Strange as it might sound, you are not the physical body that you bear, see, touch, and have known so intimately for all your life, but you are something quite different.
You are spirit. A human spirit. Your true and actual identity, the human spirit, merely inhabits and uses the physical body as a tool for the fulfilment of its higher purpose on earth.
The human spirit does not originate from or belong to the earth. Rather, it is the physical body that you see and know so well that does. The physical body is earthly, but the human spirit, being spiritual, is not.
The spirit, your real self, which you cannot see with your physical eyes, was created before your physical body was conceived, and as such has had its existence before the physical body, which is only formed at the time of physical procreation.
In order to make use of it, you, the human spirit, incarnates into the physical body sometime during the period of pregnancy; that is, the spirit enters and possesses the still developing baby’s body in the mother’s womb. This happening, which occurs mid-way during pregnancy, can be observed by the first twitching movements of the child’s body indicating the presence of the living spirit which animates it.
Like a seed which is planted in the earth is able, through the right conditions of the soil, to thereby germinate and subsequently grow into a mature plant that bears flower and fruit, so too does the human spirit incarnate on earth in order, through its growth and experiences here, to develop its pure innate spiritual qualities to full bloom, bearing rich fruit accordingly that spread only blessing and furtherance to its environment, its fellow creatures and Creation as a whole.
The spirit is invisible and intangible to the human senses, but its presence lies at the very core, and forms the deepest essence, of all our being. We recognise the spirit in our innate driving will, our deep and pure inner feelings, in the intuition and conscience. It manifests itself in our activity: in expressions of pure love and beauty, in kindness, compassion, tolerance, mercy, forgiveness, courage, hope, fortitude, longing, truthfulness, in great joy and sorrow, and in true and pure creativity. The qualities of the spirit ensure only peace, purity, justice, harmony and progress in all our experiences and affairs. They spread light and goodness on earth and in all Creation.
The single purpose for man’s coming to earth therefore, for his incarnation and birth on this planet, is primarily to develop himself spiritually, to give full priority to the cultivation of his spiritual abilities and qualities towards maturity. In this way, he becomes a complete and fully conscious personality, wholly aware of his potential and power, his actual tasks, in the joyful fulfilment of which the whole of Creation becomes blessed and furthered.
Every physical body has a life span. At the end of this life span, the body, due to old age or damage becomes worn out, and as such can no longer provide the strength required to hold the spirit within itself – the strength which the spirit needs to effectively function within the body and use it as a tool. When this inevitable moment arrives, you, the human spirit, must then lay aside your physical body and step out of it in the same way as you once stepped into it during the process of incarnation.
This process of separation between the spirit and the body is called death. However, it is your physical body that dies, and not you, the human spirit. The human spirit whose existence preceded the formation of the physical body, naturally, also outlives this body in order to continue with its independent spiritual experiencing and life beyond the earth.
The spirit never depended on the physical body to be alive. It never received life from the physical body in the first place. Rather, the reverse is the case. It is the spirit that animates the physical body, that gives it life. And when the spirit withdraws its presence, its energy and life-force from the body, then the heart must cease to beat, the blood cease to flow, and the body must again lose its warmth and vitality and become inert and lifeless. It is really that simple. What happens to the human spirit thereafter is a discussion for another day.
Now, it is expected that at the moment of physical death, you, the human spirit, should have grown in spiritual maturity and consciousness, to such an extent that far exceeds what you were at the time of your birth on earth. You should have become a much better, a more capable, competent and creative, a more conscious and more valuable spiritual personality who would have enriched the lives of those you encountered.
This is the general purpose and expectation for every human spirit when it incarnates and is born on earth. But alas…
Like a farmer who sows his seeds into the earthly soil and knows precisely what they require in order to develop into fruit-bearing plants, the Almighty Creator provided clear directions and helpful guidelines, precious hints and aids, to enable us, His spirit-seeds, grow up into mature human spirits whose activity would bring nothing but blessing.
These guidelines and directions are contained in His Word, in the Word of God, which He sent down to us through His Servants and Messengers. His Word contains His Will, His expectations for us, a manual for our spiritual self-development.
Faithful adherence to, and the strict observance and joyful fulfilment alone of God’s Word ensures the right and pure development of our spiritual personality unto full maturity. For the Word, which gives us knowledge of the spirit, and may thus be called spiritual knowledge, compels our focus towards our true inner spiritual personality and the fulfilment of its lofty spiritual purpose.
However, what we sadly find prevalent today is the overwhelming preoccupation with the physical body, and the misconception that this physical body represents our actual identity as human beings.
There is a one-sided burden of attention given almost exclusively to the physical body and all that concerns it in a purely earthly sense. We pay far too much attention to our clothing and fashion, to the beauty and allure of the body, whilst being grossly negligent regarding the ennoblement, refinement and upliftment of the in-dwelling spirit. We are obsessed with the demonstration of physical strength and fitness in sports, while ignoring the fortification and edification of the spirit. We over-indulge ourselves in the pursuit of physical pleasures, in eating and drinking, in sexual gratification, in endless mental diversions and intellectual pursuits and so on, extolling academic intelligence and intellectual brilliance above emotional intelligence and spiritual wisdom, exalting selfish sensual lust over selfless sacrificial love, paying little or no heed to the quest for lofty spiritual joy and bliss, to the attainment of peace and contentment of the soul, to be derived alone from striving after high spiritual ideals.
The physical body, it is true, is the most precious possession of man on earth, and man can never do enough to care for it, maintain it, keep it beautiful, healthy and strong, as a dignified cloak for the spirit, a fit and effective instrument for the fulfilment of his task on earth. A sound moderation and balance therefore must be upheld between spirit and body; man should always strive strictly to fulfill their respective needs and demands.
On the contrary, however, the physical body has been glorified over the spirit, because we consider the body as the most prized and important piece of our lives, as the centre of our existence, as our true being and actual identity.
For this reason, we find many a man and woman who are physically beautiful and attractive, fit and healthy, and in well-to-do earthly circumstances, yet who possess repulsive, ugly, distorted, deformed, weak and sick spirits. On the other hand, there are people who may not be considered physically beautiful or attractive, who may be ill and frail, and struggling through difficult material circumstances, yet who bear rich inner lives, possess strong and luminous spirits, radiating true inner beauty.
For this reason also, we find continual confusion and conflict in all man’s activities. There is chaos, ethical and moral collapse everywhere, and this is owing entirely to the lack of the pure and lasting peace, the vital harmony and progress which genuine spiritual direction and leadership alone can give.
When the inexorable hour of death arrives for many, when they must at the end of their earth-lives lay the physical body aside, together with all the power, privileges, opportunities and pleasures it offered them on earth; when they must take that momentous step into the life beyond, they often, alas, enter as spiritual paupers, spiritually bankrupt, spiritually enfeebled and incapacitated, because they ignored the necessity of pursuing a high spiritual goal, of cultivating their spiritual abilities while on earth, which alone would have enriched, enlivened and enabled them spiritually. This often causes an enormous spiritual setback which, with the right spiritual orientation and outlook while on earth, could easily have been avoided.
It is therefore exceedingly crucial to call out once again: You are not the physical body that you see. YOU ARE THE HUMAN SPIRIT which inhabits your physical body. The task and duty of the human spirit, your real task and duty, is to develop your spiritual nature to the highest strength, purity, goodness and beauty, the greatest perfection possible while on earth.
Towards this end, you are to nourish your spirit daily with the Word of God and live in consonance with the eternal truths contained therein, which transcend the life span of the physical body and everything earthly and material, so that when the hour of death arrives at last, which is coming, and can come at any time, your spirit, sufficiently ennobled and enabled, energized and purified, may gloriously step out of the physical body and joyfully soar upwards to the eternal light, ascending in grateful bliss to the luminous heights in Paradise, which is the ultimate destiny for you and for every human spirit on earth in accordance with the Holy and Everlasting Will of God Almighty! May this sacred recognition become yours and blossom into joyful activity and conscious fulfilment for you here on earth! Amen!
VERSES
1
The human form which on the earth you bear
Is but a garment of mortality
Which, for a time, leased your use, you wear,
Then drop, when done with its necessity,
As, in its journey, your immortal heart
Must strive for truth high in eternity,
What though our lives be rudely torn apart
And we ourselves shall for a while not see.
Yet, soon shall we shed too this cloak at last,
And leave, in turn, this world of strife and pain,
Where now we toil, but for a short duration;
And seeking still for truth, as in the past,
We’ll meet, Dear Friend, in joy and bliss again
Where there’ll be no more parting or separation.
2
Just as an explorer taketh
Goods necessity demands,
When a journey long he maketh
Far into the foreign lands;
So, I gather now before me
Truths that never could be shunned,
For the hour when I must journey
To the other life beyond.
3
Father, from Thy perfect Ways
Let me never swerve!
In the shelter of Thy Grace
Please my soul preserve!
When my life on earth is past,
When death comes to me,
Let me, oh, in joy at last,
Lord, ascend to Thee!
Amen.
Onesi Taiwo Dominic
