AWARENESS

 

 

Awareness is a more appropriate word than Intelligence because experience has repeatedly shown that Intelligence alone is not always adequate.  For example, Hemingway was intelligent, a literary genius.  But he failed to fathom the meaning of life. With life meaningless for him, he committed suicide.  His Awareness of man's destiny was zero.

 

What is the difference between Intelligence and Awareness?  For most people, Intelligence refers to the inherent analytical ability of man to think, memorize, analyze, conclude, or create concepts.  You say one is more intelligent than the other if the first has the ability to absorb and comprehend subject matters  easier and faster.  So Intelligence is dependent on the speed of comprehension.  The real test of Intelligence is in the realm of abstract thinking.  One reaches the zenith of Intelligence if he can understand the philosophical and mathematical concepts discovered and formulated by the geniuses.

 

Later, psychologists divided Intelligence into different sectors because some do not fall in the above category and still exhibit extraordinary attributes.

 

First, you have spatial Intelligence.  It is the ability to visualize objects, as if they see the objects in their minds.   The architects, artists, and painters excel in this type of Intelligence.

 

Then you have verbal Intelligence, the ability to communicate.  Some can form concepts more easily and communicate more readily with their fellowmen.  Even the hard concepts they can simplify so that ordinary man can understand.  Writers have this ability in abundance.

 

Then you go to the analytic abstract Intelligence.  This is the ability to form abstract concepts like the laws in mathematics.  It is the ability to analyze and solve problems.  This is the ability to understand difficult philosophical and religious concepts.  Many of the religious concepts are shrouded in mysteries so as to turn off the thinker.  Well, this need not be so.  Religious concepts can be understood if formulated in terms of ordinary philosophical concepts.  Only, one has to exert extra effort to comprehend them.  What is the use of God-given Intelligence if not to be used in comprehending Him?  One has to be active, serious, and determined in fathoming the concepts, whether religious or philosophical.   “Religious" connotes something which cannot be explained but has to be believed.   "Philosophical" refers to having several explanations pertain to a given phenomena, and it is your prerogative to choose the appropriate explanation.

 

This abstract Intelligence is followed by creative talent of the individual.  Out of the inputs entering his brain, it seems the individual can build and form other concepts.   The creative process is like stones, sands, and cement entering his brain.  0ut of these, he builds "church," "house," or "building."  Out. of metals, man builds computers.  The creative process is synergistic.  The product of the creative process is greater than the sum of the raw components.   The products of these creative processes of man are more treasured in heaven.  Trees and animals are creations of God.  But the transistor, calculators, and computers are the creations of man.  Man was able to exercise the attributes given to him by God which was not given to the other Earthly living beings --- the power to create.  Even the gross spirits created by Lucifer, the dwarfs and the enkantos, do not have the power to create.  Because of man's power to create, man was able to advance in the material world rapidly.  In less than twenty centuries since the coming of Jesus Christ, man has learned to live under water and fly in the sky.  Man was even able to reach the moon and other planets and eventually will discover the existence of Earth's parallel universe through science and through mysticism.

 

The other kind of Intelligence is social Intelligence.  This is more of the ability to deduce the other person's needs and personality.  Its main purpose is to provide man the necessary tools for living together harmoniously.  Those engaged in public relations work are imbued with great social Intelligence.  Leaders are geniuses in social Intelligence.  And people oozing with Love for humanity have reached the peak of social Intelligence.   Love is its ultimate goal.

 

People are exposed to different experiences because they are supposed to learn different lessons they failed to learn in their previous lives.  The exposure will enhance their Awareness of the reasons behind their experiences.  When one becomes rich, he should be aware of the need to be detached from his riches lest it imprisons him and he loses sight of the need for spiritual perfection.  From his riches, he should become aware of his duty to practice Love in its purest way by helping his neighbors alleviate their suffering.  The help might not be direct.  He can invest his riches in business ventures with job-generation as his main objective and maintaining an on-going concern as the secondary one.  In this way, he does not give fish to the hungry but teaches them to become fishermen.

 

For the poor, what is the lesson to be learned?  He might be poor but his desires for material things might be inordinate.  This obsession for riches will lead him to dishonesty in work or even to embezzlement and robbery.  He should be aware that the needs for material things are within the control of man.  In other words, you can increase or decrease your desires.  If you lessen your desires for material comforts, then less goods will be needed to satisfy your needs.

 

For example, if one goes on fasting for seven days, then he would have no need for food.  If he doesn't aspire to own a car, then he does not have to practically kill himself to work honestly or dishonestly to have the money for the car.  If he reduces his material aspirations, then he lessens the need for more material things.  Then he will realize that he has more time for spiritual development.

 

Therefore, those who are materially poor are not that unlucky.  They have more chances for spiritual advancement.  As Christ said, "Blessed are the poor for theirs is the kingdom of heaven."   What Christ meant is that to reach spiritual perfection one has to be detached from material things.  And the poor are naturally less attached to material things than the rich and hence the poor are more blessed and lucky.  They can go to heaven faster.  However, the rich are magnetized by their money and material things and are teased easily by the pleasures of Earth like sex and power.

 

So the rich has to exert more effort from detaching himself from those material things within his easy reach, for him to have time for spiritual evolution.  Awareness of these things will provide one with a sense of direction in life and not make him bitter over life's circumstances but resigned and happy.

 

As one can see, Awareness is an ingredient of spiritual perfection.  One’s native Intelligence facilitates this Awareness.  But Intelligence is only a vehicle, a tool. For the industrious, Awareness is faster.  For the industrious, Awareness is sure.  For the lazy, Awareness is nowhere to be found.

 

Now, when the next Christ comes, he will be a high-tech religious leader, like the first Christ who descended on Earth two thousand years ago who mastered Intelligence and absorbed all the knowledge man at that lime was able to accumulate.  The next Christ will be a genius who will absorb in his mind all the scientific, philosophical, religious discoveries man so far has discovered and created.  He will merge science and religion.  There would be no reason for the intelligent not to believe.  He will facilitate the detachment of man from his preoccupation with material things.  The next Christ will provide a quantum leap for humanity to spiritual perfection.

 

Selfish capitalists felt threatened with the brotherly Christian Love of the Communists for the poor who are oppressed.  Communism, Socialism, and Capitalism are like the different religions on Earth:  Catholicism, Buddhism, Protestantism, Islam, and others.  The first set tries to provide man with his material needs;  the second tries to provide man with his spiritual needs.  It is a pity that those espousing different ideologies try to annihilate each other, all believing that theirs and theirs alone is the true way to man's material perfection.  And, it is very ironic that those espousing different religious beliefs try to deprecate, criticize each other, each believing that theirs and their alone is the true way to man's spiritual perfection.

 

Awareness of these trivial differences will solve the problems of man.  Little by little the communists are realizing that their enemies are not the capitalists after all but their own selves --- their inefficiency in uplifting their constituency.  Today, Gorbachev and Deng are lessening the tensions of the world and concentrating their efforts in combating obstacles against man's material perfection --- the ability to supply one's basic needs, the ability to earn a decent living in compliance with God's dictum to Adam and Eve: "From the sweat of thy brow, thou shall eat.”

 

Awareness of the trivial differences of the religious beliefs will remove much of the animosity between Catholics and Protestants, between lglesia ni Kristo members and those of other religions, between Moslems and Buddhists, and among all religious believers.  Already, there are non-denominational common religious services.  Each religion should discard that notion that they and they alone were given the right by God to serve men.  The truth is that each in its own little way contributes to man's spiritual perfection.  There should not be destructive competition between religions.  Disparaging another religion is being anti-Christian for Jesus Christ kept on repeating "Love thy neighbor."

 

Both material and spiritual leaders of men should realize the true destiny of man.  They should be aware that man is on Earth to perfect himself materially and spiritually.  He works to satisfy his material needs and when he attains the material things, he should not become slave of them lest he forget his main destiny:  spiritual perfection.  The efficient management of time by man will enable him to attain both relatively at the same time.  When one works, he strengthens his Will Power.  When one suffers the deprivation of material things, when one gets hungry, he becomes aware of the existence of non-material things.  He inevitably turns his eyes to God.  But luckier are those who in their good fortune become aware of their neighbors' plight and help.  They take the opportunity of practicing Love.

 

And so, the poor and the helpless become thankful and in return feel humanity's Love.  That is why Will Power plus Awareness results in Love.

 

In these modern times, Awareness is needed for the different governments to realize that the material uplift of their constituents is their primary duties.  Different ideologies are but different ways of catching the deer.  For the religious leaders, they should realize that their religions are but different vehicles that will bring men to the summit of spiritual perfection.

 

And both governments and religious leaders should be more aware of the new anti-Christ, the enemy of Christ that is in your midst --- drugs.  When Christ came for the first time, He was able to instill in men and made them aware of Christian principles.  Satan, seeing his domain diminishing, has devised a clever way of stopping both material and spiritual advancement of man.  The dealers and sellers of drugs, Satan rewards with riches.  The users of drugs, Satan entices with myopic happiness and illusions of heaven.  The drug addict thinks that he has experienced heaven --- pure happiness.  Little does he know that, little by little, he is becoming a prisoner of his self.  His gross desires surface.  His subconscious gains the upper hand in the control of his body.

 

Drugs literally gnaws at the intellectual, moral, and physical well-being of men.  Drugs tends to weaken the ability of man to reason out and reduce him to the level of animals.  Drugs is habit forming. Once taken repeatedly, it has the tendency of enslaving the individual.  It is the most potent instrument that Satan discovered in asserting his leadership over men.

 

The cleverness of Satan's work is that it does not attack religion and hence the different religions do not recognize drugs as their enemy.  On the other hand, the government considers it as a mere social problem like drinking.  The world's leaders do not realize that the effect of drugs is that the spirit is easily detached from the body when the addict becomes "high" with drugs.  They are "high" and feel very light because actually their spirits are separating from the body.  And if the army of Satan takes over the bodies of all those "high" in drugs simultaneously, just imagine the destruction these possessed people can do to man and to Earth.  You are witnesses to isolated incidents of addicts very high on drugs who killed people left and right.  When they came to their senses, they said they did not know what happened.  They were telling the truth.   Demons occupied their bodies who were detached from their spirits because of drugs, and they went on a killing spree. And killing is the greatest crime against God.

 

At this time, only Awareness among people of different political and religious persuasions can save mankind from their common enemy, the anti-Christ unleashed by Satan --- drugs.  Its slaves are shockingly increasing.  Governments are helpless in combating them.  The rich and poor are equally victims unable to resist its use for more.  The drugs' power to subjugate man has increased with its power coming from the victims themselves.  The higher aspirations of the victims are lost.  The day-to-day availability of the drugs is their obsession.  Stealing is the road open to them.  Lying is the aftermath.  Laziness sets in.  Work appears undesirable.

 

For the victims to be set free of drugs, forced deprivation is necessary.  In a prison-like building, they should be kept.  Redirection of their life should be instilled.  They should be made aware of their life's destiny, of their responsibility for their own material and spiritual perfection.  They should be taught to pray.  And further, for them to have the needed strength of Will Power lost to drugs, others -- relatives and friends -- should pray for them.

 

Drugs is the enemy of Awareness.  Drugs deadens one's senses and motor abilities.  Drugs takes hold of the physical power of man.  Through its ability to make the victims ask for more, drug takes over the spiritual side of man.  The victim's Awareness of what is right and wrong is muddled.  The victim's Awareness of his need to aspire for a better life, career, future, marriage, and children is lost. The victim's Awareness for his main mission in life --- that of spiritual perfection   --- is erased.  The victim becomes hopelessly attached to material things:  His will power is broken.  He becomes obsessed with that heavenly feeling of being "high."  And he makes converts of his friends and friends of his friends.  Satan's drugs is working wonders for him.

 

Awareness of present conditions and the lessons to be learned through them is a necessity in your quest for material and spiritual perfection.  Also, Awareness of the needs of your fellow travelers in the same quest for spiritual perfection will enable you to help each other.