THE ESSENES
Most
of the “religious” factions that I have studied, well actually all, have made
it quite clear. That in order to make our way back to God we must forsake this
world and everything that goes along with it. I know you’re thinking that is impossible.
Well it’s not. Now, if you are thinking, it means giving up all you own and
living in the wild as a hermit then I would have to agree with you. But that is
not what they intended when they spoke those words. Jesus conveyed this best
when He said, “We are to be in this world but not of this world.”
What
He is saying, what they are all saying is, we are not to allow our “egos” run
our lives. We cannot let it control us and dictate every aspect of our lives.
When you find yourself desiring something new, ask yourself, “Why do I desire
this?” If the answer is anything other than, “…to become closer to God.” Then
it is your ego dictating for you your “needs”.
There
are many ways to go about this. One way in particular was demonstrated by the
Essenes. This was one of those religious groups I alluded to earlier. They were
a group of people whose practices were very much in line with the Hassidic Jews
and the Kabbalists of their time. Their time being, the BC and AD eras. That
was of course till the romans decided to eliminate them.
The
Essenes had communities out in the desert and followed very strict religious
beliefs and practices. They adhered to a lifestyle of virtues. The first virtue
being one of Simplicity:
There
must be more spiritual abundance in life.
·
Embrace the wilderness; hold to your bosom the
desert experiences of your life keep them close to you. Learn from them. It is
a deep and recondite irony; for only in the experience of lack do we learn the
secret of abundance.
Here
of course, I believe they are expressing this as a spiritual lack. Jesus had
spoken of something similar, but instead of lack and abundance, he utilized
light and darkness. Jesus said, “You cannot find the light until you have first
experienced the darkness.”
On
a spiritual level, when one experiences periods of darkness, or descents, is
when “we” withdraw from God. And what they are saying here, is how can you know
what spirituality is until you figure out what the ego is and its true nature.
We must first come to realize that the ego is there to prod us into getting
everything we can for ourselves and to hell with everyone else.
That
may sound somewhat drastic, that lust part but if it came down to you getting
something that you really wanted, you would do anything to get it and wouldn’t
really care about the repercussions on anyone else’s lives. It is the way we
are, it is human nature, if you will. Well I, personally, refer to it as the
nature of the beast. This is because when people act like this, that is all
they are, beasts.
Next
time you find yourself in that situation, try to stop and think, why we need
all this “STUFF”. We go through this life with the mistaken belief that we need
to get as much as we can before we die, and to what end? Scripture states that
we are not to store up things in places where they can be destroyed, but store
them up in heaven. Matthew 6:19.
That
is the all-important question to continually ask yourself, and eventually you
will arrive at the big question of, why we are here. What is our purpose of
being here on this planet?
Once
you have arrived at this question, you are now able to see the light, because
you have realized just how dark the world you have been living in really is.
Desert
experiences we often used to describe spiritual dry spells. When one has
decided to walk the spiritual path and has decided to forsake all one’s
egoistic desires, it can seem like a vast wasteland or a desert when one is
seeking to find God or struggling to stay on the path. The longer one spends in
a desert, the stronger the temptations from worldly goods and pleasures become.
We are not to shrink from our desert experiences in our lives. Ask what you can
(suppose) to learn from them and then seek to apply every lesson with
relentless consistency.
The
only way to survive the desert is to discover the lessons it teaches – “to find
the fountain of living waters.” Those who fail to find it, perhaps because they
fail to look, are doomed to melt in the grip of the searing heat. (Essenes)
Everyone
lives in the desert of their own choosing. Everyone is in an exile of sorts,
whether it be imposed upon them or self-imposed. The only question is, whether
you govern the nature of your wilderness, your exile or whether it governs you,
once again alluding to the battle between good (spiritual) and evil (ego).
(Essenes)
The simplicity one seeks is not escape from life or
its responsibilities; it’s liberation, a progression to a better way. For whatever
you have given up in the form of material possessions you have gained back in
peace, tranquility, order and camaraderie. I would like to add here, that you will also
continue in your movement down the path towards God. This is truly the ultimate
goal of everyone. (Essenes)
