(This
article was written by Alsibar, who has studied spiritual guides
extensively, and the original text in Portuguese can be read at this link.)
What
will spirituality be like in the new millennium? How will postmodern
man address the age-old questions about his connection to God and the
Sacred? How will he cope with the tsunami of information that assails us
daily?
You
may not agree with this manifesto, but if it invites you to reflect on
your old paradigms, concepts, and prejudices, it will have been worth
it!
The "now" gang
I
know many may disagree with me. I am nothing. I simply write what
suddenly arises from within me. I share what I consider valid and
healthy. I don't write for a select few. I write for everyone. For all
who are willing to listen, to read, to search, to discover, to
investigate.
I
regret that the "NOW" crowd will surely despise this manifesto, even
for its title. The "NOW" crowd—for those who don't know—are those who
ALREADY know, who ALREADY arrived, who ALREADY feel safe, who ALREADY
are saved, who ALREADY are happy, who ALREADY have become enlightened,
who ALREADY found.
These
people, unfortunately, won't listen to me. Why would they? They already
have everything. They've already achieved everything.
They
are, in reality, dead in their search, because they believe they have
nothing left to discover, nowhere to go. They are full of themselves, of
their certainties, their prefabricated truths, their refined intellect.
Of words, of the past, of sacred texts, of their own experiences. But
deep down, very deep down, fear and insecurity hide beneath layers and
layers of certainty.
The new man
I want to speak to the new man. To the man of the new millennium who has thousands of new challenges to face and overcome.
I
want to speak to the man of the search, not to the search for "Truth,"
for it is not something to be sought, since it "IS." But to the man who
seeks to learn daily. Who learns at every moment, minute by minute, from
everything and everyone. Who has no pre-fabricated truths or answers,
because pre-fabricated answers are not true answers. They are dead, for
they are rooted in the past, in the old, in the ashes of what is already
dead.
I
want to speak to the person open to discovery, to investigation:
Eternal, Unpredictable, Unknown, just as LIFE is. This new person will
not create new gods; we already have too many. Nor will they create new
masters, for we are now mature enough to take responsibility for our own
destiny. We must be our own masters.
Of
course, there will be resistance. It always has been, and a good part
of humanity, despite the technological leap of thousands of years,
continues to behave like an immature adolescent.
A new dawn, a new spirituality
But
I sense the whispers of a new dawn. Behold, humanity is beginning to
awaken and understand this new way of life. Why separate spirituality
from life?
The
truly spiritual person is one who knows how to live with fullness,
wisdom, and happiness. They are the person who has freed themselves from
illusions, who saw the danger of that cursed and poisonous entity
dwelling within them, and put an end to it.
But
let no one be mistaken. This is not an easy mission. Although it is,
depending on each person's capacity for understanding. And it is along
this path that the New Man is gradually being forged: through
understanding. Not through foolish and childish idealizations about what
he "thinks he is" or what he "should be." But through the correct
perception of what he TRULY IS.
Many
are very close to this understanding. They are just a little short. But
that little bit still separates them from the true vision of Truth. It
remains an obstacle. It still keeps them prisoners of the illusion of
that entity everyone knows: the ego.
Access to knowledge and happiness
The
internet has brought with it a wealth of information, an unprecedented
access to knowledge. It was, without a doubt, a great revolution, a true
repository of the most important and valuable knowledge that humanity
has ever produced.
Never
before has so much been shared so quickly: from baking recipes to the
sacred and precious words of once-rare books like the 'Bardo Thodol' and
'The Secret of the Golden Flower'. Never before has information
traveled so fast, whether it was world news, soap opera gossip, or the
everyday events of people's lives.
The
internet is a revolution unimaginable until recently. But this
revolution has also brought its share of problems. We don't know what to
do, how to process so much information. And what's worse: now, more
than ever, humanity needs to understand that wisdom has nothing to do
with knowledge. Otherwise, this could ruin it forever, because the time
has come for humanity to mature.
Scholarship is not wisdom
How
can humanity mature? How can it evolve if it continues to make the same
mistakes as our ancestors, namely, confusing erudition with wisdom?
Scholarship
plays a vital role in this new stage of history. Science cannot evolve
without knowledge. We live in the Information Age, and those who possess
more information, are more connected, and have a more comprehensive
vision will have a greater chance of achieving an advantageous position,
both professionally and socially. What everyone should know is that
"knowledge" alone cannot provide human beings with the wisdom, inner
peace, or happiness they so deeply desire.
Happiness
isn't found in books or on the internet. What you'll find there is
simply knowledge, texts, records about everything and everyone. Even if
someone reads about happiness and wisdom, they don't become happier or
wiser just by reading.
It
would be wonderful if that were the case, but it isn't. Reading can
provide entertainment, stimulation, satisfaction, and a kind of mental
pleasure. But that's not what I mean. I'm talking about the happiness
that characterizes a person free from conflict and psychological
suffering. Books are necessary. Through them, people are informed,
entertained, travel through time and space, distracted, relaxed,
reflected, learned, and discovered.
But
when the subject is self-knowledge and spirituality, we have to "take
off our shoes." We have to strip off our clothes. We have to die to the
familiar. To perceive Truth directly, the mind must be free to see. And
this doesn't happen if it's overloaded with information, data, and
general knowledge.
Wisdom
is born only when man, stripped of his past, of knowledge and
understanding, looks at himself, at life, and at "what it is" in a
fresh, renewed, and direct way. Free from old filters, idealized images,
the weight of thoughts, and the distortion of words.
Abundant life
The
new spirituality does not separate, fragment, or oppress. It completely
liberates human beings from all illusion and misconception. It is a
hymn of praise to life, to the true life taught to us by the great
masters of the past.
Abundant
life is not simply a life of luxury, fame, health, and happiness at
work and in marriage, as self-help books preach. Abundant life is one in
which a person has completely freed themselves from the deadly clutches
of their illusory ego.
This
entity (the ego) is stealing your vital energy, preventing you from
seeing the Truth. The ego is the source of all evil. It disguises itself
as kindness, respectability, and sociability. It waves the flag of
ethics and morality, but its actions are pure hypocrisy and falsehood.
Anyone
who has not freed themselves from the ego—from the high priest or
statesman to the vilest of men—is subject to the ups and downs, the
unstable waves of desire, the twists and turns of the unpredictable, the
illusions of life, pain, and suffering.
The new spirituality is liberating
The
new spirituality is liberating. It doesn't alienate people from their
homes or their work. It doesn't separate them from their families, their
dreams, plans, and projects. It doesn't trap them in the clutches of
repression and conflict. It doesn't transform them into a kind of
cultured, educated, and religious zombie.
The
new spirituality is made up of free men, but never reckless or
irresponsible. Free because they know themselves. They know their minds.
They know the traps of conditioned thinking, desire, and the plague of
"more."
The
"more" is a dangerous illusion in this sense. It is the silent poison
that the ego has injected into the hearts of men. The "more" is a great
illusion that few perceive, and for that very reason they are easy prey
for this true curse.
Every
time we embark on the path of "more" —more money, more pleasure, more
comfort, more success, more virtues, more spirituality, more love, more
of this and more of that— we stop living, seeing, and understanding that
eternity, happiness, and liberation are not found in "more."
This
is desire, this is greed, this is envy, this is ego. The pursuit of
"more" distances us from the timelessness inherent in that which is
eternally present: that eternal moment which is complete and whole in
itself. It is the search for "more" that blinds us, that distracts us,
that distances us from the TRUTH, WHICH IS.
I
know many will find this difficult to understand and accept. But if
they would pause for a moment, if their minds would allow themselves
even a minute's respite, they would understand that what creates "more"
is a restless and perpetually dissatisfied mind.
The ego is the petrification of being
Life
never stops for a single instant. Everything moves at a speed our eyes
and minds cannot perceive. Everything is constantly renewed, though we
often forget these facts. Only the ego is frozen in time.
Nothing
is harder, more rigid, or more concrete than the ego. Even stones move.
The ego doesn't yield, doesn't surrender, doesn't flow, doesn't change
its position, doesn't open up, doesn't transform, doesn't evolve,
doesn't grow, and doesn't mature. There are no words to describe the
hardness, the stratification of the ego. Even when it pretends to yield,
it remains firm and strong at its core, like a malignant and incurable
disease.
Like
a deadly virus that, no matter how hard we try to destroy it, remains
alive thanks to its special characteristics that grant it a powerful
capacity for survival. The ego is us. The world is the ego, and the ego
is the world. It has a thousand and one disguises, faces, and phases.
When
people seek to regenerate themselves through superficial and external
means, the ego continues its reign of domination. That is why, even by
joining religions, practicing techniques, reading self-help books, or
listening to spiritual teachers, many people do not change or transform.
The ego merely changes its appearance.
By
leading a socially acceptable life through a good job, a stable social
position, and healthy habits, the ego protects itself, believing that
everything is fine. Those who think this way are deceiving themselves.
The ego seeks security, pleasure, and continuity.
The
ego is the illusion of security, permanence, peace, and comfort that we
all crave. But do such things truly exist? Or is everything in constant
instability, insecurity, fluidity, and movement?
The
ego is always changing superficially. It only modifies one or two
details of our lifestyle, for example, when we abandon certain harmful
habits: gross, despicable, and socially unacceptable vices. However, the
ego continues on another level. But, by not perceiving the danger of
other, more subtle vices, we don't get very far.
For
example, we perceive the dangers of drug addiction, alcohol, tobacco,
rampant consumption, and so on. But we don't perceive the dangers of
uncontrolled, automatic, and reactive thoughts. Nor do we perceive the
harm caused by psychological desire. We accept these two serpents as if
they were pets, and in doing so, we seal our own fate.
The limits of thought and freedom
The
new spirituality is made up of men who think, but who perceive the
limits of thought. They know their place. They use thought when it is
necessary and useful. They do not identify with it, nor do they allow it
to dominate their minds and hearts.
They
are free, not because they have conquered the "desires of the flesh,"
nor because they are good or virtuous. They are free because they have
discovered a FREEDOM that is not "of this world," for it was not forged
by thought. It is the freedom of those who have conquered their ego not
through force, effort, discipline, or conflict, but through the
understanding and perception of TRUTH. And truth belongs to no one.
No
one can give it or transmit it because truth is not an object, much
less a handful of knowledge, or even an extrasensory experience. It is
the truth of who we are. Of our daily lives. Of our selfishness. Of our
secret motives and driving forces that influence and shape our lives. It
is the truth about our fears, desires, and expectations. It is the
truth about the illusion and the danger of living under the dominion of
the ego.
The motto of the new spirituality: Come and see!
The
new spirituality does not preach new creeds, new "isms", new myths, new
gods, or even new metaphysical theories or explanations about what is
transcendental to our senses.
The
new spirituality is based on the encounter of man with himself, with
his own life, with his own truth. Beyond all concepts, opinions, dogmas,
stances, thoughts, and beliefs. The new spirituality does require a new
attitude. It is no longer about believing to see, nor about seeing to
believe. But about "COME AND SEE!"
This
new man will find within himself an unexplored dimension that has
always existed, but which he has forgotten, thus remaining untouched. To
enter this dimension, he must shed all his concepts, prejudices, and
everything the world represents. Otherwise, the door will not open. Only
those who have the courage to plunge into the abyss of the UNKNOWN will
be able to fully experience this new moment.
This
doesn't mean that a person should abandon their capacity for reasoning
and thought. Rather, it means allowing their energies to balance so that
order can naturally take hold within. There is a higher universal
order, both outside and within us.
It
is present in the macrocosm and the microcosm of human beings, as well
as in atoms and molecules. Thus, just as it orders, coordinates,
organizes, and maintains the cycles of nature, the seas, the planets,
the galaxies, the cosmos, atoms, and the human body itself, so too will
it do in the minds of those who have freed themselves from the illusion
of controlling everything.
The
ego is chaos, disorder, fragmentation, and as long as it remains in the
illusion of command, the Inner Order of the Unknown will not be
established.
Eradicate fear to be free
The
new spirituality is based on the search for and encounter of the human
being with that force, order, or dimension that resides within. There
will be fear. That's true. Because we are accustomed to controlling
everything, even though this control is simply a comfortable illusion.
Fear
is one of the greatest evils afflicting humanity. The new spirituality
prioritizes the eradication of fear. This is a difficult, almost
impossible, mission because we fear everything. We fear taking risks, we
fear learning, we fear losing our ego, we fear being nothing. But we
are nothing, however much we may not want to be.
Death,
illness, old age, misery, deterioration, crises, and losses are there
to remind us daily that we are nothing, that we can do nothing, that we
control nothing.
The cosmic order exists independently of man
The
universe, with its wondrously perfect and eternal laws—incomprehensible
to our human minds—is there to give us a message: it doesn't need human
beings to be what it is. Therefore, reason tells us that there must be a
force that maintains, sustains, and creates everything within it.
Whatever
it is, whatever name we give it: energy, power, nothingness, light,
spirit, Tao, God, Jehovah, Allah, Brahman, Krishna. The lesson is clear:
just as there is a control and order that creates, organizes,
harmonizes, maintains, and destroys everything in the universe, there
must also be a force that dwells within the human being and that also
brings order, harmony, and balance to their inner being.
Stillness and silence: attributes of this new dimension
In
the new humanity, people will increasingly journey toward encountering
this inner dimension. Not through the mind, nor through thought, nor
through desire, for these paths have already proven to be misguided.
They cannot lead us to the abode of this Supreme, Eternal, and Unknown
Force.
Only
in the natural silence of their own minds. Only through meditation and
direct, real, objective, and true self-knowledge. Only when a person
finds their inner stillness and remains in it, will that Creative Force
begin to move and act naturally and spontaneously.
Dying
to the ego, to the known, to the past is the same message that the
Nazarene master taught us more than two thousand years ago: Man
surrenders himself into the hands of the Father, he surrenders himself
to Jesus, to Krishna, to his Inner Light; what do the name and the
symbol matter?
To
die in order to be reborn from water and spirit—symbols of renewal and
purification—to become a whole, free, and truly HAPPY being. Behold, the
hour has come when the dead will rise from their graves. We were dead
when we did not know true life.
The
life of the ego is death, misery, and pain. In tombs we deposit all
that is dead. There, in our unconscious, lies all the decay, all the
residue of our past, all our psychological remains. The time has come to
rise, to awaken to life, to true Life!
The perception of "what is" in the timelessness of the here and now
Whoever
wants to come, let them come and see. Not in the future, but in the
here and now. Liberation lies in the clear, direct, and objective
perception of "WHAT IS." You don't need to do anything, practice
anything, participate in anything, or pay anything. We cannot alter or
change "WHAT IS." Only "IT" can alter itself.
Perceiving
"WHAT IS" is to be freed from the illusion of the ego, the "false
self," from illusion itself, from maya. But what is this "WHAT IS"? The
Jews call it JEHOVAH: THE ONE WHO IS, THE ONE WHO WAS, AND THE ONE WHO
WILL BE! Taoists call it TAO, Buddhists call it Buddha, Hindus call it
Brahman. But it is also known as THE SUPREME FORCE, THE SUPREME POWER,
THE ETERNAL, THE TIMELESS, THE UNKNOWN.
Don't
put it off. Forget the past and the future. Focus on the eternal
present and free yourself from all illusion! This is the manifesto of
the NEW SPIRITUALITY, the NEW MAN, and the NEW TOMORROW that begins NOW.
