True Seekers That We Are

To most of us, God is an abstract thing, so isn't it curious that we fight over our differences conce
ing God? Maybe this is because few actually devote their lives to piercing the abstract and coming face-to-face with God. The reason, perhaps, that few search for God is because when they do, they are called fools or worse and are usually defamed by a modern society that considers seekers not productive member of the social order. This is curious, too. It's as if few are ever serious when it comes to thirsting for God.

With every generation, a handful of hearty souls are willing to give up everything for this quest to find enlightenment, or God, and when they do, everything else pales for them. Most major religions understand and practice these deeper aspects: Jews, Catholics, Buddhists, Hindus all have monastic orders of some kind, or traditions established regarding leaving friends and family and giving oneself to God. This leaves the great majority of the faithful thinking that they cannot aspire to these lofty levels, that they are not good enough to achieve sainthood . . .and this is not true.

Family values among the various world cultures vary, and we can agree or disagree on the acceptability of leaving families for the quest for truth, but this quest is something that has been going on since antiquity. Once a person determines that his or her mission in life is to find God, above everything else, there is no stopping them. It is if a God virus gets into their hearts and they become hopelessly infected!

When a young man or woman goes to war, leaving family behind, is this any different from a man or woman leaving mother and father, sisters and brothers behind to find God? Wouldn't that be a wonderful example for his or her family - the undying quest for God or truth? What is more important; God or country? What will be with you the moment after death, God . . . or country?

Monks and nuns of all denominations - the Catholic contemplative saints, the Trappist monks, Buddhist monks and nuns, all recluses - understand this and leave their families to give themselves completely to God or truth.

Unless a man or woman has actually seen the face of God themselves, this thirst is impossible to understand. God's "face" dwarfs anything that the world can come up with by a million times. Books by St. John of the Cross and St. Teresa of Avila explain this beautifully, saying that if we become caught up in creatures (humans - families), we will never find God, and instead only imagine that we have found God, and continue to wander blindly. The Buddhist say something similar; that until one is enlightened, he or she will wander through so many lifetimes that their tears will fill the oceans.

Once a man or woman thirsts, really thirsts for God, or what a Buddhist would call release or enlightenment, there is no restraining them. Put them in prison, defame and spit on them, torture them, whatever - this thirst for enlightenment will persevere and trump any primal instinct. This is a spiritual instinct. Few, however, understand, and in their ignorance cause great karma to themselves by belittling these holy people whom sincerely search for God because seekers are very close to God's heart. People who aren't close to God's heart cannot realize the immensity of what is at stake.

Those who thirst for the security of family and things of the world cannot comprehend this spiritual thirst. Out of fear, they will despise men or women who leave their families, because the true seeker is always misunderstood and not sincerely loved. Although it is actually possible to find God within family life, it is rare in modern society because of the many distractions.

Believing in God, or thinking that one has found God, is not finding God. St. Teresa of Avila's "Interior Castle" explains this very well. Authentically finding God is, however, very possible if the thirst is great enough. One can find a way, even within a busy life, to truly find God within themselves. This would be, among other things, achieving unconditional love.

Real love is unconditional. If we love our family more than the family across the street or across the ocean, this is not love; this is a selfish attachment, which means that we don't understand unconditional love at all. Unconditional love is what the seeker tries to find because it is the only true release. From a Christian perspective, this can be done within the framework of faith. From a Buddhist perspective, a man or woman who begins the quest no longer has borders or a religion to hold on to, simply because Buddhism is not a religion as far as the serious seeker is conce
ed; it is a method of release.

A meditator, or one who practices deep, contemplative prayer, whether Christian or Buddhist, loses interest in material things, and in separation of any kind because they have discovered the fundamental trick of the mind that creates an ego or self, and they let go of that, using it only when necessary. In other words, they create no divisions, because they have fewer desires.

With no ax to grind, they are content to just practice their meditation or faith and live in whatever circumstances they find themselves. They have no agenda to advance, and although they are more than willing to talk or write about the freedom of their faith, and how it might save the world, they accept the fact that the earth may end, while at the same time doing what they can to help humanity. They know that everything changes, and that human existence involves suffering. This is all revealed by the simple practice of sitting quietly. And this is true peace.

This quest for God or enlightenment is the only hope to save the world. Otherwise, our divisions, our desires, and our ambitious and competitive thirst for worldly things instead of God will eventually kill us. Take a good look at the world; it is becoming a very dangerous place. China and Russia have enough nuclear weapons, presently aimed at us, to destroy our world in 30 minutes. It just takes the press of a button.

Is it time that we individually reevaluate our priorities, and perhaps look toward a God, or a Realty, that we have forgotten about in our rush to conquer the world? This is possible. All it takes is a change of priorities.

And why should we change priorities? Because if we don't, there might not be another generation. n