The Inner Life: Understanding Individuality and Existence

The individual struggles to harmonize inner life with outer existence, often allowing the body to dominate instead of serve.

### The Quest for Individuality: Understanding the Inner Self and Its Relationship with the Body
* 🧠 Many individuals are curious about the **roots of their individuality**, while others simply accept life without questioning its **meaning or purpose**.
* 🌍 There exists a dynamic between the outer world and the inner self, where every person has an **innate desire to influence others** and **communicate their thoughts**.
* 🔍 The quest for understanding this internal power raises questions about its **uniqueness to humanity**, its **evolution**, and its relationship with **heredity and environment**.
* ⚡ This internal power, described as **energy**, maintains bodily functions but does not directly dictate opinions; rather, it serves as the **machinery for forming them**.
* 🧩 Two distinct groups of people emerge: those who **conform to external pressures** and those who seek to **express their inner life and solve personal challenges**.
* 🏛 Ancient philosophers viewed this inner power as a **divine principle**, with the belief that **life and law are intertwined**, leading to conflicts when personal conduct **diverges from this natural order**.
* 💡 The body should serve the being within, yet often becomes a tyrant, leading to **frustration and conflict** when individuals cannot align their lives with their **inner purpose**.
* 🌌 Ultimately, recognizing the **unity of all life** and serving the **common energy** can dissolve conflicts, allowing individuals to **fulfill their true potential** and live **harmoniously**.

I think that most persons are interested a little bit in trying to find out the roots of their own individuality. A great many, of course, do not really care. They take life as they know it for granted. They do not really ask the meaning of it or the cause of its all the consequences of the careers they live through. The great majority, life is accepted as a period of vitality and is concentrated in this structure that we call the human body. So, this morning we want to see if we can learn a little person or relation between the outer world in which we live and the cause within ourselves. We want to know something about the person abiding in the body. Each person, whether he realizes it or not, has a subtle determination to influence other individuals. He wants his own thoughts to be accepted by those around him. Nations expect their policies to be accepted by the rest of the world. Each person, however, is contriving to communicate his own inward feelings about matters and cause these to dominate the lives of other persons. So, we have this problem of trying to

estimate if we can what this power is inside of ourselves. Is it something that is unique to humanity? Do other creatures have this power? Is it something that evolves? Is it something that is bestowed by a power outside of the body itself? Is it a chemistry set up by the integration of the body? It requires the dependent upon heredity or environment for its moldings. Everyone has at some time or another attempted to answer some of these questions, but for the most part, the answers have been conjectures. The actual problem of finding the real answer remains elusive, so we must try in our own way to see if we can find out why we think the way we do, why we believe what we believe, and how from this Source within ourselves has emerged a consummate ingenuity by which we have filled the world with an infinite variety of manifestations of one Energy power. Actually, we start in by the problem of energy. It is active. It is like a cell or a battery. It has power in that. Now this power itself maintains all the other functions and in the body.

primarily keeps the activity of the heart going through the length of our lives. For this energy, however, is not necessarily the source of our opinions; it is rather the source of the machinery which makes opinion possible. There is also something else that seems to come out as we go along. There are two levels, apparently, of people. One of these levels is composed of persons who accept and obey the pressures of the environment without question. Whatever is done by others, whatever makes life more simple or convenient for themselves, they follow. Then there is another group, a smaller group, which does not accept these limitations but strikes out to find expression or to solve problems that challenge the inner life. Now, the only place where the solution to the problem can be is within the individual. But most persons do not become aware of such problem-solving powers except with a very limited degree. So we start looking around, trying to find out how this person, this being in the body, functions. And the first point we come across into face-to-face contact is that this power, whatever it is, is functioning.

through a body. It is a body which is a kind of house, and in this house, the being in the body lives or exists or functions. It is not only an occupant; it is a creator. It not only maintains bodies but it fashions and modifies them. And this being seemingly is forever attempting to move the body structure into harmony with the purposes of the inner life. In other words, what the being in the body wants is that the body will serve its purposes. And one of the main problems we have today is a serious complex in this area. In other words, we are now trying to give to the body or to the personality that authority or that consideration which duly belongs to the being in the body. In other words, instead of the body becoming the useful servant of the being, it is now very largely a tyrant or a jailer, determining according to its own pleasures how this being is going to function. Under such conditions, we have a lot of conflicts in life manifesting largely in the fact that individuals forced by

circumstances to accept patterns or conditions which are not according to the inner life become frustrated, neurotic, and psychotic. The individual who is unable to use the body for the purpose of the being in the body is always at a disadvantage. Now, the body itself is a reasonably useful structure, but environmental conditions and many modifying factors are now greatly disturbing the proper relationships between the functions of the body. We find suddenly that this garment, which was supposed to be a useful working vehicle, has become incapable of its original purpose, and beside other circumstances, it has fallen a slave to vanities. It has allowed the person in the body only the privilege to do what the body was done. Now, the body expresses through its own level of function by what we call appetites. These appetites are the pressures in which the body wishes to do as it pleases. One of the major byproducts of these pressures is crime. It is crime either against society or against the body itself, the body punished by the ignorance or perversion of pressure.

is very often sickened and rated incapable of serving the being in the body. The ancient philosophers, working with the problems, decided that whatever the ultimate life principle is, that this may properly be regarded as deity. The behind the forms, personalities, and instruments, and bodies of nature, there is one eternal life principle. That this eternal life principle is not only a being but a being which is inherently occupied and dominated by law. In other words, life and law are identical, which one is a name for the other. Because wise in its own function follows its own law inevitably, and the moment personal conduct varies from this pattern, there is trouble. In other words, the law or light within us has its own reason for existence, and that reason for existence may not be the same as the personal appetites of the individual. So the philosophers of old like to think of the power in the body as a spirit or a soul or an energizing power within, which is the infinite Glory of a Divine reality. In other words, the power within the individual is Limitless and Universal.

because it is the presence of a limitless and universal deity. A deity can do as it pleases. A deity can change anything it wishes to change. But deity building up bodies presents us with the mysterious allegory that we find in the opening chapters of Genesis. The purpose for human existence is a gradual revelation of the being in the body through the body until the being in the body is completely the governor of conduct and also gives us the perspectives which provide the incentives of true and eternal growth. Now, if the philosophers and the old theologians were correct, we have therefore within ourselves a mysterious agent that is our share of infinite life. This infinite life in infinite manifestation is also infinitely moving within each human being and is capable of an infinity of manifestations. To understand this, of course, is to be faced with the recognition of the almost infinite opportunity that is blocked within the person, within the life itself. Here's a pressure continually striving into manifestation, and this pressure is constantly meeting resistance so that gradually the body becomes an

impairment. It becomes a restriction and a limiting factor. Now, there are all kinds of circumstances that lead to this condition, and here perhaps we have some reason for considering the possibility of heredity. Not that man inherits the inner life, but he does sometimes and may frequently inherit the weaknesses or imperfections of the physical body. It belonged to his family, his race, or his world at that time. Therefore, The Power Within constantly meeting a kind of objection, a treasure from Below, a pressure that gradually results in the development of Mind as a bridge between the Divine and the mortal. Mind is a link. Mind is something that you can educate From Below but must Enlighten from above. In other words, the mind can be taught by schooling, by instruction in very many fields, but this instruction is not valuable actually unless it contributes to the release of the life Factor within the individual. Therefore, education nowadays has become more or less a burden upon the inner life rather than a means of releasing it between the average individual and the releasing of this one Divine energy.

There stands a mass of modifying, conflicting attitudes, reactions, and instructions. The person is not allowed the simple process of searching for the reality in himself. Now, Western philosophy has largely turned towards industrialized materialism. Israel now assumes that the life within himself is primarily concerned in helping him to become rich, powerful, autocratic, and successful in what we would term materialism. If the mind does not contribute to wealth, the individual feels defeated or underprivileged. And if the life in him begins to complain against what he does to gain wealth, then he turns upon himself and regards himself as a victim of theological superstitions. In other words, anything that interferes with his intention becomes a kind of fallacy, which he tries to place elsewhere and get rid of in order that he can continue his processes of accumulation. Now, we see this very often and very commonly, but to get into the very depths of it, we have to go still further. Actually, in the Orient, there has been a lot of thought given to this problem of the interference.

of mind and the pressures of materialism with the natural growth of the internal life, and the only thing about the human being that is important is a partnership between the life within him and the conduct of his own daily existence. Unless he makes this adjustment, he is going to always have a certain amount of conflict. This was the secret of the alchemical philosophy that flourished during the 15th, 16th, and 17th centuries in Europe. It was a problem, actually, of transforming the Lord into the use value of the higher. In other words, it was the problem of making the soul itself become flesh in and through the body. If the inner life functions normally and naturally in the body and devotes itself to the reason and expression of its own purposes, the individual will have very little difficulty with the problems of living. The old teacher said that the body, where it is free from opinion and free from the conflicts of lower emotional and mental attitudes, can endure almost indefinitely. And it has even been scientifically recommended that we should hope

that in the course of time, we will be able to live 150 or 200 years in reasonably good health. The thing that is destroying us is the pressure and conflict between life and ambition, between the energy which sustains us and the misuses of that energy, or the abuses of it, or the corruption of the body so that the energy can no longer function. We will always be in trouble as long as the body is in impairment, as long as it remains as a blocking of the energies of life. That when we can have the body serve life, things work very much better. Now we also, however, inherit into the body when we are born a whole outside environmental picture of things. We are born into a nation, a race, into a community, into a family, and these pressures move in on us immediately because none of these institutions are really centered in the Divine Purpose for things. They are all centered in trying to assure survival in this world, but because the survival here is inconsistent with the purposes of the

essential life in man. Nothing really succeeds; everything becomes an endless struggle, trying to prevent mistakes from catching up to us. And if they do catch up, that we will find some way of temporarily neutralizing their effects. We therefore grow into a world which is not the one we belong to. Uh, we can't go into all the details, but we can point out, for instance, that in the area, this has been discovered, has been realized, and it is a known fact to these people, at least, that through quietude and detachment from the causes of death, the individual is capable of making a creative adjustment with the Eternal Light within himself. The thing that he has to get rid of is the false appetites and the false decisions made by the mind to serve the ambitions of the body. Now, the body actually, however, is not as bad as we sometimes think it is. It's not really a nasty thing at all. It isn't a wicked thing. It isn't an evil structure. It is something that is simply the instrument of whatever runs it. And if

the mind and the emotions become the leaders of the body. They can lead it into destruction. They can destroy its purposes and functions, and in so doing, ultimately forcing separation from the life principle with which it is intimately associated, with one life in the body moving from its own secret sources. We must realize that there is only one life in society, also moving towards its natural results and purposes, instead of living as we do now with everyone having their own private world and nations at each other's throats all the time. If we could realize that all nations, all individuals, all planets, and even all cosmic systems are sustained by one energy, this one energy is the common denominator of all that exists. If, therefore, we could once come to serve that energy as it wants to be served, we would end merely all the conflicts and confusion of mortal existence. But why each individual places himself as a judge of what the inner part of himself decides or demands, he is in trouble.

The Generative Principle of Freemasonry

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The Search for Individuality and Inner Power

Many people take life for granted and do not question its meaning or their own individuality.

Each person has a subtle determination to influence others and communicate their inward feelings.

The power within individuals, which drives their thoughts and actions, remains elusive and is influenced by factors like heredity and environment.

The being in the body is both an occupant and a creator, striving to harmonize the body's structure with its inner purposes.

Modern society often gives the body authority over the being, leading to conflicts and frustrations.

The body's appetites and pressures can result in crime and dysfunction, while the eternal life principle behind all forms is seen as a divine power, with law and life being identical.

The Mysterious Agent Within: The Role of Deity and Mind in Human Existence

The presence of a limitless deity is central to human existence, with the gradual revelation of the being in the body as its purpose.

This infinite life within each person faces resistance, leading to the body's limitations and the development of the mind as a bridge between the divine and the mortal.

Education and external influences often burden the inner life, while Western philosophy's focus on materialism can create a conflict between the individual's true purpose and the pursuit of wealth.

The Balance of Inner Life and Daily Existence

The key to a harmonious life is the partnership between one's inner life and daily conduct.

Alchemical philosophy aimed to transform the soul into flesh, highlighting the importance of a normal functioning inner life for problem-free living.

External pressures from society and institutions can create conflict, but aligning the body's purpose with life can lead to better outcomes.

Life is often an endless struggle to prevent mistakes from catching up, leading to a disconnect from our true selves.

Quietude and detachment from the causes of death can help individuals make a creative adjustment with their inner light.

Recognizing the common energy that sustains all existence could eliminate conflicts and confusion in mortal life.