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#3516 -
Tuesday, April 28, 2009 - Editor: Jerry Katz
The Nonduality Highlights - http://groups.yahoo.com/group/NDhighlights
"Higher
knowledge will not replace common sense, experience, hard work,
or economic imperative. That is not its function. It is an added
capacity which integrates and works alongside others."
-Dr. Stewart Bitkoff
This issue of the Highlights features a new article by Dr.
Stewart Bitkoff, Higher Knowledge: Enriching & Enabling
Factor
Higher
Knowledge: Enriching & Enabling Factor
By Dr. Stewart Bitkoff
Most people would
agree we all want to live in a kinder, more humane world. A world
where there is respect for human life, economic resources are
shared, and the old and infirm are treated with dignity. In each
of these areas there is room for improvement. Economically, many
are still without the basic necessities of life and go hungry.
Even in the richest country on earth, often the sick go
untreated.
Further most would agree, somehow, as a planet we need to work
together to share our natural resources and improve our
collective circumstance. It is at this point, when we try to
identify and prioritize what areas need improving and how we are
to accomplish this all, we start to disagree and things break
down.
Rationale or linear thought is able to tackle some of these
problems, offering possible solutions; however, this form of
thought is not able to solve all problems. It has limitations
and, in some areas, is like the cart and horse that is without a
driver and going around in circles. Generally, for problems which
involve the needs of divergent groups, there is no balancing
factor and the needs of one group bounce unsuccessfully against
the needs of others. In situations like this, self-interest
repeatedly rears its head and there appears to be no corrective.
Many are slow to accept that the needs of the individual are
bound to the needs of the many.
What is the corrective to this harmful self-interest? What factor
reconciles the needs of different nations while sharing the
earth's resources in an ecologically sound manner?
The balancing factor is higher knowledge or knowledge that is
spiritual in nature and tied to our collective higher destiny. It
must be added to the mix and used with our other capacities to
find solutions. Higher knowledge will not replace common sense,
experience, hard work, or economic imperative. That is not its
function. It is an added capacity which integrates and works
alongside others.
The spiritual traveler maintains humanity is evolving to a higher
condition. This evolutionary process is according to Design, and
is purposeful and directed. The outcome of this process is better
individuals who are more complete, balanced and better able to
serve others. This higher state of being can only be reached when
the integrating factor is added. This is holistic thought or
increased spiritual capacity. It is attained one traveler at a
time and only by entering upon a path to spiritual completion.
Better people make a better world. More complete travelers make
sounder decisions and are equally concerned about their neighbor
and themselves.
Many paths are sacred and all travelers have the potential to
reach higher. The higher consciousness teaches we are connected
and have within a Divine spark of energy. As we come to
understand this and be one with this energy, we experience our
connectedness to others and are better able to serve.
Spiritually, this oneness links us and we take positive,
holistic, action. Better people select honest, hardworking
representatives. These representatives combine to form a useful
government that participates in a richer, more humane world.
If we are truly committed to making a better world, we start with
ourselves. We seek to create the best version of our self and use
all our talents. This includes added spiritual capacity and
higher knowledge.
Yes, this planet can be a wonderful place to live. Yet, we must
work together and solve our mutual problems. This willingness to
work together comes naturally to some and for others only after a
personal catastrophe or natural disaster of some kind. For many
problems facing us, this coming together of people is essential.
We are one family and must remember our common heritage or in
time our planet may be lost.
Added spiritual capacity and higher knowledge is the missing
ingredient and enabling factor. Each of us must take personal
steps to add this element to our lives and fully embrace the
higher potential in all the great religions. Then, the needs of
the many will more easily reconcile with the needs of the few.
* *
Once there was a traveler who walked the highway in search of
Truth. He stopped at every town and inquired. Sometimes, the
answers he received appeared to be useful and at other times,
they did not. Always the advice he received was targeted at his
worldly life: get a job, marry and have children. Or don't work,
live in a monastery and become a recluse.
Somehow, these pieces of advice did not satisfy him, so, he kept
searching. One day as luck would have it, he encountered a wise
man who said, "The answer lies within." So for many
years, this traveler with the help of the wise one examined the
inner world and came to see these experiences as part of the
answer.
Slowly, he realized, what good is spiritual knowledge if it is
not incorporated into the world? So he settled down, found a job,
married and raised a family. As he worked, celebrated and
worried, he came to see a truly spiritual life is a life that
serves others and is guided by the unseen forces. And according
to Design, he found real knowledge, used this knowledge in the
way it was intended and the world about him benefited.
* *
_____________
Also by Dr. Bitkoff, A Commuter's Guide
to Enlightenment (Llewellyn, 2008) and Journey
of Light: Trilogy (Authorhouse, 2004); these books are
available on Amazon.com or from the publisher. To contact author
go to http://stewartbitkoff.com