Blog entry by Lars Muhl from 19 December 2013
In Matthew 4:1-10, we read the description of Yeshua who go out into the desert to fast for forty days.
Directly translated from Aramaic, it says that Yeshua was drawn out of his Holy Breath, Rukha dKoodsha and into an unprotected open state.
First we need to understand that this matter of going out into the desert for forty days, was an established practice in the Middle Eastern mystic schools, which was practiced both by the Nazarenes and the Essenes in Palestine and by the Therapists in Egypt.
This process is still carried out today by certain Sufi orders in Turkey and Syria and intends to bring the practitioner behind his own facade and in contact with his own shadows.
In St Matthew’s gospel, it says that Yeshua confronted himself with the wild beasts of the desert which in fact, is a metaphor of the inner shadows. Later, Yeshua is tempted by Satan himself which in this case, is a metaphor for Yeshua’s own lower Self.
Nowadays, no one puts himself in an unprotected open state, voluntarily. Our own interior, is the desert which we hesitate to enter. Nor, is the outer world safe which is why we not only insure ourselves but also protect and very often hide behind an assumed psychological make-up and facade.
When we have long denied ourselves access to our own heart, it sands up and petrifies. Often, without us even noticing. The little Self usually always find a plausible excuse as to why: it is not I but the circumstances and the others, who are to blame.
To place ourselves in an unprotected open state, is to have a final showdown with yourself and your own shadows . It requires the highest degree of willingness and courage to go carefully over oneself, completely honest. This is not only painful but also a huge relief. To be reset. Not owing anyone anything, not having anything coming. Being able to find a balance between Heaven and earth.
Before understanding this it is, in my opinion, not possible to understand the Christian mystics such as Thomas a Kempis, John of the Cross, Hildegard von Bingen, Francis of Assisi, Master Eckhart, Seraphim of Sarov, Evelyn Underhill and Bernadette Roberts, just to name a few.
A book which, in my opinion, is absolutely essential in this context, is Thomas à Kempis ‘The Imitation of Christ’. It is a premium tool, a spiritual leveler that is garantied to keep you grounded and to undress yourself of the many layers of simulation and illusion. But one needs to understand to read and use the book, correctly.
To place oneself in an unprotected open state is any mystic’s most important project. It is the absolute frontier. For some of the aforementioned Christian mystics, this practice was an ongoing process that formed all of the mystic’s life and spiritual foundation.
This is where the words cease, where there are no more excuses or explanations, where only the total surrender to God applies.
Who am I when everything is being taken from me? What am I without status as a beggar or a millionaire, as sick or well, teacher or student, winner or loser?
Who am I if I am not the son, father, lover or husband? Who am I without a house, a car, or a job?
Who am I without my books and all the things I care about ? Who am I without my friends and my family?
Who am I without you?
Who am I without God?
It is when we are faced with this loneliness that the beast or the beasts emerges from the closets. And then we can choose to feed them with the emotional flicker of the ego, or to observe them, give them love, without hitching ourselves on. When we do not give the emotions energy, they lose their control over us and we experience yet another little corner, of the freedom we all crave for.
There was a time once, long ago when I probably had read countless books about all of this but I was too timid, to surrender. Only now, I understand what it means to have to integrate it, into my own life. Words are grateful and by them, you can claim anything. But it’s between the lines, and by the sound of over- or undertones, it is the deed that the truth and purpose, is revealed.
And the sooner, we will be revealed, the better it is for us. The sooner we secede from our hiding, the quicker, God may find us.
But who is God, many are asking, in a world where money is the only thing, one believes in?
For the first time in two thousand years, science has at long identified that our reality, the universe is held together by a superior and omnipresent intelligence. The scientists hesitate to call this universal intelligence God, but that really doesn’t matter, anyway. It’s not the name or the wrapping, but the essence and the content that matters. God is just a concept, for all that matters. A concept that refers to the intelligent, creative force by which everything was created.
However, if there is such a universal intelligence, how does it allow it to happen, that we are exposed to accidents, must endure suffering, war, hunger and poverty, here on Earth?
The intelligent universe is flowed through by a law, the LAW OF LIGHT. Everyone are subject to it, no one can cut corners, no one can evade it. All we people say and do, good or bad, leaves a mark in the Book Of Life, which is another metaphor for the Law Of Light. This way, each of us creates our own life and either, dissolve old burdens or incur new ones.
It is through the knowledge and practice of this law that man, finally, will understand the importance of his release from all artificial emotional and psychological layers, he has entangled himself in.
The unprotected open state. Here I am. Humility is not a concept but a state. Thankfulness, faith, tolerance, service, trust, distinctness and forgiveness, are not theories but the whole meaning of life.
In the book THE LAW OF LIGHT, it is possible to read more about how to place yourself in an unprotected open state, if interested.