The Original Great Mother Tradition
Mother Worship

MatriTalks 17

"DEAD ENDS"

Questions & Answers
with
Han Marie Stiekema Sermes

Twelve Delusions

Q. Yesterday you showed us the connection between derailment of the mind and suicidal socio-economic developments. It also shows the disastrous split between "spirituality" on the one hand and "politics" on the other. By keeping them (deliberately) apart, the former will soon become infertile, while the latter lacks a human foundation, with all consequences, such as you have been describing. It underlines the necessity of knowing the structure and the dynamics of the mind. Hence, my request to giving examples of "dead ends" e.g. ways of thinking, which may led us astray.

A. Very well, I like your proposal. In order to do it in a systematic way, I will talk about Twelve Delusions, including eleven attitudes, which prove to be harmful with regard to human integrity. The number twelve is more or less arbitrary. It could also have been nine or fifteen, though. I try to keep it as general as possible. The more specific "spiritual" delusions could be discussed in actual talks.

Q. Delusion 1?

A. Thinking, that you are "normal". Men is a bridge between his animal brain and Higher Consciousness. Thus, by identifying yourself with your world of thoughts, emotions and desires, you are blocking your self off from spiritual growth. Clinging to a particular state of mind - however high-minded - is part of the same delusion.      

Q. Delusion 2?

A. Thinking, that your world is "normal". The reason, that all people in your street (more or less) act uniformly according to the same pattern, doesn't say anything about the righteousness of your lifestyle. On the contrary, "normality" - the identification with the current system of collective self-addiction, individualism and materialism - has proven to be a madhouse. Eventually, it is suicidal.

Q. Delusion 3?

A. Thinking, that "the future" is going to give you a better life. Dissatisfaction with your current life - the consequences of "a normal life" - completed by a ruthless advertisement policy of big business - which want you to stay like that - has led to idealizing the future. Because of this obsession, you never think of improving your life in the HereNow. Prove of this thesis is the relationship between affluence and the increasing UNhappiness.

Q. Delusion 4?

A. Thinking, that "liberation" will give you a final solution to your problem. The situation has dramatically changed in the last half a century. It is not that we are not free, but rather the opposite is true. We are so "free" (personally), that we are getting crazy of the choices we have at our disposal. The core of our suffering therefore, is to have lost all orientation, with e.g. fear, confusion, loneliness, meaninglessness, depression and burn-out as the consequences.

Q. Delusion 5?

A. Thinking, that life is suffering. This is a common delusion cherished by "spiritual people", especially those who strive for purity, transcendence and superiority. This is usually a masculine ambition based on fear of life. A more thoughtful position is the one stating, that it is not life, but "being cut off from life", which is the cause of misery. We are "thrown upon ourselves", locked up in the prison of self-centeredness, self-righteousness and self-addiction.

Q. Delusion 6?

A. Thinking, that you can shop your own religion together. Because of centuries-long oppression by the established religion, people have rejected the traditional concept of God. Rightly so. The male God - a caricature of the Ultimate - cannot provide in the needs of the people. This "God" "rules" through restrictions, commands and sanctions. That's why people started to construct their own "personal spirituality", usually a composition of arbitrary elements, often derived from exotic corners of the world. A religion as the result of your own projections, remains an extension of your (small) self though, hence it will and can never satisfy.  

Q. Delusion 7?

A. Thinking, that you "can create your own life". This is based on a false (esoteric) omni-potent feeling. The origin of this feeling is "fear of Nothingness". Everything has to be filled up, explained, combined and related to each other, in order to make things meaningful. No gap is allowed, in order to prevent exposure to the Unknown. Even awakened people hasten themselves to immediately putting their Eternal Moments into a system of thinking. However, life is bigger than you e.g. your esoteric theories. 

Q. Delusion 8?

A. Thinking, that you have "attained". The ego is always searching for something, through which it can distinguish itself. At that level, it serves the survival of the personality. Hence, the ego is "clinging to Enlightenment" for the sake of its own glory, using his new achievement for its own purposes. The reality is different though. No State of Mind has a "substance" of its own. All planes of Consciousness prove to be bottomless. Clinging to a particular "attainment" therefore shows your ignorance. However, even masters have fallen into this trap. Obviously, this is a recipe for disaster.

Q. Delusion 9?

A. In spiritual circles it is often assumed, that "once Enlightened, forever Enlightened". The starting point is their miserable state. In order to escape from it, they start dreaming of "being forever happy", assuming that all their sorrows will have gone. Unlucky for them, this is far from the Truth though. Depending on the depth e.g. completeness of your Attainment, the ego sooner or later will re-appear. In practice, life is constantly moving between dissolution and manifestation, with all the states of consciousness in between. Genuine liberation is the ability to say "yes" to every moment. Living "life is as it is", is the ultimate freedom.

Q. Delusion 10?

A. Thinking, that in order to "be saved" you have to change. This could be part of a "conspiracy", taking away the last pieces of being rooted in order to make people so helpless, that they become a willing and easy prey for the forces of materialism and individualism. Your suffering - as has been said several times before - is having lost all contact with reality, including "Heaven, the earth and the (new) community". Restoring the Wholeness is where it is all about. The urge for change on the other hand is promoting dissatisfaction and non-acceptance of yourself and the situation your are in. Looking at the brain-washing-like promotion of "freedom", "everything is possible", "you can create your world yourself", "change" and "flexibility" one may guess the magnitude of the interests involved. The system's hunger for more obedient slaves is insatiable.

Q. Delusion 11?

A. Thinking, that "spirituality" and "the world" are two separate things. Ironically, this kind of idea is mainly cherished by those, who consider themselves "non-dualists". First, they separate these two realms into two, after which they declare the former "non-dual". It serves their purpose of escaping from the world. The sad thing of course is, that everything you deny, will sooner or later start dominating you*. Reality teaches you a different lesson. From the first moment of becoming aware, there appears to be a direct connection between you and your environment. When awareness is extending itself, it step by step starts including your body, the floor, the chair, the table and the vase with flowers. Awareness proves to be inclusive, in which objects ("the world") are the content of your Conscious Space. The latter is All-Embracing, being the foundation of compassion. Your Self and he world are One.   

* Everything you exclude is withdrawing itself from your conscious control, hence it is leading a life of itself. It start serving as a projection. Everything you don't like ("the world"/"negativity") is going to be projected in the "waste bin". The consequence of it is, that the latter is growing, slowly gaining more power. That what you don't want becomes an obsession. Until a limit is reached, in which the "shadow" suddenly takes over your entire system. These are the people who tend to be so "idealistic", "positive", "optimistic" etc., while "suddenly" becoming frustrated, disappointed, bitter, negative and even vicious.

Q. Delusion 12?

A. Thinking that life is thinking.

To be a slave of the system or of the Great Mother, that is the question.

Back                           Next

 © 2000 Copyright Han Marie Stiekema
Last revising: 02/07/10