What we call the subconscious, just like the conscious mind, contains information about the past, present, and future, but the former holds vastly more of it. While the conscious mind can only speculate about the future, the subconscious knows it. Moreover, within our subconscious lie our lower and higher selves.
Our feelings encode both our higher and lower aspects simultaneously, raising the question: how should we navigate our feelings? Perhaps our conscious mind can assist?
Indeed, it can help, but it plays a secondary role. Just as a child can help a parent, the parent is wiser than the child. How then can we hear our higher self and restrain our lower self, especially when we cannot always determine which of our desires are higher and which are lower?
The answer is simple. The more a person is oriented towards God, the more willing they are to change for the better, the more they align with their higher self, hearing and obeying it rather than their lower self, which is tied to an animalistic state. Thus, our direction dictates our development.
If a person's life meaning is centered around well-being, money, and pleasures, then their lower self will increasingly dominate their soul, making it more dependent on the past and an animalistic state.
However, if a person values love and soul more, they understand that life is not the main concern, that morality often outweighs life itself, as Vladimir Vysotsky sang: «We won't die from a torturous life; we'd rather revive through a faithful death».
When a person realizes that love and morality are more important than life itself, that is when their proper development begins, and the subconscious awakens feelings that make us human.
If our goal system leads us to mere bread and soup, to money and well-being, then our subconscious reacts differently: it gradually turns us into animals, no matter how intelligent we might be. Therefore, Jesus Christ said, «But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness».
The Bhagavad Gita speaks of a similar concept, presenting a brilliant yet initially perplexing idea of complete detachment from the fruits of one's actions. If you tell a European that they should not be attached to their work's outcomes, they might retort, «What do you mean? Should I forget about money and my work's purpose? Then I won't work».
For Europeans, detachment from results seems impossible. Our goals are typically linked to immediate results. Why do I work? To earn money, build a house, fulfill my desires, and enjoy pleasures. When such goals are set, work becomes a means of enslaving the soul.
If one works to comprehend the Creator, to emulate Him, to benefit their soul and foster its development, then their goal system transcends life, meaning they won't cling to superficial, immediate objectives. To detach from life's goals, one must attach to goals beyond life.
If a person's goal is to emulate God, to love and develop the soul, they cease to depend on other goals, becoming no slave to them, and their character begins to improve. When a person grasps the Universe's laws and delves into what the Sacred texts say, their character starts to change.
In conclusion, I want to emphasize that Judaism and Christianity are moral systems aimed at improving human character. However, for one to change and transform, they must continuously experience love in their soul, which is possible when we remember our divine essence.
We are imperfect, carrying this imperfection as a pledge for development, and though we can never become God, we can always be divine. We must ascend the steps of spiritual development, altering our character, and drawing closer to our higher self. Those who decide to change for the better can overcome their problems, illnesses, and any negativity. The question is, how ready is one for this?
S.N. Lazarev, «Human Health. The Meeting of Science and Religion»
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