The Fourth Valley
In vital matters, leaving the responsibility to God means neglecting one’s own responsibility.
In this valley, we will try to shed light on the borders between our vital matters, supreme power position or responsibility regarding these matters and our own position and responsibilities. Our perception and realization of God or the supreme power behind creation can be different from each other. At contemplation valley which includes the first, second, and the third valley; it was discussed that the major part of our living responsibility is on our own shoulders. One kind of evasion is to neglect our responsibility and leave it to God as a divine, symbolic and theosophical movement and out of our indolence. “God you are supreme and great we depend on you so that you may solve our illnesses and problems”, we might say! Do we believe that God exists to clear our debts? To take money from someone else and give it to us! Or if I did a crime and I was arrested and sent to jail, God or supreme powers must bring me out of that jail? Or I can rest and God will take care of my family expenses? And many other issues and problems that we are asking God to solve for us! It is like God and supreme forces are our servants and we are planning for them and telling them what to do and what not to do! I think that sometimes we mistake God with the Aladdin’s enchanted lamp! Perhaps some of us believe in luck instead of God, I must say that we cannot depend safely on luck. We must depend on ourselves if we are to success. I believe if we do our part then we can ask for God or supreme power support or then we can wait for luck. This is essential to know that the divine hands only inspire and the rest is up to us. Unfortunately, sometimes our expectations of supreme power are not logical, perhaps it is because that our knowledge of supreme power is inaccurate. When the creation of human being was completed, this new creation was steered toward a crossing, and he was given the power of will to choose. One road is integrity, peace, and virtue. The other road is vices, falsity, abomination and obscenity. Then he demarked and specified the end of each road. Now if we believe in supreme power existence then we know that he has announced in many divine books: the responsibility of our deeds are ours to bear. How is it that we are trying to pass our lives obligations to God? Isn’t this escaping our living responsibilities?! Now this question may be raised, that what is the role of prayers? In response it must be mentioned that we believe, the prayers will be effective if we walk the righteous path and obey the God’s commands. We must accept the obligations of our living and never quit trying then our prayers will be effective because this is God’s promise. Perhaps our theory about God and the forces behind creation is not just. Because if we have known that force correctly we wouldn’t steer our life to agitation, illness or any other trouble. Now that we want to know this supreme power, let’s gain a rather true cognition. Some of us may be extremists and impugn or accept some matters out of ignorance and without thinking. One day we are a votary and the next day we are impious and we call it intellectualism! And then we assume that inwards are superstitious and noodle but we are wise. Milliards don’t understand but we do! Never mind! This supreme power or the former of the universe is so great and powerful that we can’t see him, it is like we are standing on earth but we can’t see it. Anyway, in order to realize this force passing our own gates is mandatory, in other words, initially we must get to know ourselves. If we know ourselves then we will realize that force certainly, and as we start knowing this great force we can make positive changes in our lives. Therefore, in this valley we are trying to discover the human’s essence: The human essence is divided into two parts: the first is the body (physique) which is visible and the second is the spirit (energy). Millions of cells that make up the body will perish after death, but the spiritual essence is released as a form of energy and will travel to a designated destination. If we look deep within ourselves we can locate a center of energy within us, assuming we aren’t involved with material, possessions and prestige, which are not compatible with the actual purpose of our creation. Following wisdom’s command can lead us towards realizing the mysteries of our inner and outer essence and also the secret of other universes parallel to ours. External universes do exist but only when the internal eye has been opened to them and this happens for individuals obedient to the supreme force. Other creatures do not have the luxury of this divine gift and anyone who aspires for this gift need the divine grace alongside a refinement process which is not easy at all. Creation is so diverse in other universes that is hard to imagine and that’s why it is unbelievable. We have not been able to comprehend even the slightest details of it; therefore, we try to realize ourselves, the true self. To understand human being, there are certain attributes of it that are visible and we can see them with physical eyes, we use the following terms to describe it: Human’s visible attributes or the body: The body or the human’s visible attributes which is called the inner city or the first body is visible for us, we are capable of feeling and touching it Some examples of these physical attributes are: brain, heart, kidneys, hands and the five senses that are made up of small particles called cells and each cell itself is like a huge city and other complicated systems which are beyond our comprehension. Human’s invisible attributes or the external essence: Just like the first body or the physique that is made up of many components, the second body or psyche is also made up of certain components. They are the self, out-of-body sensations, wisdom, spirit, virtual body, archives, and so on. Now in order to shed light on this matter let’s define self and its evolution: What defines the existence internally and externally is self; in other words, it is the main identity or foundation of every creature; it defines the essence or existentiality of that being internally or externally, in awakening and sleep, in physical world and hereafter. Self is not physical body nor spirit. For instance: a plant’s self is what creates that plant or the animal’s self gives existence to that very animal or human’s self is what made the human. The self has desires which can come under two categories: irrational desires and rational desires. Each human’s self is in a level or a rank based on his desires and knowledge, let’s give a brief explanation of these levels or ranks: The lower self The last stage in the evolution of animal’s self is the first stage that humans experience, because when an animal like a sheep is hungry and sees a plant, that very animal will follow instinct to eat that plant without thinking. Therefore, at this stage self of human is working based on his instincts and desires without thinking about consequences just like an animal does. Someone who experiences lower self: lies, cheats, kills, and betrays with no feeling of guilt, and even thinks that he is smarter than others. As mentioned these people are at the lower stages of the evolution chain and most of their deeds are based on their own benefits and desires and are mostly irrational. The human who is experiencing the lower self, desires to provide comfort in short term but in long term he will be faced with troubles, disaster, fiasco, confusion and depression. He has provided this for himself with his own hands indeed. The middle self or the blaming self If one passes the lower self and gains knowledge will enter the gates of the middle self. The second stage is the blaming self, the self that does the inappropriate act but blames itself afterwards and feels guilty for instance: He lies and he regrets, he takes bribe and he feels sad, he uses narcotics and he suffers. This is experienced after one passes through the lower self and regrets irrational behavior. It must be pointed out that passing through the lower self and inception of the middle self is not like a point in which transforming happens in an instant. Losing all traits of the lower self and getting fixed at the middle self is a process which happens gradually. Anyway exiting the lower self and entering the middle self (the blaming self) is a progress itself in evolution and knowledge direction which is valuable. The higher self or the perfected self may enter the gates of perfected self with self-purification and gaining proper knowledge. One who is experiencing this stage usually doesn’t do any irrational act, not in awake nor in sleep, not in public nor in private. It is because his desires are mostly rational. Entering the perfected self is priceless and is above angel’s position. One who is at perfected self has been invited to the special heaven by God. Result: We accept the responsibility of our life and we try as hard as we can to reach our goals and we are certain that supreme power will guide and support us in this path. God helps those who help themselves We have come to this conclusion, one who is obeying the irrational desires of his self, even if he prays all day along asking God to resolve his personality’s defects nothing will happen. It is like turning left with a car when the right indicator is on! This makes no sense if someone moves toward vices and yet he asks supreme power to guide him to the righteous path. Isn’t it credulity to escape our responsibilities and pass it along to others or God?! Accepting the responsibilities of living is a very important law in all the stages of life, it makes no difference being in low self or perfected self. Therefore, it is said: In vital matters, leaving the responsibility to God means neglecting one’s own responsibility. Who must accept the responsibility in order to get closer to the wisdom command, human or God?! Isn’t it true that God brought us from the highest of the high to the lowest of the low in order for us to realize the wisdom’s command and attain the highest peaks of evolution and to reach peace? If we move toward our rational desires we must know that this supreme power will help us, we ask and we shall receive. Assume that our cable is attached to God and we must move toward the source to keep this connection. God is closer than we think.
Adopted from the book "Love, Fourteen Valleys for Recovery"
Translated by: Ehsan ranjbar