Religions of all kinds inform us that there are celestial beings. There are men and women that became immortal, who may be called gods or angels. In the Fourth Way, this is C Influence, an influence connected with a conscious source. Spiritual aspirants may be sufficiently lucky to be in touch with C Influence. It is the task of these higher forces to see that we, like them, become conscious and immortal.
“God, in his kindness to man, has placed a race of superior spirits above them.” – Plato
One way to look at the life of a human being is to see it as a play. As a play has a beginning and an end, so does life. Whereas the vast majority of humanity is not connected with higher forces, some spiritual aspirants appear to be. The former lead mechanical, unconscious lives, and the latter conscious ones. The way gods see men may be similar to the way humanity views nature, animals, or pets.
“Only the gods know what to do with us; their will be done.” – Johann Goethe[1]
C Influence is endowed with higher mind[2]. It is a level of intelligence with which we are unfamiliar, as a contemporary spiritual teacher points out. They played their role in such a way that, with outside help, they survived the death of their own physical body. In order to perform such a feat one must have trust in higher forces. As the play unfolds, one is able to discern, or verify, that certain events are occurring that cannot be due to chance—or the law of accident—alone.
Our faith is the result of our verifications.
The mechanical part of our existence, the lower self, is a collection of many individual ‘I’s[3]. In order to ascend spiritually, one needs courage and perseverance. Our verifications of higher forces build in us a trust that allows us to endure hardships. On a practical level, the ‘I’s we can most trust are those that do not say ‘I’. One example is the ‘I’ to be present, summoning us to a higher existence, through self-remembering.
People circling the Kaaba, Mecca
“What could I do with the Kaaba if I had it? It’s the most famous idol in the world. God isn’t inside it, He isn’t outside it. The truth is He doesn’t need it.” – Rabia[4]
A word about inner and outer meanings may be in place. Nowadays, Muslims circle the Kaaba seven times, and Christians carry a wooden cross through the streets of Jerusalem. This is performing the outer rites of religion. Christ and Mohammed, along with many other conscious beings, point within, to presence, or self-remembering. Belief in the outer meaning keeps the masses of humanity asleep[5], as a contemporary spiritual teacher advises us.
Verifications of higher states of consciousness motivate us to proceed. Beauty and truth co-mingle and inspire us to go deeper into ourselves. Indeed, once we have flown, we will aspire to reach the heavens again, as Leonardo da Vinci[6]advised.
“Look within. Within is the fountain of good, and it will ever bubble up, if thou wilt ever dig.” – Marcus Aurelius[7]
The author has been a student of the Fourth Way for four decades. For other articles in the FourthWayToday magazine by Benjamin, see: https://fourthwaytoday.org/author/benjamin-b/.
[1] German polymath and writer (1749-1832).
[2] These are worlds 12 and 6, the higher emotional and higher mental centers, respectively, in a man or a woman.
[3] Fourth Way authors describe these ‘I’s, or fleeting ideations, as imagination.
[4] (716-801 CE) Iraqi lady Sufi poet. Sufism is a mystic body of religious practice within Islam.
[5] In a state of imagination; see note 3 above.
[6] (1452-1519) Italian Renaissance polymath.
[7] (121-180 CE) Roman emperor and stoic philosopher.