Science strives to solve the mysteries of our material world and presents us with the facts. Religion lays the foundation for those who seek a higher calling and devotion to the worship of God. Philosophy tries to sort it out logically, for a better understanding of why we’re here. Mysticism accesses the higher planes of existence to acquire unrevealed truths and find a better path to follow in life. All have greatly assisted mankind in its evolutionary challenges on Earth, but religion and science have struggled in fulfilling their mandate on some fronts.

It’s a mistake for any structured faith to believe that it is the only true religion. This theological arrogance is displayed in some beliefs today. All religions are good for they allow us to seek a spiritual path in life but their noble intentions are often defeated by rigid dogma that priests and ministers of the faith create, compromising the original teachings of their initial religious leaders.

All religions could benefit from and integrate the best truths from all creeds, for all encompass veracity. They would do better to borrow the best, in their neighbors’ living, spiritual, faith, rather than to denounce the worst, and in this fashion, reveal their lingering superstitions and outdated practices. The sooner mankind evolves closer to a universal faith, the sooner we can start to experience, extended periods of peace and harmony, as a collective society on this planet.

Science’s failure to grasp the concept of two other major realms of existence, the mindal and spirit is debilitating to their efforts. The arrogance of promoting their agenda while being disingenuous and dismissive toward religious practices is a flaw that dilutes their credibility on numerous fronts and adds to the polarizing viewpoints the world is experiencing now, both politically and spiritually.

Historians need to travel back through the settled land they have created until they reach the edge of the large desert (prehistory) they left behind. You might think there is nothing to see but hard-pan and sand, off in the shimmering distance. But if they look back with purpose, images will appear; those long forgotten or abandoned mythological configurations that were ignored and left behind so long ago. Then it too can be places within the landscape they created and all our history can move forward. This is there challenge. This is their paradigm.

Mysticism teaches that spirit permeates all space and it is the cement that binds matter together. It also reminds us that there is something additional in our makeup, for we are also indwelled with a spirit essence. Many people recognize its presence; it’s the inner voice that we uncover in our search for the truth. It’s the master within; that which we have come to rely on, who gives us direction, consolation and consultation, often during troubling and difficult times. It’s what many seek; that quiet solitude of meditation and the opportunity to reconnect with an inner and higher self, often from a health and welfare standpoint but also for an unselfish desire to better ones material mind and higher self. Some would say it’s the most effective tool we possess in our short terrestrial life.

We need to come to the realization that the universe of universes is not only a material creation of physical grandeur, of spirit sublimity, and intellectual magnitude; it is also a magnificent and responsive living organism. It actually pulsates throughout the spectrum, of this vast creation of a vibrant macrocosm. We need to expand our mind so that this overwhelming concept can be slowly digested and accepted. Once this is revealed to us, it’s comparable to a kernel, it wants to germinate and that can only happen when we allow ourselves to water, nurture and place it in the light of day.

Man has long believed that there is something growing within the human nature, something vital that is destined to endure, beyond the short span of temporal life. The Chinese recognized two aspects of the human being, the Yin and the Yang. Yin being the passive, negative, female force in everything is contrasted and complementary with the Yang the active, positive and masculine, presence in the universe. The ancient Egyptians also believed in two factors, the Ka and the Ba. The Ka was thought to be a superior, spirit genius, who desired to guide the associated mortal soul, or Ba, into the better paths of temporal living, but more especially to influence the fortunes of the human subject, in the here-after. Every race of humans has a word, equivalent to the concept of spirit and soul.

In understanding spirit and soul, we need to recognize the role mind plays. Mind is designed to dominate matter, even as it responds to the ultimate control of the spirit. Free will, often dictates otherwise, challenging this understanding, reversing this authority and we often come to believe, that matter rules the mind. This has led us, to a flawed comprehension, resulting in confusion and our overall perception of the relationship. It has held us back from realizing our true potential as humans and hampers the ability to harness the mind, to better deal with, the many issues, we are confronted with in life.

We have an internal mind that resides within our material brain and an external mind, or higher-consciousness that exists outside of the material plane but within the grasp of our indwelling spirit. Our minds, properly nourished, continue to grow and add substance and depth to our slowly evolving soul. Spirit, a gift from our Universal Father, ever intervenes between mind and matter and is the seat of our personality. The soul of man, or mid-mind, is in contrast to the lower or material mind and the higher or cosmic mind, but all fall under the influence of spirit. In considering these three components; body, mind and spirit, we can say we are illuminated by three kinds of light; material light, intellectual insight and spirit luminosity.

All physical actions of a negative nature, which all of us are guilty of, can sometimes act as a poison, greatly hindering the efforts of our spirit and soul to advance the material mind along its rightful path. The mental toxins of fear, anger, envy, jealousy, suspicion and intolerance likewise, greatly interfere with the spiritual progress of the ever evolving soul. As we go through life, remember we reside in all three at once; material, mental and spirit.

The Cosmos that we exist within and see on countless starry nights is a grand universe of many universes and it is a living entity that exists within the consciousness of ‘The All.’ We live within his/her, all knowing, infinite mind but exists within our finite mind as spirit. It is this underpinning that allows us to tap into, that stream of cosmic consciousness that we often experience in prayer, meditation and the creative process.

In the material world, we are nothing more than a mechanism, but we are also much more than a machine. We are mind endowed and spirit-indwelt and though we can never, throughout our mortal coil on Earth, escape the chemical and electrical mechanics of our physical body, we can increasingly learn how to subordinate, this physical-life machine. We do this through the direct wisdom of experience, by the process of concentration and consecrating the human mind while acknowledging sublime urges we receive from our indwelled consciousness. Believing in and recognizing that inner voice, having the tools to uncover it, is one of the big mysteries of life. Religious prayer is an important and effective device in this process, for our indwelled spirit is the representative of God we pray to.

The more closely we move toward understanding the concept of intelligent design, through our awakening, the greater we enhance our potential reality, to that of, actual reality and we help establish ourselves, on a sound footing and the proper path we need to follow in life. The more we withdraw or ignore the idea of this Supreme Being, the more we move toward non-reality and the cessation of existence after death. When we come to embrace this concept, when we direct our determination toward that of our Universal Father and do his will, then we have taken an immense step in ensuring our ultimate survival.

But as long as we measure everything in our material world in only a physical way, in a linear fashion, trapped in our objective world of five senses, we will have difficulty finding harmony and agreement in our sometimes troubled existence. We have to comprehend and understand the inner factors that govern us, beside that of the physical realm; which is time, space and spirituality.

When spirit indwells human minds they bring with them the model careers, the ideal lives, as determined and foreordained. Thus they begin work with a definite and predetermined plan for the intellectual and spiritual development of their human subjects, but it is not incumbent upon any human being to accept this plan. We are all subjects of predestination, but it is not foreordained that we must accept this divine blueprint; we are at full liberty to reject any part or all of the indwelled spirit’s suggestions. It is the indwelled spirit’s mission to effect such mind changes and to make such spiritual adjustments, as we may willingly and intelligently authorize, but under no circumstances does the indwelled spirit ever take advantage of our, or in any way arbitrarily influence us in our sovereignty of personality; it is always subservient to our will.

Our mortal mind, our intellect, is a temporary system, loaned to us for use, during our single material lifetime, and as we use this mind, we are either going to accept or reject the potential that is there for eternal existence. Mind will faithfully portray, the accumulation of decisions we make, both good and bad, throughout our life, enhancing or hindering the evolving soul. For human consciousness, rests gently teetering upon the electro-chemical bodies that we possess below, and delicately touches the spirit and soul energy systems above, that we are endowed and indwelled with.

As a human personality decides, on either a path towards survival or one of final death, it is up to the individual to nurture one of these polar opposites. If you expect nothing after death or you are not concerned about the consequence, then you have made a choice that may hamper, your ability to, eventually survive.

The personality of a non-ascender, returns to the Supreme, much like a drop of water would in its return to the sea and it rapidly fades from existence and is absorbed by the universe. A personality, having once been allowed to express itself, then rejecting survival, never again finds identity. Only in those who choose survival will personality continue. And so the decision awaits each of us. Will we fail this opportunity given to us for survival, because of our linear thinking, our hedonistic desires and materialistic preoccupation, or will we rise above it.

As humans, our decision to survive is the first stage, and our true life has now begun, supplied with an endless palate of infinite panorama that is spreading out before us. We have started a limitless expansion of never ending spheres of opportunities, including matchless adventure and ceaseless achievement. When we are at our darkest hour, we need to accept the presence of a higher power that can guide us along our path and we must look beyond the mists of mortal uncertainty and start to recognize the signposts that mark the way and the destiny, that truly awaits us.

Mind is our ship, spirit is our pilot, and human will is the captain. We need to gain and develop trust with our pilot over our lifetime. The captain of our mortal body needs to possess the wisdom to trust our divine guide, to navigate our ascending and evolving soul to the many mental harbors that exist, beyond the reality of our material bodies. It all tests and challenges our eternal survival, for the great wheel of karma is at play; the cause and effect, that ebbs and flows, both positively and negatively, providing a rhythm, a harmony and a balance to our ascension.

Our evolutionary planet is the sphere of our human origin, the initial world of our ascending, mortal, career. Earth is our starting point; here we and our fragment of divine spark, indwelled within us, are joined in temporary union. We have been endowed with a perfect guide; therefore, if we will sincerely run the race of time and gain the final goal of faith, the reward of the ages shall be ours; we will be eternally united with our indwelling fragment of pure spirit. Then will begin our real life, the ascending life, to which our present mortal state is but the vestibule. Then will begin our exalted and progressive mission, as an ascending being, in the eternity, which stretches out before us. And throughout all of these successive ages, and stages, of evolutionary growth, there is one part of us that remains absolutely unaltered, and that is personality – permanence in the presence of change.

As humans have gone before us, many have begun an endless unfolding, of an almost infinite panorama, a limitless expanding of never-ending, ever-widening spheres of opportunity for exhilarating service, matchless adventure, sublime uncertainty, and boundless attainment. When the clouds gather overhead, our faith should take comfort in the presence of our indwelling spirit, that fragment of God we all possess and we should be able to look beyond the vale of mortal uncertainty, into the clear shining of the sun of eternal righteousness, on the beckoning heights of the many mansion worlds.