This essay continues a sequence. Read the previous one here.
Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth
— KJV, Matt 5:5
Learnedness is not knowledge. The path of true knowledge is the path of humility.
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In the first part of this essay, we established that much more is meant by “meek” than is expressed in English. We identified two key elements of praus (“meekness”): self-control and obedience to spiritual guidance.
Let us now discuss obedience to spiritual guidance.
Accounts by notable scientists and artists describing how they achieved their greatest successes tend to reveal two distinct patterns.
It Is My Idea
There are those who attribute their breakthrough to many years of mental cogitation and labour.
In this, we can see a “bottom up” way of material advancement, wherein we work primarily with the brain. We start with material observations and, by thinking hard, we develop something new.
It Wasn’t Really My Idea
There are also those who make reference to having “received it”. In these accounts they often talk about how the idea or concept “came” to them fully formed. Many scientists (e.g. Kepler) and artists (e.g. Michael Jackson) are reported to have commented on this phenomenon.
In this we see a “top down” way, which involves our inner voice. We seek to “connect” with spiritual power, and we open ourselves to “receiving” something that already exists in the non-material.
One is “Meek”, One Is Not
In both cases the individual must diligently develop the basic technical skills for that line of work.
But in one case the path to the breakthrough is viewed through a materialist perspective. The individual “forcefully” tries to make the breakthrough with mental effort.
In the other case the individual opens himself. He seeks to “receive” the breakthrough by being spiritually open.
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The first approach reflects a certain intellectual arrogance – the individual sees himself as the one solely or primarily responsible for the breakthrough.
The latter approach reflects childlikeness and humility: spiritual meekness.
Everything Good Is “Received”
We established earlier that the perfect spiritual world came into being before the material world, and the material is merely a manifestation of the spiritual (ref. “The Spiritual Shapes The Material“). So it stands to reason that everything we need to create a perfect material world already exists in the spiritual.
Therefore the “receptive” approach may be expected to produce more impressive works and yield more sustainable results. Results that are more in tune with the spiritual world and with the Will of the Almighty.
In other words:
He that humbleth himself shall be exalted
— Luke 18:14
Our primary mode of development on Earth today is the “arrogant” approach. We have disconnected from spirituality in all aspects of life.
The spirit indeed is willing,
but the flesh is weak.— Matt 26:41
But this our intellectual cleverness does not appear capable of permanently solving the contemporary challenges this disconnect has created – environmental collapse, political fragmentation, unstable monetary systems…in a word, all the misery of the masses.
We Will Learn The Hard Way
The Word is stating that there will come a time when leadership in every sphere of life will be reserved for those who work in accordance with spiritual guidance. That is, those who have learned to receive.
The ongoing civilisational collapse will force us to realize that only those who receive and obey spiritual guidance are worthy of leadership.
Those who are clever and learned (i.e. the scholars) will have to learn from those who are spiritually knowledgeable.
Thus the “meek” shall inherit the Earth.
Today’s Resolution:
- We shall work and pray towards the humility that will allow us to become worthy of, and to listen to, spiritual guidance.
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