Higher awareness is the great equalizer. For in its essence, everything is higher awareness. When everything is higher awareness, there can be no such thing as something that is more higher awareness than something else. And thus, higher awareness can help the British people overcome one of the greatest obstacles to constructive change in this nation. This is the sense of superiority of the British people, primarily the English people, who think they are better than all foreigners. And therefore, they could not possibly have anything to learn from any foreigner or any foreign culture.
Even though the British Empire was in contact with many different cultures – some of which had a religion that was more pure than their own watered-down version of Christianity – they stubbornly and blindly refused to learn from those cultures. This, of course, was not true for all people in England. And that is why the unwillingness to learn from any source whatsoever does not come primarily from the people—it comes from the power elite. The kings and the upper class refuse to see that they have put themselves outside of the River of Life by declaring that they would answer neither to God nor to the people, and that they could do whatever they wanted with this land and with this people.
What had they in reality said? They had said, “We will listen to no one on earth. We do not need to learn from anyone on earth, for we are superior.” This of course is in direct opposition to the very motto for growth in awareness, which is, “If the messenger be an ant, heed him!” So if the messenger be a foreign ant, heed him anyway.
Why have the power elite of this nation attempted to put that very attitude upon the British people? It was because it was the only way to prevent the British people from finding some inspiration abroad that would allow them to overthrow the power elite that was oppressing them. The island mentality, the sense of isolationism, does not come from the people themselves but comes from the power elite who want to cut off the people from the rest of the world. For the more isolated the people are, the easier it is for the elite to control them. The “island fortress” of Britain has then become a mental box in which the British people are trapped in the catch-22 that prevents them from overthrowing the power elite. Yet, their plans will not be successful, for too many among the people have refused to fit into that mental box. And they have indeed looked outside of Britain in order to seek inspiration from here and there and everywhere, where they could find it.
Overcoming the class system
One of the great lessons that the West in general and Britain in particular could learn from higher awareness is precisely the equality of all people, of all life. For when you recognize that higher awareness is in every person, then you immediately see the insanity of a class system that divides people into those who are worthy and those who are not, into those who are equal and those who are more equal than others. This could have enabled the British people to throw off the yoke of the class system—the class system that has actually been reinforced through the perversion of Christianity, which they have not been able to shake off as of yet.
Another thing people could learn from higher awareness is the concept of non-violence toward all life. And this concept was indeed what defeated the British Empire in India, or should we say that it actually elevated the British Empire closer to allegiance to the principles upon which the nation of Britain is founded. This was a truly great moment in English history—when the British Empire actually bowed to the higher principle of non-violence, instead of responding with violence as they had so often done in the past. This was a great turning point, not only in the history of this nation but in the history of the world.
For had the empire determined to use violence against the Indian people, then the ramifications would have been severe, and could indeed have created an ongoing state of warfare that would have disturbed the peace and potentially led to an even wider conflict. It would also have created an immense karma for the nation of Britain, a karma that it would have found it very difficult to overcome in the foreseeable future—a karma that might indeed have precipitated an invasion or a nuclear first strike by the Soviet Union, simply to equal out the scales of oppression and atrocity that the British Empire might have committed in India.
A military empire cannot be great
One consequence of the philosophy of non-violence is that an empire that is built on military might cannot be a truly great empire, for such an empire cannot be great in the eyes of higher awareness but only in the eyes of man. And then, again, only in the eyes of those men who have been blinded by the duality consciousness, by the consciousness of separation, the fear of lack, the fear of death, where they think they have to defend their own life, their physical life, by taking the physical life of others through superior military strength.
Again, it was not the British people who started the expansion of the empire with violence and force, it was the power elite. And the ferocity with which they went about this task, will show you the intensity of their fear. For they fell into the same trap as other empires who have attempted to conquer the world, where the fear is so extreme that you think only by controlling the entire world can the fear be set aside. But nothing will set that fear aside, for you will see from history that the greater power and control a nation attains—well the fear simply grows along with it. So it is an impossible quest. The carrot of peace always dangles in front of the nose of the donkey, as it keeps running faster and faster, until it finally breaks under the strain, as the Nazi eagle and the Russian bear broke under the strain.
Even today there are still too many people, especially among the English people, who think that the greatness of their nation is due to their military forces. We have elsewhere spoken about nations in Europe who could set forth an example by abandoning their military. But realistically, Britain could achieve this in the foreseeable future. But the current military of Britain is indeed inconsistent with the current self-image of Britain. For if you do not see yourself as an oppressive empire who is out to conquer other nations through military force and suppress them violently – and only few among the British people see themselves as such – well, then why do you need a military that has the ability to project force far from your own shores?
It is, from a realistic standpoint, not possible that the British people within the near future can overcome all need to have the ability to defend themselves, to defend “their” island by maintaining of a military, that is aimed strictly at defending the homeland. Yet you do not need to have the military capacity you have today in order to defend the homeland.
The British people are precisely the kind of people they are, because they have a devotion to higher principles. And that means, too, that they have an aversion against inconsistencies, where there is a discrepancy between the principles they know are true and their actual behavior. Thus, they are more willing than many other peoples to bring themselves into alignment with their principles—once they come to the realization that they are out of alignment, that their behavior is out of alignment, with those principles.
This is another example of how someone needs to question the unthinkable, and ask the question why we are spending so much money maintaining a military, that is not truly aimed at defending our own shores. For this would be an important step towards coming to the point of beginning to debate, whether we really need a military force if we claim to be a free democratic nation who is a part of a free democratic Europe. Surely, one might question why the English people see such a great need to defend their island, when most foreigners would say that given the state of the English weather they would rather not think about invading that country.
It is natural that a people who love their country will want to maintain that country in the state that they hold in their vision, that is the potential for that country. The British people know – even though they are not aware of this consciously – they do have an inner sense of destiny for themselves and for this land. Naturally, they would not want that destiny to be destroyed by some foreign invasion, such as surely would have happened if the Nazi’s had been successful in invading Britain.
Why there are many foreigners in Britain
It is indeed not unreasonable to want to keep your land pure, so that the people can fulfill its destiny. Yet, this can be taken too far. Because it also builds a certain mentality of being suspicious of the foreigners who have come to live here, not as oppressors, not with military force, but seeking an opportunity. And this is why it is important for the British people to overcome the mentality that they do not need to learn from anyone else. For given the history of the British Empire and its invasion of other nations and cultures—well, you might consider that the fact that so many people from other nations have come to Britain might be a certain return of karma. But you could also see it as an opportunity to learn.
What you have seen in the British Empire was an attempt to take British civilization and culture and forcefully apply it to other nations, thinking that other nations should eventually come to live exactly the way that British people do. When you understand the deeper reality, you understand that the British people have a potential to set an example of a golden age society based on certain timeless principles. But this does not mean that those principles need to be applied in other countries exactly as they are applied in Britain.
Take for example democracy as a concept, as an institution, and see that many other nations have been inspired by democracy in Britain, but they have not necessarily applied it in exactly the same way, having adapted it to their own mentality and culture. So if Britain is to fulfill its role of giving new inspiration to the world of how to build a golden age society, well then does it not stand to reason that Britain needs to teach universal principles in a way that is applied to different other cultures? And how can the British people do this unless they know these other cultures? And what greater opportunity to learn how other cultures think than having representatives of those cultures live among them here in this nation?
Everything can be seen as a threat or as an opportunity. When you are in the consciousness of fear and lack, you see every change as a threat. But when you shift into the consciousness of abundance and love, well then you see everything as an opportunity. And when you see things as an opportunity, you will not see the manifestation of a physical threat. For it is indeed true, that whether you think something is an opportunity or whether you think it is a threat—you are right. For what you project upon the situation, will be reflected back by the cosmic mirror in the form of manifest physical circumstances.
It would only take a slight shift in consciousness for the English people especially, to come to see the influx of foreigners as an opportunity. You might even beyond it look at the fact that there are no English souls, no Indian souls, no Muslim souls. There are only sons and daughters of higher awareness. So it is entirely possible that a soul that has an important contribution to make to British society was not born in this country but was born elsewhere, and then immigrates here in order to fulfill its destiny and help the entire society grow.
Bridging the gap between East and West
In order for a golden age to manifest, there must be more flexibility, more fluidity, which is one of the basic concepts of non-attachment. Non-attachment not in the sense that you become indifferent and nothing matters, for there is a middle way between using violence to always get your way and being indifferent to anything that happens. And that middle way is to be loyal to higher principles but to be non-attached to the actual material conditions.
Do right action and be non-attached to the fruits of action. Do it because it is right and you know it is right! This is the great potential of the British people, to do what they know is right regardless of how it is received, and regardless of whether it produces specific physical results, or produces them at a certain time. There is an opportunity, a unique opportunity, that the British people can bridge the gap between eastern thinking and western thinking. And this is precisely because of the British Empire’s influence in the East. There is a karma of the British people, which they could pay off very easily by being more open to bridging the gap between East and West. For certainly, there are still many ties between Britain and nations in the East—first and foremost India, which has an extremely important contribution to make in the coming decades, especially to Asia, but even to the world as a whole.
Yet India cannot fulfill her full potential without a certain inspiration from the British people. For again, even though the British Empire invaded India forcefully, it was the Indian people and their mentality who had to some degree opened the door for this influx from without. For they needed something to shake them out of their state of inertia. And indeed, there has been a positive effect from this in Indian society. And this has created a bond between these two nations, which if the flow – the figure-eight flow from East to West – could be raised up, could be of great benefit to both nations. Where certain ideas could be brought forth simultaneously in both nations, to inspire both the eastern and the western hemisphere at the same time.
It was an English poet who said, “East is East and West is West and never the twain shall meet.” Well, the most spiritually aware people in Britain will prove him wrong in the years and decades to come, by rising to that universal spirituality that is the true master key to breaking the barrier, to breaking down the barrier between East and West and breaking down all other barriers around the world.
For truly, when you experience from within the Spirit of Truth, as Jesus called it, when you experience the Buddha nature, when you experience higher awareness, well then you automatically become non-attached to all the divisions that divide people on earth. And this is when the people on this planet can come into greater oneness, until they begin to create communities, nations, alliances of nations that are devoted to oneness rather than warfare.
The raising of earth
Eventually, this planet can come into a higher form of unity that reaches such intensity that those lifestreams who will not let go of the consciousness of separation, of division, simply will not be able to sustain a presence here. For the planet will be so accelerated in awareness, that they will be spun off, almost as if it was a children’s carousel that started spinning so fast, that they could no longer hold on to their horses. The more aware people can hold the vision that this planet begins to spin faster and faster.
There is a potential that the earth can be raised to a higher level. But it is not the potential envisioned by certain New Age people. For it is not an inevitable event, that the earth will ascend to some higher dimension and, automatically, paradise will be manifest on earth. Everything on this planet is subject to free will. And thus, unless the top 10 percent of the people are willing to take responsibility for themselves – changing themselves first and then helping others change themselves, thereby changing the world – well unless that happens, then the earth will not rise into any higher state or dimension or whatever you want to call it.