This
chapter is directed especially at those who are willing to free themselves from
their sectarian chains so that, through spiritual liberation, they will be
capable of rising to regions which religious materialism will never be able to
reach.
It is
perfectly understandable that indians in the jungle cannot have a concept of
spirituality beyond worshipping fire, lightning, the sun or animals of the
lower species. They lack a basis of reasoning to dissuade them from the
worshipping perplexity in which they engage.
The
primary idea of god, which is rejected by the more civilised but accepted by
primitive men, arises precisely under the conditions described above.
No
natural law ever fails, including the law of evolution. As regards the spirit,
evolution occurs - as already explained - through countless incarnations, and
only by this means does reason develop on the long way to spirituality. Under
the light of spirituality, mysticism loses its form, its sense, its meaning,
giving way to merely what common sense and logic admit as true, based on the
lessons learned in the bulky book of life.
As
soon as he begins to reason, in its first stage of an incarnation in human
form, the incarnate spirit already feels, although in a vague and confusing
way, the existence of a Superior Intelligence which he is unable to define.
Hence his inclination to worship which is fully justified by the conditions of
ignorance in which he lives.
It is
not difficult for an alert observer to evaluate the degree of spirituality of
men by their tendency to engage in worship and by the higher or lower degrees
of this tendency.
The
ways of worshipping and the object of worship vary widely as conscience
gradually awakens until the person is able to reject the feeling of worship.
Generally
speaking, people worship in order to beg favours and protection. Therefore,
worshipping translates, into ignorance and spiritual inferiority.
The
first impulse to worship is felt by man in his most primitive stage as an
aborigine.
From
one incarnation to the next he rises to the so-called civilised classes, still
entertaining this same feeling but already in a modified version, more refined
to suit his social environment but, deep inside, maintaining the same thoughts
and the same ideas that originated this feeling in the past
Religions
always use pomp to impress followers. Most of it is meant to encourage worship.
Gods and religions
by Luiz de Mattos
Gods and religions
by Luiz de Mattos