The Soul of Government
by Henry Guy
In a sense, the words soul and government can seem like they are from two different worlds. Yet we know that every existence has three aspects: purpose, an intelligent manifestation of that purpose, and the relation between the two. In that light, the soul of government then is the evolving relationship of the purpose of government and its intelligent manifestation.
Could the lack of easy relation between these two concepts be getting to the root of the seemingly never ending dysfunction in government? Could it be that we are trying to involve ourselves in the intelligent manifestation of government without a strong sense of its purpose, not to mention a commonly accepted purpose among the governed, or even a commonly held understanding that there is in fact a purpose for government? In that light, could it be that our governments are to a great degree soulless forms, and this is what lies at the root of mistrust of government for so many?
In an attempt to better understand the soul of government, we can put ourselves, at least temporarily, in that relationship, and begin to contemplate the purpose of government. Not to limit or define the purpose, here are a few thoughts along that line:
• As the First Aspect manifesting through humanity, one purpose might be to relate to, to mirror, and bring to life the greater purpose of this planet.
• Another might be to act as a purposeful, conscious framework for the whole it is responsive to and responsible for, where all parts exist in a grand synthesis.
• A third might be the function and form of governance itself, i.e., inspiring, coordinating, and adapting its manifestation to ever better embody its own purpose and function.
There are probably many more thoughts and insights along this line. In one sense, this contemplation can only truly be a group effort to invoke a greater understanding of the Greater Purpose as well as the more specific purpose of government.
We are limited and we know it; those of us working in brains have fairly limited access to the Greater Purpose in its fullness. There is a whole planetary center (Shamballa) devoted to it, one that reveals more of this Purpose to humanity as it proves itself ready. What we have proven ourselves ready for reveals at least a portion of this Purpose, and that has to do with Light.
Light: This planet has a thing for light. Like other planets with magnetic fields in the solar wind, we produce the light of the polar aurorae; and like the other planets (except Venus, interestingly enough) we experience the light of lightening. However, uniquely on earth, a whole kingdom in nature (the plants) photosynthesizes light from the sun and converts the atmosphere and general chemistry of the planet into something unlike any other planet. We have an oxygen-rich atmosphere, including a layer of ozone (O3) that shields the planet from the overheating and desiccation of the sun. This conversion seems to be part of the planetary purpose manifesting, as it has created a habitat that allowed the movement of plants onto land, and eventually the manifestation of the animal and human kingdoms into the light of day. Since the flourishing of these three kingdoms, another light, the light of many huge fires is constantly visible from satellites. Many plants and animals actually emit visible light; and as near as we can tell, no other planet turns on the lights at night.
Besides creating that electrical light phenomena, humans have taken light to ever higher levels: the light of knowledge and the light of understanding. To a degree, we share the light of knowledge with the sensate lower kingdoms, but of course humanity has expanded it into the ever larger and smaller, ever more distant and closer worlds. We share in the light of understanding with the higher kingdoms; this is the light that reveals the meaning at the heart of knowledge and its relationship with the Greater Purpose. This might be the human correspondence to photosynthesis. Using a much subtler light, perhaps from another aspect of the sun, humans “photosynthesize” the light of intuitions and inspirations into thoughts, feelings, actions, things and events. Much like our brothers, the plants, it could very well be that this human level of photosynthesis is helping to create a new mental, emotional, and even physical environment that will enable the habitation of still higher kingdoms into the light of day. This could shed new light on the externalization of the Hierarchy.
We humans are expanding our knowledge, understanding, and divine reason at an exponential rate. How long before we, as our governmental aspect, realize that this is at least a part of the purpose for which this planet and its light bearer, humanity, incarnated? What kind of world would we have if government held at its core the purpose of culturing light to life on every level?
Government could act as an agent of inspiration to focus on this core purpose. Its attention could be directed into the culturing of light in all its forms, but initially and most importantly into the culturing of human consciousness. The trend is most definitely in this direction anyway. Language, writing, schools, universal education, all forms of art and literature, research, the religions, and lately universally available networks of knowledge and communication show the outlines of the pathways of light that humanity is creating.
Using this essential purpose as a starting point, government could culture its own soul. It could culture an evolving, living relationship with the Greater Purpose. This purpose is related to the rest of the kingdoms, higher and lower, and with the other planets, the Solar Life, and beyond. Our expanding relationship with the Greater Purpose frees us into existence undreamed of as yet.
Freedom: In addition to light, freedom, is another theme woven throughout the Greater Purpose. From one standpoint, freedom and government can seem to be opposites of each other, but that is mostly because of the limitations through which we view them. Those limitations are essentially our identifications with the very forms through which we manifest. The potential of government is, in one sense, the intelligent, loving orchestration of form to better manifest its purpose. If we take ourselves to be the form, while our hearts long for freedom, we find ourselves in that constant incongruity of seeking freedom as the limitation. In confusing ourselves as form, we take freedom to be that license to do whatever we want, whatever we will. Of course the form can have no such license; it is rightly subject to the laws governing matter: karma, gravity, inertia, etc. Identified as the form, we learn this lesson, not once, but over and over again in all its variations.
The freedom we seek is ultimately the freedom from exclusive identification as our manifestations. That identification constitutes the prison of our own making, and it is through light that we gain freedom. Light is the spirit of matter. Light is matter set free. Light qualified by loving understanding can open our eyes to our identification with matter, but also how we are soul and spirit. Culturing light, the soul of government can hold this torch of freedom for all to see, and can help to resolve that paradox of freedom and the control of form.
We can understand this freedom better if we enter the freedom that the soul seeks. It does not simply seek freedom from limitation. It seeks the freedom of relationship, to freely relate purpose with its manifestation, to freely design, qualify, and adapt that manifestation to ever more perfectly actualize the purpose. From the human standpoint that could shine a new kind of light on the freedom of human relations: our free relation to the purpose, the planetary centers, each other, and the rest of manifestation.
Equality: The problematic issue of equality is also resolved through the culture of light. Are all humans equal? Again, if we take ourselves to be the forms through which we manifest, the answer is, no; as forms we are different to the point of uniqueness and we seem hierarchical. In exclusive identity as forms, we take on the illusions of separation, lack, and fear; and in that framework we pit ourselves one against another; we compete for resources, safety, favor, power, and seemingly, life itself.
From within that illusory mindset, the governments we create are competitive. As an agent of and an arena for competition, no such government can be the government for all of its constituents. Within the coalitions, there would always be the constituency that competes for governmental power, apparently wielded by another constituency. Whether it is a rebel group or an opposing party, some group feels left out, its voice unheard, its values unrecognized. In retaliation, the opposition frequently seeks to undermine any action of the government. If government were a ship, we simultaneously spin the props and throw out the anchor. We live at odds with ourselves.
Governments of the form-identified become brokerages for the powerful, very often pushing aside the powerless, making them inconsequential and irrelevant. Frequently, money and influence purchase a government favorable to only a few. The rest sacrifice the need for liberty to such a government, only because it promises to be better than the tyranny of the chaos faced without it. Many times, competitive government attempts to conceal its true nature, lest the competition becomes transparent, open, honest, and fair.
As the light of understanding shines on our essential nature, we find that we are not equal even in the evolution of consciousness. Consciousness seems to array itself in progression, and it is evident that we are not all at the same point in the progression. Long ago, some have moved through the stage many of us find ourselves in now, while others are not yet ready for that stage. When we look closely enough we find that each is at a unique point of development.
If we are not equal in form or consciousness, from where do we hold the ideal of equality so dear? Equality calls us from the realm of origin and reflects itself in value. As essential, integral parts of the whole, each point in the evolution of consciousness, as evidenced by the quality of the form through which it manifests, is equal in value to any other. Without even a single part, the whole could not be the whole.
The soul of government helps us hear this divine call through the assertion of e pluribus unum, from the many, one. The more we each fulfill our unique potentials, the more our union fulfills its purpose. The soul of government asserts that the unique set of qualities that compose our individualities spring from a common, divine root, and that each of us is evidence of, and participates equally in bringing that universal purpose to life.
In one sense we supersede equality. We are not separate, equal individuals; we are something much more coherent: a diversity orchestrated and inspired by a higher purpose, each diverse point of equal value to the whole. It is in this coherency of value that the soul of government includes every constituent. It is in the light of this essential synthetic value that we can stand in massed intent.
In this light we see government from the inside of us out, rather than being governed from the outside. In this light, we know with fresh eyes and hearts that we, each and every one of us, are government. We see with fresh eyes that we do not govern each other, but rather, together we govern the worlds of form. In this light, humanity, in the synthesis of the three great planetary centers, can fulfill its destiny: to become the intelligent, loving agent of the Divine Government of this planet.
Fraternity: Finally, through this culturing of light, that longed for state of the human family who knows it is truly divine, can flow naturally into existence. In visible light we see our uniqueness and individuality. Subtler light reveals another side of our nature, our innate identity as group. In the light of understanding, individual identity eventually becomes inadequate. To be whole, we come to need our groupness just as much as our individuality. In one sense government, that is, all of us together, attempts to deal with the large human problems, problems apparently out of the scope of solution by any individual. These have been rightly called soul-sized problems. In trying to solve them on any level, we come to realize that the persistent challenges of human existence facing any of us can never be truly resolved until they are resolved for and by all of us. The solution will come by all of us pulling together, fraternally, instead of all of us pulling ourselves apart.
The government that manifests through our groupness shows itself in many ways, but sometimes it bursts to the surface in an astounding way. Take the example of a child falling into a raging river. The crowd does not need to form a committee to explore the various actions they might take as a group, debate their merits, and vote on them. Instead the good swimmers instantly jump in. The person with a cell phone calls 911. Someone gets towels and blankets. Someone applies the needed first aid. It is seamless governance in action, and it is not something that resides in the future; we are native to it and it to us.
Humanity, can and will exercise its special privilege. Out of the depths of our ignorance, pain, inertia, and separation, we will forge our native bonds anew, and they will be stronger and brighter, shimmering with a patina of wisdom laid in our journey from darkness to light. These bonds will be love brought to life as never before. Each of us will be all of us.
There are statues around the world that belong to the world. Michelangelo’s David in Florence, Christ the Redeemer in Rio de Janeiro, and the Sphinx in Egypt are but a few. In the New York harbor stands the Statue of Liberty. Her right arm is raised high, holding a golden torch radiating physical light all around. In her left arm, close to her heart, she holds a book, perhaps indicating the dearness of the light of knowledge. Radiating from her head are the rays of a subtler light, the light of pure reason and understanding. She stands as a symbol of both the soul and the purpose of government. Both are needed to help further enlighten the ideals of liberty, equality, and fraternity and open the gates to the new civilization, the new culture, and the new order.