareness, you learn about yourself. Of course, you can only learn what you are not. To know what you are, you must go beyond the mind. Awareness is the point at which the mind reaches out beyond itself into reality. In awareness, you seek not what pleases but what is true. There are no steps to self-realization. There is nothing gradual about it. It happens suddenly and is irreversible. You rotate into a new dimension, seeing from which the previous ones are mere abstractions. Just like on sunrise, you see things as they are. So on self-realization, you see everything as it is. The world of illusions is left behind. Discard every self-seeking motive as soon as it is seen. And you need not search for truth. Truth will find you. In nature, nothing is at a standstill. Everything pulsates, appears and disappears. Heart. Breath. Digestion. Sleep. And waking. Birth… and death. Everything comes and goes in waves. Rhythm. Periodicity. Harmonious alternation of extremes is the rule. No use rebelling against the very pattern of life. There is only life. There is nobody who lives a life.”
Please share your insights that come out of this contemplation! Here is mine: “We are life living itself!”
All blessings, Zeus