Removing the Unnecessary

Removing the Unnecessary

Diamonds excavated from the mines are rough, uncut, and unpolished. They are formed ever so slowly in the earth’s furnace, under conditions of intense heat and pressure. After they are processed and smoothened, they sparkle and shine. The stone already possessed the brilliance but needed to be worked upon. William Blake from The Marriage of Heaven and Hell said, “If the doors of perception were cleansed, everything would appear to man as it is, Infinite. For man has closed himself up, till he sees all things through narrow chinks of his cavern.”

Esoteric traditions have used diamonds as a symbol of the soul. Interestingly, it is said that the diamond does not have a shadow, and neither does the soul. Mr. Ouspensky said, “Higher Centres have no negative parts.” The diamond possesses the unique quality of light passing clearly through it, the same way that the divine energy flows through fully awakened beings. It is the passions that create numerous layers over the soul. Years and decades spent behind uncontrolled passions result in a muddied vision and the inability to partake of the divine vision.

In working with the passions, the chief effort is to remove what is unnecessary - false ideas, the illusion of having unity, preoccupation with oneself, lying, and negative emotions. One patiently starts replacing what is unnecessary with what is necessary to wake up from the distortions of the dream state. The practice of divided attention is the first step towards consciousness. Gradually, the passions start to wither away with every effort to establish oneself in the present moment. Michelangelo said, “Every block of stone has a statue inside it and it is the task of the sculptor to discover it.”

The spiritual journey toward the divine is nothing but the old man dying and the simultaneous birth of a new man; the doors of perception being cleansed, as William Blake explained. Rodney Collin said, “Being open. Everything is available, waiting for us. We are bathed in cosmic radiations, all help. But we must make ourselves open. Open our pores. Catch everything.”

From our Friend Dharmesh Shah

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Man Carving His Own Destiny, Albin Polasek