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Through the Western Wisdom Teachings, related to us by Max Heindel,
we are taught that this life is one of many in which man as a Virgin Spirit
prepares himself for the part that he is to assume in the cosmic drama as a
co-worker with God. Many lifetimes have been spent preparing ourselves for the
level of consciousness we now occupy, and our continued progress depends upon
the use we make of our present physical bodies in their relationship to the
growth of our spiritual vehicles.
Effect on Future Incarnations
A weak body cannot maintain the higher
vibration which accompanies any spiritual growth, and it is only through
spiritual growth that the present generation can prepare itself for the coming
Aquarian Age. Since our next embodiments may take place during this Age, it is
necessary that we make this preparation or we will be unable to compete with
beings incarnating on the new higher level, since they will have prepared
themselves for this coming event. Failure, in this life, could mean that we will
incarnate in the next as members of a lower race group.
Many factors are involved in spiritual
development. This discourse will be limited to the discussion of those whose
continued use is detrimental to the upward progress of the individual, namely:
alcohol, drugs, and tobacco. Their importance lies in the fact that they may
impede or even reverse the evolution of the individual. Volumes have been
written about the effects these substances have upon the physical body, and
articles appear daily in newspapers and periodicals warning of the problems
which may result from their continued use. It is the purpose of this writing,
however, to point out the spiritual implications which must be considered after
all aspects of the physical have been studied.
We learn in the Western Wisdom Teachings
that the desire body and the mind are in the early stages of evolutionary
development. Our growth depends upon the work that we do to gain control of
these important vehicles. The use of any substance which weakens our control of
these bodies prevents us from exercising the needed discipline to learn the
lessons for which we incarnated at this time -- lessons which must be learned if
we are to continue our upward progress. This means that we must put forth every
effort to gain control of the desire body and the mind.
Occult Purpose of Alcohol
Throughout the descent of the human Spirit
into matter, substances were introduced into the diet of man to enable him to
proceed to the next and successive steps in his evolution. Alcohol was one of
these substances. Prior to the fifth, or Aryan, Epoch of the Earth's revolution,
man retained some of the spiritual sight that was his heritage as an evolving
Spirit, and so he was aware of his spiritual being. Up to this time water had
been used as the principle beverage; now it became necessary. for man to lose
his spiritual sight so that he would be unable to have an awareness of his
spiritual existence. Only in this way would he be able to conquer the physical
world and learn the lessons of the matter-oriented individual. To fulfill this
part of man's destiny, "Bacchus," a God of Wine, appeared, and under
his sway even the most advanced nations forgot that they were also subjects of a
higher life. Later, we are told, Christ Jesus turned water into wine, which at
this time was being used by evolving humanity. Christ Jesus Himself was a much
more highly evolved being and did not need to learn the lessons which were so
necessary for evolving humanity. He did not need the wine, and there is no place
in the Bible where it states that Jesus drank the wine.
Alcohol Retards Evolution
It is now time for man to start on the
upward path of evolution and move toward the Christ Consciousness -- which is to
say, to develop his lost spiritual sight. Since alcohol was used to enable man
to forget his higher self, no one who feeds the body with alcoholic liquor (the
product of fermentation and decay) can ever know anything about the spiritual
realms. The coming Aquarian Age will demand that man have knowledge of the
higher self, and anyone who does not prepare for future incarnations by
attempting to develop spiritual insight will be unable to cope with the higher
man incarnating at that time and will have taken a step backward in evolution.
All forms of alcohol must, therefore, be eliminated from the diet of those who
wish to continue on the upward spiral. Anyone today who is fortunate enough to
have gained occasional insights of the spiritual world jeopardizes the level of
being he has attained by work in previous incarnations with the continued use of
alcohol and will arrive in the Aquarian Age unable to occupy the place he has
worked so hard for in past ages.
Drugs and Addiction
The use of drugs takes its place as a
companion of alcohol when the spiritual development of man is considered.
Exploring the widespread use of drugs in society today, we find that the need
for their use revolves around three factors: 1) the relief of pain; 2) boredom;
and 3) the hope of experiencing spiritual revelation. In the Cosmo-Conception,
Max Heindel tells us that the purpose of life is not happiness but experience.
In our struggle for what we consider to be the best of the material side of
life, we let our desires lead us into paths of pleasure, ease, and comfort. Thus
we often fail to fulfill the purpose of our existence, namely, to gain
experience.
When we abuse our bodies we incur pain,
Nature's way of telling us that misuse has gone far enough and that it is time
to reverse the conditions which have resulted in our discomfort. Many of us
ignore Nature's warning and, preferring the comfortable way out, resort to the
use of drugs. The tragedy is that, being unwilling to make an honest attempt to
search for and correct the causes we do not stop here. We accept the temporary
relief afforded and permit our bodies to build up a greater accumulation of
toxins. Thus we create a condition which requires more frequent use of drugs
until we are forced into action by a highly toxic and drug-oriented vehicle, one
which has little chance of making spiritual growth in this life. It requires a
pure and wholesome physical body and mind to give our spiritual vehicle the
discipline needed as a preparation for the work ahead. Only the individual
himself can bring about the conditions which will assure him of continued
growth. He must, therefore, refrain from the use of drugs or any other substance
which will interfere with the work of the brain.
Stimulants and Depressants
Our society today is afflicted by a
self-imposed condition called boredom, which has become one of man's problems as
he attempts to fulfill the destiny of this incarnation. The use of
tranquilizers, sleeping pills, and pep pills has developed into a way of life
for a large group of the human family. This use could be eliminated if the
individual involved would endeavor to live as a contributing member of society.
Instead of wallowing in his own self-pity, he must open his heart to his fellow
men and seek to find the peace he wants in the service of mankind. On a simple
level coffee and tea, used as beverages, are examples of drugs since they
produce a mild effect on the emotions. At higher levels, the barbiturates
(sedatives) and the amphetamines (stimulants) produce a more potent effect. That
these affect the central nervous system is well established. Unlike animals, who
are governed by Group Spirits, and therefore react to drugs in a similar manner,
man is individualized and there is no way of ascertaining for certain the side
effects on the body. These may be minor or serious, depending upon the level of
one's spiritual development. We can be certain, however, that in every instance
the effect will be to slow or retard present and future spiritual growth.
Long Term Effects of Drugs
Drugs such as marijuana, heroin, and LSD,
used especially by the younger generation to produce a so-called
"high" or "trip," are by far the most dangerous. To
understand why the young person is susceptible to the use of these mind-boggling
drugs, it is necessary to understand that he recently may have acquired the
desire body (at about age 14) or the mind body (at about the age 21). This is a
time for him to determine the limits of his ability and to see how far he can
challenge the status quo. Many young people are wilting to test the limits of
their adaptability. Others desire spiritual revelation, which they believe can
be induced by the use of drugs. At this critical period in the life of the
individual, he often lacks the confidence and warmth of an elder companion, one
who can guide him through this trying time. For too many of today's youth it is
a time of trial and error, a period of blind growth. Drugs offer a way out, but
as time wilt reveal, it wilt be the wrong way. Being hallucinatory, they do not
bring about the desired results; instead, they put the aspirant in danger of
being controlled by undesirable spirits, of undermining the physical body, and
of exposing himself to extremely harmful effects on his spiritual bodies. Any
damage to these vehicles may require many lifetimes to restore them to the
adaptability they originally had. This means a decided setback in evolution. A
person, therefore, who made much progress in former embodiments could lose the
value of previous hard work by seriously affecting the present life instruments.
Tobacco and Soul Growth
The third member of the trio is tobacco, a
complex mixture of gases, liquids, and solid particles. Not only do we find many
chemical compounds in tobacco but also many more are created by the burning of
the substance. Any of these can produce harmful effects upon the body; together
they can spell disaster. As with our previous discussions, our concern is not
only the effects upon the physical body but also upon the spiritual bodies. Our
evolution as spiritual beings depends upon the acquisition of the Golden Wedding
Garment, which is constituted from the development of the higher ethers. No
progress can be made on these ethers unless we raise the vibrations of our dense
physical bodies, and this can only be accomplished by maintaining as pure a body
as our present development will permit. No athlete or any other person requiring
a deft vehicle for excellence in his work should do anything that he knows to be
injurious to the body and the mind. For the person who elects to follow the
spiritual path, the need for abstinence is much greater, since every faculty of
the brain is needed to learn control of the mind. No one with a muddled brain
can hope to achieve any lasting success regardless of the effort he exerts to
raise his level of consciousness. Not only should the seeker abstain from the
use of tobacco, but also he must try to avoid, if possible, areas which smokers
habituate, since non-smokers are exposed to the many compounds which are
produced by the burning substance as well as the material exhaled by the smoker.
In summary, let us reiterate that, as
incarnate beings, we should be concerned with the development of the instruments
of the Ego, namely: the dense physical body, the vital body, the desire body and
the mind. The quality and condition of these instruments will determine how much
or how little the Ego can accomplish in its work of gathering experience in the
school of life. Alcohol, drugs, and tobacco have a harmful effect on these
vehicles to the extent that the spiritual growth of the individual and his
progress in evolution can be seriously retarded by their use.
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