Secrets of God

by Slawek Wojtowicz

  How is Jesus going to lead Mary Magdalene to make her male? He is not talking about external sexual characteristics, but rather psychological traits traditionally associated with each gender. In reality, every individual is a hybrid—each of us has both masculine and feminine characteristics within, like the Chinese yin and yang symbol, though in proportions unique to each person. The yang energy is masculine in nature, and Chinese tradition describes it as light, dry, directed, focused, logical, and action oriented. Yin energy is feminine and described as dark, moist, diffuse, vague, intuitive, and receptive. In regard to psychological functioning, men are predominately yang but contain a yin aspect as well (represented in the Yin Yang symbol as a smaller circle of opposite color within each half of the whole). Women, while predominately yin, contain an element of yang. Thus, human beings are psychologically androgynous with latent inner masculine and feminine energies awaiting development in each individual.

  Similar concepts have been explored in the Western tradition. Carl Jung postulated that each individual contains both masculine and feminine components of the psyche. In his terminology the feminine component in each man is labeled as an “anima,” and the masculine element in a woman as an “animus.”

  Jung defined anima or animus as the unconscious, complementary inner self of an individual, as opposed to the persona (“a mask” in Greek), or external, visible aspect of the personality. The anima is the personification of all archetypal feminine psychological tendencies within a man’s unconscious; the opposite is true for the animus in women.

  The anima and animus can influence a person in either a positive or negative manner, depending whether it is integrated and conscious or not. A man who has integrated his anima is capable of tenderness, caring, nurturing, vulnerability, patience, consideration, and compassion. The unconscious anima manifests as vanity, moodiness, irritability, insecurity, uncertainty, and touchiness. A woman with integrated animus shows leadership, assertiveness, independence, courage, initiative, objectivity, spiritual wisdom, thoughtful rationality, and compassionate strength. A woman under the influence of unconscious animus is perceived by others as inflexible, opinionated, ruthless, reckless, prone to destructive behaviors, obstinate, and cold.

  According to Jung, the first half of life focuses on the differentiation of the primary sexual identity and corresponding energy, but in later life the maturing person moves towards wholeness, integrating the opposite energy (either the anima or the animus). The animus and anima are shaped by relating to and being in the presence of the parent of the opposite sex. Jung used the term “individuation” to describe the process of maturing, which involves balancing of these characteristics. His followers further divided individuation into four consecutive stages:

   Becoming independent from parents and from parental complexes

   Becoming competent in relationships

   Becoming aware of who you really are

   Becoming a whole person

  It is an arduous task to develop a positive relationship with our internal anima or animus. It requires conscious attention, and just like other steps towards wholeness it can take much time and a significant amount of genuine suffering to balance these aspects of ourselves. Please see also Saying 22, which addresses other facets of the complex process of human individuation.

  The Future

  Our world is perfect, but it is obviously very imperfect as well. This is another of God’s favorite paradoxes. Most of us perceive this world as an imperfect place, a hell indeed. Yet it is custom designed to awaken each and every one of us so that we can experience eternal bliss and joy of Oneness, and exhilaration of life as beloved children of God. In that sense it is a perfect world even today. Everything that happens to us, every situation is an opportunity to choose between love and selfishness. The Kingdom of Heaven has always been here, yet we fail to see the perfection surrounding us. Instead of paying attention to the opportunities we are given to awaken we keep waiting for the Kingdom to come to us. Just like most of the apostles, modern Christians still anticipate the “Second Coming” of Christ as an external event that will occur in an unknown moment in the future. Is the Second Coming of Christ an individual event—our own Realization or Resurrection? Or will it be a mass Awakening of all of us?

  Traditional religions tell us that we have to wait for the reward for our good behavior until after we die. Not surprisingly, in a modern era most of us are not willing to wait until death to find out whether there is a reward waiting for us beyond the grave. We prefer short-term rewards that can be found in our seemingly imperfect world to the unsure rewards in the uncertain “afterlife.” How can we trust the teachings of orthodox religions when even their priests, ministers, rabbis, or mullahs don’t live what they preach? No wonder many atheists argue that religion is simply a scam, allowing those in power to exploit naïve masses.

  The problem is that the majority of us lack firsthand experience of the Divine, and thus are not certain what will happen to us after we die. Without firsthand experience of the Divine reality we are forced to depend on faith alone, and ultimately we don’t really KNOW whether there is more to our existence. Without that knowledge there are no guarantees that our life doesn’t end with the death of our body. Ironically, some of the most reliable and effective means to experience the Divine (namely sacred plants such as peyote, ayahuasca, or magic mushrooms used by shamans for millennia) have been outlawed in most countries across the world. Thus, most people today remain totally oblivious to our shared Divine identity and end up living their lives in quiet desperation, without the joy and peace that are our birthright. How depressing and hopeless is the world deprived of Love!

  Mystical teachings promise a reward much sooner. If we make the search for the Kingdom of Heaven our priority, each of us can awaken within this lifetime and become a divine being just like Jesus Christ. The Buddha taught that any dedicated person can awaken within seven years or sooner if he or she genuinely focuses on that goal. The Heavenly Kingdom is awaiting us right here and right now, if we chose to follow Jesus’ example. Hence, for those of us still imprisoned here the most important questions should start with “How” not “When.” How can I awaken? How do I find the narrow gate that leads to the Kingdom of Heaven? How do I bring Love back into our seemingly loveless world? The message in the Gnostic gospels is pretty clear and transparent. Each of us is responsible for our own salvation, and everything we experience here is meant to help us to awaken. One of the major goals of a mystical path is to enable us to see that we live in a perfect world and that this universe is custom-designed for each of us to reach salvation as quickly as possible. Tragically, many of us experience this reality as hell—our existence is full of pain, suffering, fear, and disappointment.

  Gnostics taught that our suffering is a result of our resistance to God’s love. We ourselves are the sole cause of our torment when our actions and intentions are not aligned with God’s purpose. God intends us to be perfectly loving and caring towards each other. The further we are from that ideal, the more suffering we experience and the longer it takes to awaken. Our life is often compared to a river: If we chose to paddle against the current, our journey will be much more tiresome and longer than it is for those who chose to accept the reality and to go with the flow.

  Jesus urged us to “be perfect, like our Divine Father.” Reaching divine perfection may appear an overwhelming and unrealistic task, until one realizes that all we have to do is to strive for perfection. We are not expected to be perfect right away and all the time. Our errors and mistakes are forgiven by God even before we make them. All that matters is that we keep trying and never, ever give up. Our job becomes much easier when we learn that we have an eternity ahead of us to become perfect, and that striving for perfection can be broken into small, manageable bits. We need to be kind, compassionate, and caring from moment to moment, right now, not “always” or in some nebulous future. Any improvement is better than stagnation. If we keep w
orrying about the seemingly impossible task of “always” being perfect, we will never have a chance to be kind and compassionate in this very moment, in interactions with other people, right when they happen. When Jesus tells us that it impossible to serve two masters, he means our decisions in each moment. We have only two choices in the way we respond to situations that we find ourselves in—we can respond either with love or without it, selflessly or selfishly. In each instant we have to choose which voice we will follow: God’s or our egos’.

  While the Kingdom of Heaven has been always open to everyone, very few humans throughout history have chosen to take mystical teachings literally and to live their lives the way Jesus taught us. Our times are extraordinary in that more people than ever are finally getting the message and putting it into practice in their own lives without waiting for others to change. As a result, there are more fully awake people walking the streets of our cities today than in the whole combined history of humanity. Many people speculate that when the number of these awakened beings reaches a certain threshold, the rest of our species will be dragged into awakening as well, whether they want it or not. When that happens, we will reach our next evolutionary stage as a species. Homo sapiens will be replaced by a new species, Homo spiritualis. I KNOW that this will happen—I have seen that joyous moment already. I don’t know, however, when humanity will awaken. My sincere hope is that it will happen sooner rather than later, well before we destroy our beautiful planet or ourselves.

  Like many other people I believe that we live in very exciting times, on the cuff of a major breakthrough. For the first time in our history we have a real chance to awaken as a species. And it is up to each and every one of us when that will happen. God is not asking us for the impossible. He knows what we are capable of and each of us has an important and unique part to play in God’s salvation plan. Our actions do make a difference, no matter how small and insignificant they may seem to us.

  The good news is that there is a quiet revolution going on already and you are invited to join in. God calls you personally to spread love in the world—not by proselytizing and evangelizing, but by working on yourself. More and more people realize the insanity of our behavior: wars, destruction of natural environment, intolerance, and abuse that we heap on each other. Can you put yourself in another person’s shoes each time you interact with them? Can you forgive others—or do you prefer to pretend that you would behave differently if you were in their shoes? You wouldn’t, since in truth you are them and they are already in their shoes. They behave exactly like you would have if you were in their place. That insight should give us more patience to deal with other people. Even if we don’t understand why they are behaving in certain ways, we should not judge or condemn them. Their unconscious actions make our awakening possible and give us an opportunity to be loving, forgiving, and compassionate towards those who are still asleep.

  As we begin to awaken, we also realize that all of our actions, without an exception, help others to awaken. However, the same actions may slow us down on our own path towards awakening if they happen to be selfish and hurtful towards others. When we get closer to awakening, we learn how to act more skillfully, in ways that are mutually beneficial for all parties involved in a particular situation.

  Let’s look at a couple of hypothetical situations from a workplace. In the first scenario, a boss is yelling at his subordinate for being a few minutes late to work. This is the first time that the employee has been late to work in many years. The boss is an explosive, abusive person who likes to discharge his frustrations on underlings. The scolding that the employee received was clearly undeserved, and thus it offers an opportunity for the employee to stand up to his/her boss and learn to be more assertive. Standing up for yourself, especially when you are in an abusive relationship, is a loving thing to do. So is confronting an abusive boss, so that he/she has an opportunity to learn that it is not OK to abuse other people and thus may become a more caring person. Even if the employee gets fired for his or her courage, both ultimately benefit from this situation.

  Another situation: One of your co-workers is late for team meetings five times in the row, keeping everyone waiting and never apologizing for being late. In that situation it is appropriate for one of the team members to point out to the chronically late person that this behavior is disrespectful towards others. Again, both parties benefit. The offending party has an opportunity to apologize and try to do better and the person who confronted him/her has learned to be both patient (since they didn’t bring this issue up until it was clear that tardiness was a habitual pattern in this case) and assertive. That’s how love in action may look like.

  “Love” is a concept central to the world’s major religions. In Buddhism, love is an expression of kindness and compassion and sincere respect for all life. Love is a desire for others to be happy. True love is unconditional, and it is exactly this kind of love we all crave. Christian and Jewish holy texts remind us about the importance of love over and over again:

   “Love your neighbor as yourself” (Leviticus 19: 18).

   “Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another” (John 13: 34).

   “Be devoted to one another in brotherly love. Honor one another above yourselves” (Romans 12:10).

  Religions teach us that love understands, knows, illuminates, conquers, and makes life eternal. Love purifies and liberates. Since God IS Love itself, the only way to Him is through love. Yet, this universal message gets perverted over time, and we end up hurting each other and feeding the endless cycle of violence and madness. It is up to each of us to say: “STOP! I am taking responsibility for making sure that whatever evil comes my way, it will not propagate any further; the buck stops right here. I will break cycles of insanity that spread through generations—in my own family, in my own country, in my own neighborhood, in my own church.”

  It is time to implement Jesus’ call to awakening from insanity and always remember to see the Christ in each other. Would you scream at your co-worker, parent, sibling, or child if you always remembered that they are God and that they all are always tirelessly trying to help you to awaken to eternal peace and happiness? Would you complain about your paycheck if you remembered that lack of financial resources helps you to give up things and addictions that keep you imprisoned in hell? Would you give silent treatment to your spouse if you knew that his/her nagging is meant to help you on your path to salvation? Would you reject your son or daughter just because he/she is gay, using drugs, or is incarcerated for whatever reason? Didn’t Jesus show by example that “the stone rejected by the builders is the cornerstone?” Your rejected child is such a cornerstone, which can help you build the gate leading to salvation—if you choose to accept it.

  Let’s open our eyes to the True Reality, to the One God who is inside of each of us and everywhere around us; who beckons to us to open up so that His endless, unlimited Love can flow through each of us into the world! Let’s focus on giving love to others first, instead of asking for it for ourselves. Let’s learn to be more patient, kind, empathic, forgiving, and compassionate towards ourselves and towards everyone else.

  There are a multitude of spiritual tools that can help us on the way—modern books such as A Course in Miracles, Loving What Is, and Power of Now are helping many to shed their old skin and become more loving and compassionate towards others. Many spiritual practices such as yoga, meditation, rolfing, or the Feldenkrais method are becoming increasingly popular and help to heal both the body and mind. The good news is that once we step onto the path leading to salvation, it is certain that we will eventually get there, awakening fully to the glory and joy of the Kingdom of Heaven.

  Awakening is a gradual process of shining the light of consciousness into every aspect of our lives. Being awake means being fully present in all situations, no matter how difficult they are, instead of escaping into anger, resentment, or depression. It means becoming a selfless warrior of God, willing to su
ffer on behalf of our brothers and sisters if need be. It means letting go of our ego, of our pride and our selfishness. It means taking care of the environment and animals as well as caring for our human neighbors. That’s where mystical experiences come into play. Those who experience God’s love firsthand will not hesitate to sacrifice themselves for others, just as Jesus did. Only direct experience of the Divine has power to change us permanently—the life story of the Apostle Paul is a very good example of the profoundly transformative effects of spiritual experience on an individual’s life.

  While each of us strives for individual awakening, driven by a hope of salvation, our efforts contribute to species-wide shifts in consciousness. We are seeing such shifts happening on a global scale right now. The seeds of positive change are already here; the way we think is changing quickly, more and more of us experiencing an increasing sense of unity with our planet and all forms of life co-inhabiting Earth with us. There is a growing awareness of the ecological dangers ahead of us, and emerging resistance against political and corporate policies supporting exploitation and destruction of the natural environment and indigenous human cultures as exemplified by the popularity of books such as Endgame by Derrick Jensen. In many parts of the world people are starting to participate more actively in the life of communities they live in and are taking steps to dismantle political and ideological barriers separating us from one another. There is a deepening recognition of the value of peace, partnership, and pluralism, and a re-emergence of the feminine in its many diverse forms.