“Spirit is deep within you,” so said Khambatta, a teacher I had the good fortune to have in my boyhood days in London. “But politics - and religion - is made by humans. No argument. It is external. Both lead to divisive ends.”
So what you mean, I asked, is that politics and religion should be ignored by those who are truly “spiritual”?
“Not at all. Being ’spiritual’ is a misnomer. All are beings of perfect spirit. You do not have to ‘aspire’ to be something you already are! What I am saying,” he continued, “is that if you choose to drop to the levels of physical politics and religion you must retain your link to spirit - the essence of which is oneness. Otherwise you are doomed to replay your mistakes.
“If a nation of group chooses to enwrap itself into politics or religion — and there is absolutely no difference between the twain — then tough lessons will always follow. Karma is not fooled. Karma’s mills grinds exactly and always at the right moment. Karma’s eventual purpose is to show you the unified spirit and nothing less.”
Wish I had Khambatta’s turn of phrase. Whenever I contemplate his words, I always receive a fresh stream of visuals and intuitions that build slowly into understanding; the foundation of wisdom, which is defined as ‘knowledge that has been passed through the heart’.
As I sit today in my beloved Malaysia - a British foreigner of Asian roots, with a second home here - I am troubled - as I see so many of my Malaysian friends dive unheeding into the sticky morass of religion-laden politics.
Yet, I have seen spirit shine in all of my dear Malaysian friends. So I help - however I can and I observe - as a correspondent - the continued birthing pains of a country whose efforts may spell the future of the world as a whole.
- Kuala Lumpur, 15 December 2007.
