Divine Carelessness, Part 1

2007-5-12 07:36:00

Sixty (60) Principles: Principle 60 - Divine Carelessness, Part 1

Question: Isn't carelessness, or apparent carelessness, always a bad thing? Shouldn't we always proceed with calculation - knowing we are taking the direction of our best interests? Can carelessness really be divine in some cases?

DK uses this phrase twice in his voluminous writings and gives little explanation of its meaning. Even so, when I first came across it my mind was quite captivated by such a provocative statement and I reflected upon it periodically. As I reflected I saw much more meaning that he gave out on the subject, but first let us look at what he did write about it.

Quote Number One:

"See to it that during the next nine months you preserve an attitude of spiritual indifference or of divine carelessness and emotional detachment." (Alice Bailey "Discipleship in the New Age," Vol 1, Page 522)

Here he gives a different twist to the meaning that would appear on the surface. This quote indicates that Divine Carelessness in this context is not being reckless, but carefree. And how should the disciple be carefree?

He needs to be detached from overdue influence of his emotional feelings so he is not weighted down with the cares of the world, his loved ones and his own needs. If he is able to detach himself from these emotional cares he can be care-less in that he is free from cares that hinder his progress.

This is one aspect of divine carelessness.

But it was the second aspect that captured my imagination as hinted at in this second quote:

"Others again are lovely in themselves with a high and sweet vibration but they are weak and full of fear, sorrowful or weighed down with care; they have to be taught the way of strength and of divine carelessness before their service can measure up to demand." (Alice Bailey, "Discipleship in the New Age," Vol 1, Page 371)

This quote indicates a more extended meaning. Two hints at this are given. First he tells us the seeker who needs this quality is he who is "weak and full of fear, sorrowful or weighed down with care."

Secondly, he tells us that Divine Carelessness is "the way of strength."

This brings to my mind much more meaning that a carefree attitude, even though that may be part of it. I see the idea that the disciple must sometimes act in a way that the majority will see as careless. The disciple will at times find himself at a crossroads and if he takes the path least traveled by he will forge along a path of peril, but if successful will end up reaping the greater reward.

The parable of Decision in the first Immortal book illustrates this principle. One path led to heaven and the other to hell and none of the four knew which was which. In order to proceed the seeker had to be divinely careless for he was previously taught that hell was a place of eternal misery.

Those who proceeded had to take a chance, but it turned out that the real hell was suffered by the two who played it safe and were weighed down by care.

One of the main reasons the disciple must acquire the quality of Divine Carelessness is to overcome the Beast that has so much power in the major religions and nowhere does it have more power than in the Mormon Church.

As most of you know I was quite active in the church in my younger days. I took it very seriously from the ages of 13-33 -- a period of twenty years.

Many who have not been captivated by an authoritarian religion have difficulty in grasping the hold it can have and how difficult it is to break free. Let me explain why the obtaining of freedom from the Beast of authority is particularly difficult in the LDS Church.

There are two major reasons for this.

First the church has a number of teachings that are a step further into the light than had by the typical Christian church. A student of metaphysics may see such as kindergarten, but in relation to the other churches they possess several teachings given by Joseph Smith that are seen as true by the seekers. Some of these are:

We not only live after death, but we lived before birth. We are eternal beings.
There is no burning in hell as taught by standard Christianity. Any state of hell is temporary.
There is eternal progression rather than a stagnate heaven where nothing changes.
Babies are innocent and are not born in sin and the innocent will not be punished for that which they do not understand.
Works are necessary for our progression. Just proclaiming a belief in Jesus doesn't do much to save you.
Revelation did not end with the Bible but is available to people of this age just as much as it was in Bible days.
The God who guides us, The ancient of Days, was once a mortal human like ourselves and there are millions of such beings in the Universe. We can eventually achieve this god-like state.

The second reason that seekers are captivated is the members of the church are told to pray and receive confirmation of the Book of Mormon and other writings and teachings of the church.

Now the interesting thing is that soul contact through prayer can lead to greater captivity before the truth makes him free. Here is why.

The soul only verifies that which is true for it speaks in the language of principles and pure truth. When the seeker therefore prays about doctrines he has studied the soul will send verification that certain principles are true. For instance, my own soul verified all the seven doctrines above to me.

Here is what this does to the seeker. Once he receives verification that certain principles are true he just assumes the whole package is true which includes a concept that is taught and stressed more than any other in the church which is this:

The prophet is the supreme authority and will never lead the church astray. The worst sin one can commit is to openly rebel against the prophet and the authorities of the church. If you surrender and obey all will be well, but once you receive the light and then go against the brethren you are in dangerous territory indeed.

How dangerous? I will write about this next.

Global Warming Enlightenment:

But the main problem lies in correctly calculating the effects of clouds. The tops of clouds act as mirrors in the sky, reflecting sunlight back into space -- thus cooling the planet. But the bottom sides keep the heat radiated by the earth from escaping into the atmosphere -- causing temperatures to rise.

Which of the two effects predominates depends primarily on the altitude at which clouds form. Simply put, low clouds tend to promote cooling while high clouds increase warming. So far scientists agree on only one thing, namely that more clouds will form in a greenhouse climate. They just don't know at which altitude.

"Not the End of the World as We Know It" by Olaf Stampf, May 07, 2007
http://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/0,1518,481684,00.html