by Gregory James

Entire systems of laws, policies, and moral codes have been manufactured throughout history in the hope of continuity and order, but it just doesn’t properly function!  Artificial solutions will never solve real problems (i.e., sorting one’s disconnection to the True Nature), and laws only serve to impose control where Universal Law (Natural Law) is feared for lack of proper understanding.  Man-made laws are in place for those who are too deficient to self-govern, and to protect good people who are too weak to protect themselves from people who do bad things.  But this, even within best intentions, is still about control and dominance — not Liberty, and certainly not Happiness.

When in the Course of human events it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another and to assume among the powers of the earth, the [distinct] and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature’s God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the [distinction].

 We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. ~excerpt from the United States Declaration of Independence, July 4, 1776

As the story goes, these are the inspiring words of men who saw the baseless corruption of the ideology imposed upon them, and sought to liberate themselves from it — sighting Natural Law as their inherent Right in doing so.  It was an observation that spawned a revolution and gave birth to a magnificent ideal — at least in the minds of the citizens and in the grandiose myth of the “American Dream”.  It was an ideal too good to last, perhaps, but that’s because “We the People” forgot and ignored the Authority attendant upon “Nature’s God”.

Natural Law (recognizable as Universal Law) and the preservation of Inner Nature will govern the self and the environment accordingly.  Imposed regulation is not Law, and is the origin of disharmony, as it ironically sets itself and everything else against the Harmonious Natural Order of things.

For instance, when regulations state that one must be benevolent, the man whose nature it is to be stubborn and a bit ornery has to hide himself from others and become a liar.  And the man whose nature it is to correct the liar must do so according to due process, which obviously leaves room for ever-increasingly complex laws and loopholes resulting in profuse oversights and calculated trickery.

© Dave Carpenter, CartoonStock.com

Our current legal systems are examples of this convolution, where often the guilty go free and the innocent are punished — if not by judicial authority then by suffering the burdens and flaws of a system that is corrupt by its very complexion.  Such a system, by necessity, opens the door for the liar to seek a place of power in government or “civil service”.  After all, if it’s illegal to be a bad man, he’ll wear the mask of a good man — and herein the good, should they not act well, are subjugated to powerlessness by their own apathy.  Further still, even the good man will have to learn to become comfortable with corruption if he is to cope with the corrupt system — not just the government system, but the whole social system we contribute to and “depend on”, and thus dare not challenge as “corrupt”.

When there is no greater importance placed on benevolence versus surliness, or non-violence versus violence, or righteousness versus deviance, always will there be Balance — and this is the only thing that is truly Good!  And while this sounds frightening perhaps to those who have learned to fear everything outside of “well-ordered convention”, who have erroneously come to think that absence of governance is synonymous with chaos, it is nonetheless Universal Law — that is, Natural Governance.  And it occurs through Right Relationship, which is found foremost in the proper Understanding and use of objective judgment.

NOTE:  I am using the term “Universal Law” herein as synonymous with Natural Law.  However, I feel that the term “Natural Law” is skewed in its impact as a result of the way modern people think.  Most people don’t really seem to understand what “natural” means anymore, and somehow ascribe the word only to things in “nature” — like birds and trees and whatnot.  We seldom associate the meaning of the word “natural” with humanity or society, or the Natural Way things work in our everyday interactions with objects and each other.  Indeed humanity and society have become quite “unnatural” and seem to shun nature in general, but we mustn’t forget, that from which society and humanity come — namely, human being — is fundamentally Natural!  As such, our society and humanity ought not stray too far from Natural Law!

When I use the term “Universal Law” to define this Natural Law, I am doing so in an effort to paint a grander picture of the Universality that underlies all things in the Cosmos, great and small.  The term “Universal Law” naturally indicates — in the mind of most — this underlying dynamic in a way that penetrates and illuminates a greater applicability of meaning, conveying something deeper to the fundamental Nature of all phenomena, from the largest movements of the cosmos to the smallest vectors existent beyond the subatomic level, and the cause and effect relationships that Naturally govern every event of our lives.  Everyday things like stirring milk into your tea or coffee may not be thought of specifically as “natural”, nevertheless the process that involves the action of stirring at a rate of speed so to evenly distribute the milk into the tea is a Universal matter — indeed, an application of Natural Law.  Therefore, I use the term “Universal” to depict the Natural function of everything respectively — including, for example, the Natural result of consumerism being that of social and environmental degradation, or the Natural effect of personal Happiness being that of an attitude which fosters the same for others.  These Natural effects are Universal Law.

Universal Law governs everything!  It governs nature, the cosmos, even metaphysics.  It is objective and beyond the structure of any written law.  Universal Law does not depend on the value system set forth by any government, religion, or culture.  It is what it IS; and it is verifiable via both science and astute, objective observation.

Not so surprisingly, this objective recognition of Universal Law — of our Inner Nature and of the Natural Order of things and events — is what corrupt manipulations of religions and governments have effectively convinced the people to forgo in favor of written “laws”.  Why should you have to think for yourself, after all?  We see this from the smallest details of our lives to the greatest policies effecting our world; from the customary manner by which we determine appropriate speech and wardrobe, to the ludicrous assertion that “capitalism” is inherently “right” and any other way is horribly “wrong”; from the unnecessary enforcement of a stop-sign even in the absence of cross-traffic, to the imposition of federal taxation to fund secret government organizations and activities to “protect” us from “terrorist”.  In religion we see the same; from the mandated habituation of commonplace beliefs and rituals which then become realistically meaningless, to the proposal of definitive salvation based simply on unconditional supplication to the “right” god.  What’s worse is that there have been so many different and contradictory laws, regulations, and the like assertions that most people feel they are left with nothing whatsoever on which to rely except hope that what they believe is true, or at least that obedience and conformity to the status quo will provide some degree of solace.  It is, however, as Jiddu Krishnamurti correctly observed:

“It is no measure of health to be well-adjusted to a profoundly sick society.”

Yet we are somehow forced to adjust or be left behind, cut out, or labeled a nut, conspiracy theorist or extremist.  And this is precisely my point; it is all too easy to misjudge the Truth and subsequently misjudge that which isn’t True as “true”.  First we misunderstand and then we cling to an untrue idea, convention, or judgment in an effort to make us feel better — providing an illusion of understanding.  We build this illusion up so greatly that we are no longer our True Self but rather error incarnate!  It is much easier to escape into that which makes matters more convenient than doing the Work.  We can Realize Truth individually, but until enough people begin to wake up and smell the hot mess we are collectively shoveling, beginning with their own refusal to do the Work to get to the bottom of it — which first means earnest Self-Work — nothing can or will collectively change for the better.  Even if, hypothetically speaking, some miraculously calamitous world event wiped out all the bad guys in the world, unless those “good” ones left were willing to face the Truth and do the Work, the evil would permeate the world once again, and quite rapidly too, as the “good” people would know no better than to turn back to the only way they know — a profoundly sick society.

“But it’s too much work!” you’ll protest; “People will never change!” And perhaps you’re right!  But recognizing that as a distinct possibility, indeed a probability, is at least a start on the Path to discovering Truth — much better than clinging to some empty hope that we’ll all be saved by some miracle or new technological advancements.  And who knows, maybe we will, but that still doesn’t absolve us from the responsibility of objectivity and Right Living today!  And while perhaps many people are too lazy to do the Work, and while perhaps there is too much evil in the world to correct the “problems”,  I will still contend that it is possible (but not necessary) to Save the whole world by acknowledging what is Right — not by contrast to what is wrong, but rather a True Right that includes the so-called “right and wrong” in a singular Harmony.  Idealistic perhaps, but still True!  This is how Universal Law works and it is how Unconditional Love works — which is the purest expression of Universal Law.

Truth and Love, simply Being, are greater than the most pungent evil, for they are One, utterly Immutable and Omnipotent Reality.  Even where Truth and Clarity are seemingly nowhere to be found, they are nonetheless Present, simply Being, waiting for you to join.  Even where darkness ostensibly reigns, it is nonetheless an opportunity for you to choose Truth — which plainly means that Truth can never not exist, and darkness can always be illuminated!  True Purity is not found in opposition to impurity, it is found in the Presence and Inclusion of the Harmony between pure and impure.  True Purity is still Pure even in the most impure place.  And because of this Truth, we can Save our world!  But to do it, we must Work to Understand and embrace Universal Law — first within oneself, only then will others follow.

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“Any intelligent fool can make things bigger, more complex, and more violent.  It takes a touch of genius — and a lot of courage — to move in the opposite direction.”  ~Albert Einstein

This essay is Part I of a three-part series on the corruptibility of ideology and the importance of Universal (Natural) Law.  The practical implications of this essay will be further expounded in my next posts, conveying the applicability of the Power inherent to Universal Law (Read Part II).  Please subscribe to this blog; you will then receive email notifications of future posts.  (Your email address will not be shared or sold.)