 Dear Friends,
On August Bank Holiday Weekend we were fortunate enough to be able to hear the author, Andrew Harvey, give a wonderfully moving and inspiring talk at the Prophet's Conference in Oxford. He began his address by reminding us that in fact there are two kinds of initiation on the spiritual path, one of the light – the kind where we encounter all the glory and wonder of the divine within us; and one of the darkness – where our hearts open to the infinite sorrow of the divine – sorrow on account of the immense suffering, destruction and distortion brought about by human ignorance. Andrew Harvey said that if you want to say yes to the initiation of the light, you must also say an unconditional yes to the initiation of the darkness. And that if you do – willingly and unconditionally accept the pain as well as the joy of divine awareness – these two fires will forge you into one indefatigable instrument of divine compassion, a spiritual activist.
The need for the divine consciousness to manifest in our world – with all its wisdom, clarity and compassion – in very large numbers of people has, perhaps, never been greater. What else will dissuade people from the horrendous acts of inhumanity which are part of the very foundation of our society? What else will prevent most of the life on this planet – human, animal and plant – from being exploited and wrecked just so that we in the West can live out the illusion of affluence?
That's why the question of how to become a transparent, willing instrument of the divine has, for us, become the most burning one of all. And that's why, at the moment, it gnaws at our vitals so much when we allow even one day to pass without reflecting on this question and doing our best to answer it with our lives.
One of the most helpful books we've ever read on this subject is Andrew Harvey's The Direct Path. In it, he dispels so many of the illusions that, even today, keep us helpless – illusions often deliberately cultivated over thousands of years by religious and other authorities as means of retaining their power and influence over people. And he lets us see clearly how real, how immediate, how accessible the divine within us is. If we had to choose just one book to be our life-guide, it would almost certainly be this one, full as it is of spiritual practices Andrew himself has used over the years to draw close to the divine, and allow it to express itself through him.
You'll find a feature taken from The Direct Path by clicking: The Passion to Serve. For now, here are a few of our favourite quotes:
“It is time for the revolutionary energy of the Direct Path to be released and Christ's and Buddha's vision of a free, empowered humanity to be born at last. On that birth depends the future.”
“Humility is the beginning, the middle, and the end of the Path. You can never be humble enough. Only God is humble enough. The more humble you become, the greater the divine transforming power that can be given to you.
The more humbly you are willing to do whatever is asked of you, without asking for certainty or reward, the more can be done through you and by you by God.”
“Whatever happens to us and our world, love has already won in a dimension evil cannot understand or reach or defeat.”
In the question-time at the end of Andrew’s talk, he was asked to suggest ways of spreading the ideas of the Direct Path and spiritual activism. His answer was simple: ‘Let your life be your message.’
With much love from all of us.
Geoff, Ann, Martyn, Sarah, Jackie, Jacqueline, Eileen, Catherine, Graham, Alison, Penny, Belinda, Brian, Phil, Janine, David, Derek, Eddie, Jon, Sam & Pat
Text & photographs © Cygnus Books 25-May-2007
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