Today we’d like to talk about something we’ve never really explained our thoughts on before: the problem of evil and suffering. Why do humans do such terrible things to each other sometimes? Why do so many of us suffer so much? Why does it sometimes seem as though life is pelting us with rocks from a very great height? And why are so many people’s minds so resolutely closed to any idea that could free them from their chains?
We’ve been thinking about these questions ever since we can remember, and of course we’re familiar with the concept that the laws of attraction and karma determine our experiences. ‘As you think, so you will become’, is the popular saying, isn’t it. But you know, we don’t entirely buy that, although of course it is partly true. Years and years of careful observation and questioning have led us to conclude that it really is as some people say: there are counter-forces, both incarnate and discarnate, who for reasons we won’t go into here, are literally hell-bent on delaying, diverting or if at all possible preventing or destroying the divinely intended evolution of life in our universe. And these forces sometimes tamper with our experiences. But how do they do it? Do we really need to be afraid, or even concerned, about them?
Bending the rules
In The Coming of the Holy Grail, Claire Nahmad has come up with the best explanation we have ever come across of how the counterforces operate. She says it’s not that they break universal law, but they are dab hands at bending it. So for example, say you have a karmic tendency towards a certain difficult experience. Well, they won’t change that, but they may enhance it, so that you suffer much more than is actually necessary to learn whatever it is you need to learn. And then the desperate feelings of pain and torment understandably brought on by your suffering will add fuel to the flames of negative thoughts whizzing about in the world, and make it all the easier for the counterforces to knock us off course next time.
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Or, say you have a certain belief, character weakness or blind spot that might lead you towards a difficult experience. Well, again, they won’t change that, but they’ll find all kinds of ways of boosting it so that the downward vortex they have created is kept in motion, and you will feel much more trapped and bogged down than you really need to.
Claire also feels that the education system, and the way many people bring up and socialise their children – with lots of criticism, judgement, denigration, control, conditional love and overemphasis on the intellect at the expense of the heart – has also, over the course of millennia, been carefully nudged in a certain direction by the counterforces. They have done this, she says, so as to provide the perfect mechanism for encapsulating their souls and keeping to the absolute minimum any possibility of their coming into direct contact with their innate wisdom.
A shadow play
But…. even with all their machinations, the counterforces can’t change the truth. And whether or not we always feel it, we certainly know what the truth is: that the universe is always benign; that goodwill follows us every step of the way; that we are always loved, always lovable, always safe, always surrounded by friends and helpers, and always free. So all the counterforces can do is to take whatever shadows may appear in our minds and magnify them – the bigger the better – in the hope that we will be scared and cowed into submission. It’s a game – a nasty, lugubrious game oftentimes, it has to be said – but still, that’s all it is: a game. And you know what? We don’t have to play. Let us explain why.
Press ‘fast forward’
Picture, for a moment, the course of soul evolution, and ‘fast forward’ it in your mind’s eye to its ultimate end. Now whatever your particular beliefs, we can probably all agree that the end of this most magnificent story will be wonderful beyond imagining – that there will be perfect love, rejoicing, understanding, harmony, beauty, peace and friendship. And just in the same way as there are infinite routes to the centre of a circle, but only one centre, so – while there may be infinite ways of reaching this beautiful destination – there is only one ending, and it is totally non-negotiable. Which means to say that, while the counterforces may be able to delay our eventual arrival, or change the route we take to get there, they are absolutely powerless to prevent our ultimate homecoming. How about that!
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The ultimate safe haven
As human beings equipped with the powers of imagination, visualisation, thought and feeling, we are not anything like as limited by time and space as we think we are. This means that we can place ourselves, mentally and emotionally, right at the heart of our divine home whenever we like, and bathe ourselves in that perfect feeling of reunion and joy to our hearts’ content. And that, dear friends, is not just the ultimate safe haven; it is the ultimate deterrent to all the machinations of whatever forces may be trying to throw us – collectively and individually – off the scent. It may not stop them from trying, but they’ll be so much less likely to succeed. Because we’ll know, like Alice in Wonderland, that they’re ‘nothing but a pack of cards’. So why don’t we all try making that our spiritual practice for a month or so, and see what happens? There are quite a lot of Cygnus readers, so the results could be quite interesting, couldn’t they?
A song to keep you tuned in
Inevitably, we won’t always find it easy to stay tuned in, but there are so many things that can help and support us – each other, nature, books and music to name but a few. There’s a particular pop song that we find really helpful, and it seems appropriate that – just as Louisa began this issue of the Cygnus Review with a song – so we should end with one. It’s called ‘Unbreakable’ (try listening to Julienne Taylor’s version – she has such an honest voice). Whenever we hear it or sing it, we think of the love we share with so many people, and will ultimately share – in unity – with every single living being. This is the chorus:
This love is unbreakable
It’s unmistakable
And each time I look in your eyes
I know why
This love is untouchable
A feeling my heart just can’t deny
Each time I look in your eyes
I know why
This love is unbreakable
Yes. Unbreakable.
And with that happy thought we leave you, until next time.
With all our love, Ann and Geoff
