At 18 I made a serious commitment of my life to seek above all else higher consciousness, understanding and wisdom - the practical application of understanding. I also surrendered my personal needs and wishes to the will of whatever highest power and Being there may be, even if as a postmodernist you might believe it to be simply a cultural symbol for Good.
I'm now 51. It's been interesting, sometimes thrilling, sometimes painful. But its what I was moved to do with my life, so I remember Job and move on. I was a member of a personal development organisation called The Emin, founded in London in 1970 by a man I knew as Leo, who was and is a great inspiration to me. I was also on of 1,200,000 people initiated by Charan Singh, the most of any Sant Mat teacher in history, a man of great integrity, wisdom and tolerance, who's path and the writings of his path, Radha Soami, were much plagiarised and copied by people who founded their own organisations for money. Some of his students, especially professor David Lane, have made it their mission to expose these false profiteering 'spiritual teachers', but when Charan Singh was asked about it, do you know what he said? "Maybe that is their experience, also", with a smile. So I tend to take that view. If, like Gandhi, we wish to promote harmony and peace, we must be tolerant of people's attempts, however small. There are now thousands, possibly millions of people in the organisations of those exploitative plagiarist teachers who are good, sincere people, so as long as it helps them, I would not point out where their paths came from.
After studying meditation under eastern teachers and personal development in Leo's Emin, I went to college as a mature student and graduated in my thirties with two first class honours degrees, majoring in English Literature and Psychology. I have a partner, who is a poet, and we have five beautiful and talented children, between the ages of five and eighteen.
If I had to sum up what I have learned, I would say :
'Listen within, follow your heart, but use your reason and common sense, too. Try to be tolerant of others, remembering that they are only human, like you, and can only live and assess things according to the extent and fineness of their upbringing, education and the breadth of their knowledge. And if you are lonely or in despair, don't give up hope. Try to help people and those issues which concern you, and you will find others with similar concerns. Keep on keeping on, and don't give up hope. In my experience it is almost always the most brilliant, wonderful, beautiful, sensitive and just all round nice people who suffer the most. If you are suffering, bear this in mind, and try to find and befriend other like yourself, who have probably been suffering similarly. My heart goes out to all those, especially young people, who suffer and even do away or attempt to do away with themselves because their brilliance, kindness and beauty is not appreciated, and they suffer from the harshness and ugliness of the world more than most people. All our children have been home educated, and if you are or have a child who is suffering in this way, take them out of school, if you possibly can, or do something about it, be proactive. Encourage them in every way to be open and honest with you about their feelings, so that you can help. Life can be terrible, but it can also be wonderful, and young people need to be helped to find the right people who will help them see that, and some need, too, to be protected from bullying, violence and misery that no-one should have to suffer.'
My current blog is at http://wisdom-teachings.blogspot.com
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