You have two fundamental aspects to your nature. You have a personal mind, which is associated with your body, a mind that has been conditioned by your cultures, your society, your families and by nature itself. This mind is driven by the need for survival. It is driven by the need for security and for resources. It is fundamentally fearful because it is so very aware of the risks and the prospect of loss in the future. It is haunted by this prospect of loss, and it is governed by the need to offset these risks.
There is the fear of social alienation. There is the fear of political oppression. There is the fear of abject poverty. There is the fear of illness in all of its manifestations. There is the fear of being attacked by others. There is the fear of losing your loved ones, losing your home and losing your source of income. There is the fear of nature and the power of nature, and what it can do to devastate one’s life. There is the fear of other peoples and their intentions. There is the fear of war. There is the fear of pestilence. There is the fear of death. There is the fear of death for those you care about and love.
The list could go on and on specifically, but you can see here that if one is not falsely insulated by assurances and wealth that the risks and the hazards of life are quite considerable. And if one is being honest with oneself, one would have to face these risks and consider them, and to learn how to navigate the hazards and the uncertainties of life with as much skill and awareness as one could muster.
People seek relief, of course, from all of this concern and anxiety. They believe in groups and nations. They identify with causes and political persuasions. They identify with religions and religious prejudices. They condemn others to strengthen themselves. They belittle other races of people or nations of people to give themselves a greater sense of power and assurance. They lose themselves in fantasies.
If they live in wealthy nations, perhaps they lose themselves in hobbies or obsessions. Unwilling or unable to face the realities of life, they seek escape. And they seek various forms of reinforcement for themselves.
This is the condition of your personal mind, a mind that is concerned with survival, security and gratification. This is not evil in any sense. It is simply the [province] of the personal mind. Because the personal mind is so very insecure, it seeks for escape in its indulgences, its pleasures, its ideas or its activities.
These of course become quite aberrant, even self-destructive to the individual. So it would be accurate to say that fundamentally your personal mind is fear based because it is given the challenge and the difficult task of navigating a hazardous and uncertain world.
But there is a greater Intelligence within you that is not the product of your biological or social nature. This Intelligence was created by God, and God has given you this Intelligence to guide you, to protect you and to lead you to your greater work and service in the world.
It is a very different kind of Intelligence than your personal mind. It has not been conditioned by your family, your culture or your friends. It is not subject to political beliefs or persuasions or religious ideology. It is not threatened by the world. It is only limited in its expression by the world.
Its purpose here is a higher purpose, a purpose aimed at service and contribution in the world. This greater Intelligence is called Knowledge because it is related to your ability to inexplicably know things that are beyond the abilities and the capacity of the intellect.
The fact that humanity has not developed its connection to this greater Intelligence to any significant degree is a measure of humanity’s evolution overall and the kind of skills, wisdom and ability that humanity has yet to garner for itself, for its own survival and protection.
Knowledge is here to guide the intellect. It is not merely a resource for the intellect. It is a far wiser guide, regarding your survival and well-being, than your ideas or the ideas of others. Knowledge is guided by love, but it is a love focused on service and on responsibilities.
It is essentially fearless. Yet even being fearless, it has concerns. It has concerns for your well-being, your survival, your state of mind and your circumstances.
For your greater purpose in life will not emerge under any circumstances [but] must have the proper attitude and motivation within you for this emergence to take place. Giving you the right motivation, the right approach, the right attitude and the right circumstances is the concern of Knowledge.
Knowledge must guide you and put you in a position with a clarity of mind where you can see clearly and experience directly the greater life you are here to live and give you clues as to the greater service you are here to perform.
Clearly, it would be wise for that which is fearful to follow that which is fearless. But your personal mind has its own domain of responsibilities. It must feed and care for the needs of the body. It must establish you as a functioning member of society. It must cultivate communication skills and survival abilities. It must give you healthy and responsible tasks to fulfill. It must give you a vocation of some kind in the world so that you can support yourself and other people.
