On Israelis and Arabs (Ishmaels

This article has nothing to do with the nations who live in the Middle East and have conflict over territories. It meant the spiritual purpose behind the people, and is relevant to all people everywhere.
A quote from the introduction which I wrote to the book "Meher Baba on War":
".....This book came to say that the Truth exists, in spite of all human efforts to discard it, to death. We have a special purpose on Earth, and this is not being expressed by eating, drinking, making love etc. Man was created to be a living Truth, an example and a sign for his neighborhood in his living. We are not a thinking and eating animals, but the link between the cosmos and this Earth – this land which was created to enable endless creatures to evolve on the path of infinite states of consciousness under the supervision of Humankind, till the final Perfect State through which the Creator Himself is being revealed on Earth as a Perfect Being endowed with ultimate infinite consciousness. The state of Israel has a unique purpose on Earth, just the same that each country and nation have their own special task. We can see the body of mankind like one big body, like the human body, consists of many organs and systems - the nervous system, the muscles, the bones, digestion, excretion etc. In the living body we can note two major systems - control and command, or the system of the brain and the nerves, and the system of operation and work, the muscles. The place of this land is in the control mechanism of the planetary body, and serves as its one of its main components. This is not a "shelter for persecuted people", but a very special organ.
The existence of this organ depends on its components, the human beings, each one of them is like one cell in the body. These cannot survive by their single efforts but as one harmonious whole. If we will give a momentary look at the daily living, we will see a dense soup of endless individuals who don't know why they exist and what is their destiny. So, a leadership is needed - those individuals who are endowed with greater and deeper understanding, who know what is their task and how to execute it. Their task today is to shape the general body and channel it to the direction which will bring healing and harmonious correct living. There is not today such a leadership in action, and that's why things look as they are. This book is being dedicated to this potential leadership which exists in this country, to those people who know why they live here, who can transcend beyond the feeling of one lonely small person, and who sees themselves as part and parcel of the creation and beyond. If this leadership won't take on itself the responsibility which is being placed on it, life won't be able to continue to exist. If this country won't come back and take its correct stance in the body of humankind, it won't be able to exist; and this will be the fate of all life on Earth. Today the body of humankind is like a rotten, decaying body which is trying by all means to postpone its moment of dying. If life continues, and the body of humankind will receive its anticipated healing, it depends if those mentioned will rise up and fulfill their duties for which they were created. This special body that the people who live here were destined to create, consists of two components that cannot function without the other, like the two chambers of the heart. There is no existence for the heart without its two chambers. Imagine to yourself that one chamber gets jealous at the other and tries to throw it outside, as if saying: "This heart is mine, it is mine inheritance". If it will succeed, it will sentence itself to death. Likewise this organ consists of two big units, "Jews" and "Arabs", or what was once called the Children of Israel and the Children of Ishmael, the descendants of Lord Abraham. These two have to live together like one harmonious body. This land was meant for both of them together. The meaning of "Israel" is the Man of God, a man for example, who proves in his daily living the existence of the absolute truth, and the meaning of "Ishmael" is "listen to God", listen to the example and directives of the Man-God, or we can say that the Arabs need the example we (Israelis) have to proclaim. They cannot survive without us, and we cannot survive without them. The only cause which unites the Arabs together is their hatred to Israel, and the only true cause which should unite them should be their love to Israel, and this will happen only when the God-Man people will fulfill their destiny again. Wars will not stop as long as this state won't exist; it is not possible to invent peace when present condition will remain, sort off, "don't disturb me and I won't disturb you". Such peace is an illusion. There is no substitute for the Truth, and sweet words won't plaster reality. As long as each person sees himself as a separate "egoistic" being, there won't be peace. Humans won't be able to evolve to their proper stance if they won't have leaders as an example, people with wisdom and understanding who stand above selfish, narrow national considerations etc. The prime responsibility rests on those who can take such responsibility.
Etzion Becker, February 7th, 1981

Heart Realm Maintenance

Heart Realm Maintenance

by Etzion Becker

Nobody taught us the main lesson in life: how to handle the heart realm, the emotional realm, the perceiving realm. And this is mainly because no one knows, or they don’t care. But without this, we are bound to live like insane people who run amok after the emotions that ransack our minds and wreak havoc in our hearts. It is quite obvious, when you view a person in this state, how he/she is developing his/her own mental sickness, due to his/her constant frantic struggle for peace of mind. The goal of life is to achieve the state of serenity of the heart realm, under any and all circumstances. It is not a one-day achievement, and most likely it takes many lifetimes. You learn how to do it while treading the Spiritual Path.

How can it be explained? I can give it a try. What I am saying is from personal experience and practice. I came to the realization during 1976 that this is the main issue to deal with, that the goal is to learn how to protect and control the heart realm. I presumably received a few insights through contact with various spiritual movements; I was practicing centering on my Divine Beloved, while placing what was moving in my heart before Him, as if on an altar.

Your Beloved resides in your heart; He is yours, while you exercise, while you go to the toilet—no need to be shy in front of Him. You can adopt a substitute, such as a saintly figure, a true Perfect Master, The Avatar, or any divine face you adore. It is simply easier in the beginning, but you can choose any of the names of God. Your Beloved is all of these, He is everywhere, so why not use those forms in which He is fully awake? I give to my Beloved everything, every thought and feeling. When you turn your gaze away from your Beloved, you feel like a sinner, but actually nobody is. Sin is not the bad deeds you committed or the good deeds you failed to perform. It simply means that your gaze is not on your Beloved. (In the Hebrew language the word for sin means wrong direction)

Later on, when you feel that this practice brings some peace, you must learn how to develop a hedge around the heart realm. This hedge is not a barrier, like a stone wall to protect you from the cold winds of the world. It is a filter, which tells you that a sick emotion is approaching you, aiming at your heart. You ought to feel disturbed if this wave/emotion, which often resembles a dark cloud, enters. If it penetrates, your heart realm will become acidic. The serene heart realm is sweet, and the person thereof is a sweet, smiling person. As soon as you feel such a wave coming towards you, use the Face or the Name in order to annihilate it. This might occur again and again, many times during the day. You have to become a watchdog and learn to be alert. All forms of meditation and concentration are helpful here, but the apex of all meditation is to focus on your Beloved.

Simultaneously, you have to start pondering your subconscious realm, which is also your heart realm. I used to bring to the surface the names and faces of people with whom I have had any engagement whatsoever in this life (I don't remember past lives, which are immaterial). I ask myself, what do I feel towards that person? Is there any reason why I cannot hug the person? I would again use my Beloved and place that person on the altar before my Beloved, giving my emotion toward them to Him, to be consumed. One by one, you place all of your relationships before your Beloved, till the fire of His Love consumes all ill feelings. You might need to work on the same one individual for many years.

Let’s take an extreme example. We might say: That person raped me. How can I forgive him? Well, he did to us what we did to him, didn't he? Didn't we live in ignorance all these years? And what have we been doing in ignorance but inflicting suffering on others? And if we consider the broad meaning of rape, it is any form whatsoever of using a person or other living thing without their prior consent. Do you ask permission from the planet to walk on its skin? Do you ask permission from the carrot when you pluck it from earth? Do you ask permission from the water when you drink it? Why do you think it is to be taken for granted? And this body, have you woven its cells together that you use it as if it is yours? Don't you rape your own body? Now, once the name and face of your Beloved is constantly in your heart, like a shining Sun, all these things become eager to be used by you, because you invite them into the heaven of your being. You need no “official” ceremonies or religious blessings, because you yourself are a walking blessing.

All this has been well portrayed in the first three chapters of Genesis, which are actually a portrayal of these psychological actions in us.


****************



A suggestion for a meditation on this subject is what I call the Sun Meditation:

Take a comfortable position and close your eyes.

Go with your inner mental vision down to your heart realm. You use your head to enter the heart realm, and while there, say 'thank you' to your mind, and move to imagining pictures: Start painting this realm with light blue colour, the colour of the skies. (It is just a suggestion, you can choose any color.) Look at the skies; what do you see? Clouds come and go all the time. From where do these clouds come? They originate from the ocean. What is this ocean? It is actually your subconscious mind. Imagine your subconscious mind as an ocean full of fish and other creatures. These creatures symbolize your past deeds, both good and bad. Good deeds create nice looking figures, and bad deeds create ugly looking monsters. They all have to evaporate. But while evaporating, they form clouds in your heart realm, and thus distort your vision.

How are clouds formed? By the heat of the Sun. Where is this Sun? It is actually the Divine Beloved, your Higher Self, which dwells within you, within your heart. Because you never knew how to dispel the clouds, your Beloved has been shrouded, and you stopped seeing Him; in fact, you actually forgot about Him.

Now, concentrate on the blue skies in your heart: Hang the Sun in its place, and focus your gaze upon it. When the clouds come, direct the rays of the Sun onto them, and they will evaporate.

Practically, you can focus on father or mother, the closest persons to you, and examine your feelings towards them – definitely, lots of anger and frustration will surface – it will take a long time till all the ill feelings will evaporate – then move to brother and sister, schoolmates, friends, enemies, the entire humanity. This can take a very long time – even many life spans, because we are dealing with billions and billions of binding impressions (sanskaras), which have been accumulated over aeons of ignorant action. If we succeed in a life span to remove even two percent of our binding impressions, it is quite a lot, and it is success; hence most humans keep on increasing this burden – especially those who are successful on the earthly plane, causing others harm in order to fulfill their wants.

Even if this takes long practice, the results are certain. This I can testify from personal experience. The burden of your dark, submerged memories—your past experiences—will gradually lessen, and the Sun will shine even brighter in your heart realm. Then you will become the shining person that you truly are.

What I can clearly see is that any grudge whatsoever which I maintain, for whatsoever reason or excuse, actually prevents me from entering the realm of Perfect, Absolute Love – the realm where our Beloved resides. Our Beloved has invited us to be with Him, and the only condition is that no grudge should remain in our heart realm.
This grudge will cause us to be rejected automatically from this realm. Even it is not possible to clear the entire subconscious mind from all the past impressions in a single life span, we certainly can reach in one life span the state of non-hating anyone, and this alone will ensure our entering the realm of Absolute Love – becoming the friends of the Divine Beloved. Then all this accumulation of the imprints of past bindings will become vehicles of serving humanity in His Cause.

Gradually, over the years, I have found many facets to this inner work – not only do I feel personally less burdened with the internal junk, but I have realized that this practice actually constitutes working for our Beloved – sharing His burden of wiping out sanskaras. We will find that our problems are not ours.

When we place these impressions before Him, we actually serve the universe, since He cannot help us unless we sacrifice our sanskaras on the altar before Him. And since we are all connected, we help those who don't have the connection with the Divine Beloved, and thus we become His instruments in helping humanity.

This is what I have perceived in this life.

Personal profile

During 1971 , after couple years of intense search after something which I didn't know what, I was lead to a group of Anthroposophy in Tel Aviv. Anthroposophy was established By Dr. Rudolf Steiner, who was a memeber of the Theosophical Soiciety, and the head of the German group. It came to further spiritual truths to the public. Steiner meant that his teachings will be another branch of Theosophy. I felt that I came to the threshold of Truth, but something was missing. Six months later, one of the members of the group suggested to see a woman in Jerusalem, whose name was Carrie Ben Shammai. When I entered her humble appartment, I was zapped at once by the overwhelming Divine Love of her Master - Avatar Meher Baba. nine years passed by, and during 1980, when Carrie was too sick to maintain her Center for Meher Baba, I received it. Carrie passed away during 1986, thirty years after her momentous meeting with her Divine Beloved, in New York City. Since then I have been attemting to make Meher Baba's messages available to the people of Israel in Hebrew pamphlets and a few books - including the Hebrew Discourses, which were published during 2007.