Creation Spirit

The following are excerpts taken from a recent interview with Dr. James H. Young, pertaining to his life’s spiritual calling.

Q: How does greater spiritual meaning help fulfill life’s purpose for you?
JY: “Life has taught me that our purpose is much simpler than most of us make it out to be. People often say in despair that ‘there must be more to life than this.’ My response is that actually there’s much less to life than we make it out to be. We give far too much importance to things that really don’t matter in the larger view of life. Most particularly, we take ourselves way too seriously. And we often think of purpose as some grandiose plan to implement, or a glowing legacy to leave behind. For me, I express my life’s purpose best when I simply express ‘what’ I really am, and not ‘who’ I think I am, through all of my being. This keeps life simple in its expression of spiritual integrity. Most of us want to know and express who we are, when ‘who’ speaks mostly only to roles we play, and doesn’t really speak to ‘what,’ or the essence, of what we really are. Thus we have the inner conflict between our essence—the divinity of our existence—and the roles we play, mostly out of ego-need. Interestingly, when we drop the illusion of roles and express only from the Truth of our essence, the inner warring between the two ceases to exist, and we become One in being. When this happens, we are at peace with the world, primarily because we first have made peace within ourselves. We hear so much about the potential for weapons of mass destruction these days, but it seems to me that our own inner peace is a good place to begin the transformative idea of a spiritually-oriented mass re-construction that is so badly needed on our planet.”

Q: What is this metaphysics you speak about?
JY: Metaphysics has a variety of meanings, depending on how seriously people want to take their spiritual development. Metaphysics can involve anything from a simple shift in perspective to some highly esoteric mental activity. As I use it, metaphysics refers to a single, inward path to Truth, and when we abide only that way, we come to live spiritually, instead of mentally or from ego consciousness. I call this path The Inward Way, where we begin by getting out of our own way and listening inwardly while the voice of Truth seeks our awareness. Following The Inward Way thus provides spiritual order in our lives.

Q: How has your life as an administrator in higher learning related to your current life’s work as a practicing metaphysician?
JY: “On some level I’ve known for a long time that I belong in the vineyards of higher learning. Yet it wasn’t until I saw higher learning as a metaphor for a place of deeper meaning that I decided to dedicate myself to the world of spiritual awareness. For me, spiritual awareness is the path that opens the door to core Truth that only going within provides. This realization is similar to the revelation I had about also being a photographer. Photography is not about simply capturing images. It is about reframing life and giving it some deeper or more meaningful perspective, releasing ‘soul’ into the realm of being.”

Q: You appear to stress the divinity in each of us, for example, by using the Hindi greeting, ‘Namasté,’ throughout these books.
JY: “Yes I do stress divinity. Experience has taught me that we indeed are the essence of perfection, as God sees us, rather than the feelings of ‘less than’ that evolve from having taken on others’ views of us. The sacred greeting ‘Namasté,’ pronounced Nama-STAY, is often taken to mean ‘the divine in me acknowledges the divine in you.’ When we go deeper into spiritual meaning, however, we soon see that this greeting means simply that I celebrate your divinity. Said another way, you are God individually expressed as your authentic being, and this makes you divine. When we express our divinity—instead of expressing from all those false images we have taken on from outside authorities—we then live the most authentic expression of what we really are: divine. When we can see ourselves as divine, we can then come to love our neighbor as ourselves. This seems like a difficult shift to make, yet, with regular practice over about 40 days, we see a dramatic shift in our lives for the better.

Q: It would seem to me that this would be a much more peaceful way to live than most of us now do.
JY: “Absolutely. When we live from a false understanding of what we are, we create a life filled with separation from all others and things. When we live from the perspective of separation (some call it duality), then we are bound to suffer the pain that separation from God and one another engenders. It is similar to living from the perspective that we are less than divine, thus regularly demonstrating that we are ‘less than’ by entering into the highly competitive lifestyle that we think will finally bring us to feeling at least equal to all the rest. The fallacy in this perspective is that we already are perfect in God’s view, so what is to be achieved through competition? All that can result from this illusory perspective is short-changed expectations, continued feelings of low self worth, anger or rage, and even depression. When we can finally accept our divinity, and live from the authenticity of that sacred Truth, then our heart fills with joy and our mind is finally at peace.

Q: Your characters in these offerings lean on the teachings of Jesus for inner strength. Why is this so?
JY: “First of all, there are many misunderstandings about the teachings of Jesus, whom I consider to be the Master metaphysician. As a prime example, religious doctrine would have us believe that Jesus was the only real healer, while Jesus told us in one way or another that we are a society of healers. To paraphrase, Jesus told us that if we believe in and act from his perspective, not only would we heal others as he did, but more than this will we do. Does this sound like he commanded sole authority in healing? Hardly.
What is interesting about all this is that when we learn to read life, in general, and holy writ, in particular, from the perspective of metaphor rather than from intellectual literality alone, we come to much deeper meaning about both. We learn, for example, that insight and enlightenment bring us to real Truth, rather than relying on only our five senses for what we have been led to believe is the truth about life. The intellect, much like words that merely symbolize meaning, can only point us to meaning rather than being the actual meaning in and of itself. On the other hand, insight renders intellectual understanding as the Truth expressed through enlightenment. Thus when we hear something said in a very different way, one in which we see new meaning from within—on a much deeper level than heretofore—we declare: ‘Oh, now I see what you mean.’ Does that mean that we see it physically with our eyes? No. It means that we have sensed or come to really know it spiritually. We have gained a deeper—real—meaning from within, the only source of Truth in the matter. When living from this perspective we eventually come to respect and trust only in our inner authority. Some call inner authority God, the Christ or intuition, instead of thoughtlessly following the dictates of pure intellect alone or depending on any outside authority for validation and Truth.

Q: Is this why the Gospel of John is used to lead the participants to the threshold of their own Truth?
JY: “Without a doubt, this is True. The main thread running through KEYS TO THE DOOR OF TRUTH is the idea that when we live primarily through first listening for the guidance of the Christ, or Holy Spirit, then we are beginning rightly. We now know that what we manifest comes from our beliefs, thoughts and ideas we have taken seriously and to which we have committed our conviction, our faith. If we live from the seat of spiritual awareness—from the Truth of our being—what we manifest will be that very same Truth, expressed as only each of us can. The effect of Truth can only be in the exact image and likeness of its cause, that is, Truth. This Law of Divine Order, sometimes referred to as the Law of First cause and effect, provides that each effect we see in life has had its direct cause. This is as it must be, for cause and effect are inseparable. Each inspiration leads to an orderly demonstration of that spiritual offering of grace.
The entire Gospel of John, when read metaphorically instead of literally—as Jesus so ardently taught us—is about this very thing: the power of the Law of Divine Order. One must be careful to understand, however, that this law applies whether we begin with the Truth of our Being or, instead, out of some illusory configuration to meet ego-demand. The law always works the same way: the fruits always fall under the tree that produces them. In this way, spiritually, we are the unceasing prayer that always manifests the answers, whether we like them or not. This principle of the Law of Order is just another name for karma.

Q: So this does relate to what we call karma?
JY: “Yes, how we live our lives gives testimony to the path we have declared for ourselves. Karma is described in many ways. Among them are: ‘Whatever we cast out into the waters is what is sure to return to us;’ ‘What you see is what you get;’ ‘What you do unto others you do unto yourself;’ and ‘Do not judge, for when you judge, you judge yourself.’ The Truth of the matter is that karma has nothing whatsoever to do with punishment for some ill deed performed. All karma means is that every cause has its like effect. The lesson? To be conscious of what thoughts and actions you put out into the universe, because whatever you put out into the world is sure to come back to you as that very same thing in some form or way. Spiritually, this is what is meant by the expression that we are created in the image and likeness of God. Whatever God (or god) we worship is what will manifest into our day-to-day existence. This testifies to the Law of Order, of cause and effect, and any cause and its effect are inseparable.
Furthermore, karma is not about being judged or condemned for a particular action, as karma is so often erroneously portrayed. The word and idea of judgment is a misplaced one in a spiritual sense, for what is really required is discernment, not judgment. When we come to discern what we are putting out into the world, hopefully we will finally learn to inject only loving energy into life. For it is then, and only then, when peace will reign—and rain—both within and without.

Q: You refer to various principles for living spiritually. Are there a few we can depend on?
JY: You can rely on all or any of them. The point is, there are spiritual principles, and they serve us abundantly as we practice them. They guide our life in important ways. The real key to a principled life is to listen inwardly for spiritual guidance. Spiritual guidance awaits our awareness, to listen with all we are, and then to demonstrate what it is we know to be the Truth for us. This is being true to ourselves. Just as Jesus told us, when we abide the Truth we find inwardly, discerned through the still, small voice—the Christ—and commit all we are in body, mind and spirit to its demonstration, we are giving to the Universe the greatest form of love possible: our spiritual integrity. Following The Inward Way demonstrates compassion toward ourselves, and when expressed outwardly toward not only our brothers and sisters, but also toward the entire array of life that supports us all, we are showing compassion toward our neighbors as ourselves. Truly, then, we come to see that we are One. The purpose of my calling is to take those interested in growing spiritually to the threshold of their own Truth—and then to support them in living that Truth.