from
The Immense Responsibility of Man
Martin
Exeter January 25, 1987
Certainly the
human intellect doesn’t have a clue as to what it is that is working out in the
creative process. To trust the ideas and opinions of the human intellect is to
fall into the ditch. Yet it seems that the attitude of people, in general, is
to have that sort of trust. These days there are those who speak rather glibly
about the new age which is supposed to be in the offing. Obviously there is a
change to come. What that change will be remains to be seen. But if there is
some dawning recognition that the working of the creative process now, in this
setting on earth, is designed to restore man to his true state, then any concepts
there may be about a new age will be completely irrelevant.
There are some
who have some sort of an awareness—I suppose we would be included in these—of a
state long gone, a state in which Man was the way he was created to be. What
that state was fortunately cannot be remembered. What do you think would happen
if it was remembered? I suppose everybody would be trying to reproduce it. It
couldn’t be done, so it’s best that it’s
hidden. We do not need to know what that was. It may be helpful, however, to
have an awareness that there was such a state, a state so immensely different
to what is now known that, even if it could be remembered in this present
state, it would be completely incomprehensible. As we have often seen, it is
not a matter of going back anywhere. The past needs to be left behind. The
truth is only available in the present moment. It is only available as one is
in position to give it expression; then it is known. Otherwise it is merely
some sort of a belief. And the truth itself is never a belief. It’s the
truth, after all; just what it is.
The state of
Man is an unknown state presently. It’s unknown, obviously, with respect to the
past, but it’s also unknown with respect to the future. However,
there has been an interim here between these two states of man which is describable
in various ways. It has been called the fallen state. It’s a very
restricted, narrow state. The human intellect claims great things when, in
fact, it knows virtually nothing. A great compendium of knowledge has been
assembled but such knowledge is quite irrelevant to the actual state of
affairs. Human beings live by their theories. Whether they are religious beliefs,
or scientific beliefs, beliefs of any kind, these are all theories. This has
seemed to be necessary because nobody knew what the truth was; hence the
multiplication of theories which all tended to conflict with one another, and
so troubles multiplied.
The true state
of Man is presently quite inconceivable to anyone who has, thus far, merely the
experience of this human-nature condition. In this condition many habits have
been formed, perhaps designed to reproduce a true experience without the
necessity of human minds and hearts and bodies being obedient to the source of
the true state. Because of the immense responsibilities that true Man carried,
when that state was left, there were immense repercussions. It is dawning upon certain
of those who investigate such things that there must have been considerable
cataclysmic experience in the earth in times past. Evidences of this keep
coming up. And yet the orthodox scientific theorist immediately sweeps such
evidences under the carpet to try to get rid of them. Why? Well because the
theory is being threatened. I think one should rejoice whenever a theory is
threatened, because a theory is not the truth; therefore it needs to fall by
the wayside to make room for the actual experience of the truth. If one clings
to one’s theories, as human beings do, one can never know
the truth. So such things need to fall, be left behind. We ourselves have moved
along the way, over the years, relinquishing theories. Of course each time a
theory was relinquished, it was usual for another one to be accepted. These
were better theories, supposedly. But a theory is a theory is a theory. What is
the truth?
It is well that
there should be some sort of awareness of the immensity of responsibility which
true Man rightly carries. This planet is the immediate environment of true Man.
The planet now isn’t the way it was when true Man was present.
It has undergone immense changes. It’s quite clear that there are very considerable
changes escalating at this present time: the pollution of the atmosphere, the
destruction of forests, the wrong use of the land itself, and the proliferation
over all the earth of what are nowadays, usually, the concrete structures of
civilization. All this is totally unnatural. It simply gives evidence of the
foolishness of the present human state. We have, to whatever extent, admitted
this foolishness, on our own individual behalfs, coming to the point of saying
in effect, from the standpoint of present identity, “I am foolish. I am ignorant.
I have no idea as to the effects of anything that I have done.” Those are
valuable words brought down to us out of the past: “Father, forgive them; for they
know not what they do.” This is applicable to everybody. Nobody knows what they
are doing in this present human state. To continue to do what is being done in
this present human state doesn’t clear up the mess; it merely adds to
it. So we accept
responsibility ourselves in the acknowledgment of our own failure, that we
might be open to this creative process of restoration, that we might be willing
to be drawn into alignment with it, so that it may work very specifically
because we are here to give it focus. We are no longer interested in
maintaining our old state and adding to the chaos but, rather, to relinquish it
in favor of discovering, in our own living, what the creative process is. I would like to describe something. You can take it as theory or fiction, if you like.
When man was Man, male and female, there was a
certain state of affairs. The whole planet was exactly the way it should be
because Man was exactly the way he should be. The planet was the immediate
environment for Man. Nowadays, in this present condition, we speak of
individual environment—one is responsible in one’s
individual environment. This is because man doesn’t
exist as a whole. There are a collection of human peas on earth all separate
from one another—a bowl of peas—no state of oneness, no unification. There have
been attempts to make unification. One of the attempts was to create nations: “We’ll be
unified in our nation.” But then, of course, there were other nations, and so
there were larger peas, that’s all. And, in any case, it wasn’t very
successful in producing unification in the nation.
When there was Man on earth, his immediate environment was the planet. There was no particular
concern for individual environment, because all were a part of the whole; so
the planet was the immediate environment. We recognize, individually, with
respect to our particular environments that these are a connection with
something that is beyond. Each individual has a very close-in environment—the
closest one in is his own body—and it is through this immediate environment
that a creative influence may be extended to what is beyond. We would have no
concern with this Body, I’m sure, if there was not the recognition that somehow
what happens in this Body has an influence beyond this Body. To be a little
self-centered body trying to do something important is just about what everyone
has been endeavoring to do, and produced this mess. So we see the true
environment of Man is the planet; and this close-in environment for Man, as he
truly is, was the means of connection to a far larger field of creation, a
field which could well be said to include the whole solar system. That
connection, of course, is long gone. Each individual is very much concerned
about his little minuscule environment and messing it up like everybody else.
But where there
is one body of Man, male and female, then the earth planet environment can be
handled as it should be. It can’t be handled as it should be until there
is one body of Man. It is futile to undertake all these efforts that go on to
try to straighten out the earth, make it a better place, a more beautiful
place—more satisfactory to human beings. That produces nothing but
destruction. And there are lots of good people on earth who are trying to do good
things, to make the earth a better place; but all they do is make it worse,
because they are totally ignorant of what it is that is required. They do not
know the truth. All they have is their multitude of beliefs in this, that and
the other thing. So we have disintegration on that basis.
How is
unification to occur? It occurs by reason of a focus of spirit. It never occurs
by manipulating form—we know that—although we have tried it, I’m sure. Only as
that focus of spirit is established on earth, in human experience, is the element
established by which unification may occur. As long as human beings are left to
their own devices they go in every which way like a bunch of chickens, probably
with their heads cut off. The focus of spirit is absolutely essential, and do
you not think that if this is so, provision would not have been made for it? Of
course it has been. I myself have had a very particular part to play in this
over the years. I am quite aware of the fact that something needed to be proven
out for myself in this regard; and it certainly needed to be proven out for
others, so that the fact of a focus of spirit, a focus of orientation, a focus
of stability, could be a reality in the experience of those who are open to
that spirit.
Those who are
open to that spirit share the focus of it. The focus enlarges, in order that
there may be the means by which unification occurs. It doesn’t
occur on the basis of trying to get people to agree with one another; that doesn’t
last very long. We have all these organizations all over the world which
attempt to corral people into some sort of a state of agreeing with one
another. Some of them have been a little more successful than others, but the
agreement eventually always falls apart, because it is not established on the
basis by which unification may be experienced. But the state of Man is a
unified state. Without that unification nobody knows what man is. Everybody has
lots of ideas about it—theories, beliefs—but what it factually is must be known
if anything is to occur of a creative nature. So we have had the door opened in
this regard. The focus of spirit has been present; it has been stable over many
years; it has been shared in by increasing numbers, so that there is enlarged
focus. Human nature, of course, will always dispute it.
Clearly, if
this focus of spirit is to be a true revelation of its own nature it will produce
changes in the experience of all concerned—particularly with respect to those who
offer themselves to participate in this focus of the creative spirit.
Individually, considerable changes are required; and if we begin to see the
vastness of man’s responsibility—not just this little
planet, but the environment extends way beyond that—then as individuals who are
a part of Man, we would be responsible for that tremendous field of action.
Clearly, that’s just a pipe dream at the moment because
we haven’t adequately handled our immediate environment as
individuals. Our handling of our immediate environment, when it is done on the
basis of the creative process, allows us to share increasingly in the emergence
of this collective focus of spirit. Spirit comes before form. This is the focus
of spirit which makes Man possible on earth.
We have spoken
of Man as the Son of God, because this is the product of Father God and Mother
God received into experience. We have the receptors all around—male and female.
Both are required. Both have very specific parts to play, but the parts to play
are not those designed by human minds—not the social and cultural and national
structures which have been established by human minds. So everything that is
contained in those structures is immediately called in question. If one
imagines one’s fulfilment on earth, one’s
purpose on earth, is to be present in some of these structures, then one is totally deluded.
What
crystallized structures, in the human-nature state, do we feel are worthy of
our support? I don’t mean our support out there somewhere but
in here in one’s own state, in one's own attitude. New Age. That's a lovely term a lot of
people have used and thought it was splendid—some sort of a change is going to
work out. But there has been scarcely any awareness in a meaningful way, if we
are to use that term New Age, of the immensity of what it is that is
happening.
Mankind fell
out of the true state of man and established another state for themselves,
which excluded half, at least, of the true state of Man. It all began to be
polarized externally in the earth, and the heaven was forgotten. Man was going
to manipulate the earth without heaven—“We don’t need heaven”—he’s
going to manipulate the earth in such a way that it will be heavenly. That’s
hardly how I would describe the state of affairs on earth today.
In the process
of getting his own way, which is the fall, various things took place. You may
recall, for instance, that it wasn’t until after the fall that Adam and
Eve—who symbolically represented Man originally, male and female—gave birth to
children, Cain and Abel initially, so we're told. This is all a portrayal of
something. In other words this wasn’t the state in the Garden. There reproduction was not on this
basis. That seems very farfetched. Well it’s
farfetched to human nature all right, because a part of the processes of
getting their own way involved what was required to bring man into his present
animal body. The trouble with that was that he also brought his ability to do
as he pleased, whereas in the ordinary animal kingdom that is not so. There are
certain controls established, as one may observe. Certainly animals don’t copulate
all over the place—except some, when they get too closely associated with human
beings—but they have their times and their seasons. There is a control there.
Man got himself into an animal body without any control, and part of the result
of that is, of course, what we now call the population explosion which is in
the process of killing the earth. I merely touch upon something, not with the intent
to establish concepts but to begin to see that the true state of man is not in
any way comparable to this present state.
The immensity
of change which would allow for the New Age, or the True Age—we could put it
that way—to appear has not even been glimpsed by anyone. But it’s
coming, nevertheless, because the creative process is working. We have some
awareness of this, and therefore have the greatest responsibility to find
proper alignment with it, so that we may be on hand, present, to let what needs
to happen, happen without judgment, without any preconceived ideas, because we
don't have any. It’s impossible to have any! Any preconceptions simply
relate to this present state. We can’t even think of anything else. Therefore
if we rely on our ideas, theories, preconceptions, in the present state, we’re left
out in the cold because they don't apply at all. We have
to learn to trust
the creative process. There is no alternative. And if we are to trust that,
there must be a willingness to let the structured state of human production
dissolve, as it will dissolve, by reason of the working of the creative
process. It’s going to do that anyway, so we needn’t
feel too badly about it. We should rejoice. What was it? “Rejoice, ye heavens,
and ye that dwell in them. Woe to the inhabiters of the earth.” Too bad. Well
let there be those who dwell in heaven, those who begin to accommodate the
working of the creative process in a direct immediate sense, letting it come to
focus because the spirit is accommodated in living.
There is no
need to look ahead. There is no point in looking ahead. There is no point in
looking back. We can’t reproduce something out of the past.
All we can do is find what is immediately required now,
not by reason of
someone else’s expression but by reason of what finds
expression through oneself. That is the responsibility to be taken. I have
sought over the years to take that responsibility for myself, trusting that
this would assist, or even inspire, others to do exactly the same thing. The
intent is never that someone should be set up on a pedestal somewhere, as
indeed has been done in virtually all the religions of the world, which obviates
those concerned from taking the responsibility themselves. “Someone else is
going to do it. How nice.” Never! If I don’t do it, it isn't done. Each one needs to
reach a point where that is said. “I do it, not because somebody told me
to do it, or not even because somebody told me what
I should do, but because I simply
accommodate the creative process in my own living. And when I do that, I know
what to do. I know what to do.” That can be said by each one, instead of
looking around to decide, “I think so-and-so knows what should be done.” I
suppose it’s possible. It doesn’t look
much like it looking around the earth, but one can be very sure when one comes to
the point of saying, “I know what to do.” It is never someone else’s responsibility.
If we try to palm it off on somebody else it's a cop out. Human beings have been doing that ever since the fall. Accept the creative process and live; reject it and die.
© Emissaries of Divine Light
