There is a widespread belief that we are more or less creatures of chance, that we are subject to whatever happens, and that all we can do is hope for the best. This ignorant philosophy–the concept of kismet, fatalism–is something that we need to counteract. To be effective in this you must develop a sense of personal relatedness to the factors of Being.

What is Being? Being is the eternal aspect of us. Being is what we are, eternally. Being is a unique focalization of life, which is what gives Being its eternal nature. Forms vivified by life come and go, but all life is eternal.

The Being that you are has had the privilege and responsibility of incarnation, that is, of “taking flesh.” The incarnate Being is given a body, mind, and a capacity for spiritual expression. These are your three “outer” capacities.

The heart—the feeling realm—interpenetrates the physical, mental, and spiritual expression planes. As such, you have physical, mental and spiritual “feelings” or perceptions. The heart moves outward from the center of Being (i.e., the “heart of God”) to every level of creation. Each of us is blessed with this direct connection.

The heart provides you with connection—connection with that which is “above” and that which is “below.” These terms are relative, but do not imply value. That which is “above” is as valuable as that which is “below.” “Heaven,” in this sense, relates to that which is “above” while “earth” describes that which is “below.” Being is hierarchical, in terms of scope of responsibility, authority, and competence.

The purpose of human beings in the individual sense and humanity in the collective sense is to provide a crossover point—a point of connection or translation—between that which is “above” and that which is “below,” i.e., between heaven and earth. Put in individual terms, we are here to let the inner factors of Being find expression in the earth through our outer capacities.

While it is fascinating, this sense of personal relatedness must transcend simple knowledge of or about Being. We must develop wisdom and understanding of our personal pattern of function in relation to the principles of Being if we are to live in accordance with them.

The greater part of education that we receive through traditional schooling acquaints us with the principles of the physical and mental planes. We receive little true spiritual instruction on the laws of Being which compose objective truth.

Even the “greatest minds” as they are called, cannot lay claim to spiritual insight because spiritual things are spiritually discerned. The mind or mental plane is not designed to access the spiritual plane or to “pierce the veil” as it was put. This is why God has largely remained a mystery to man, why a functional understanding of Being has seemed so elusive, and why spirituality been relegated to the realms of impracticality and mysticism.

Our intense focus on scientific knowledge in modern times has resulted in a spiritual myopia, a tendency to downplay the importance of spiritual insight and function. The basic idea of this approach is that the expansion of knowledge is the primary basis by which the individual grows and civilization advances has largely supplanted the idea that a Supreme Being with Divine will somehow factors into the equation. Granted, the refinement of the mental capacity provides greater insight into and understanding of the universe, but there is a cap, a natural limit to the scope of understanding of the design and principles of Being.

Look at the work of our greatest minds and you will see that there is a point of diminishing returns in the mental plane, as with effort in any undertaking. Mental machinations only go so far in explaining such central matters as love, truth, and wonderment.

This limit is vexing and perplexing to the human mind. We tend to think ourselves as being capable of thinking our way out of anything, and that is true to a point. Yet even our geniuses—as astonishing as their mental feats might be—have trouble addressing the basic questions: “Who are we? Why are we here? Where are we going?”

The more we invest in the rationalist materialist mindset the more we tend to discount spiritual matters. The spiritual is quickly becoming marginalized by fanatical materialism. This marginalization is rationalized and reinforced by material progress, despite the fact that most would acknowledge that money or material success does not buy happiness, purpose, or meaning.

So what is required, then? Must we give up our mental and physical pursuits? Not so! Both are necessary to, but not sufficient for the development of spiritual awareness and expression. Must we blindly resign ourselves to “God’s Will” aka the Logos and eschew free will and personal agency? Not so! Free will is essential to the working of the mechanism of translation and transformation that we are.

The pattern of Divine will—the Logos—contains in it a loose blueprint, a vector for ideal action. This is not to be confused with fate, for Logos is not predetermined. The Logos or whatever term you use to describe it, is more of a guideline than a specific, foreordained requirement. It is not fixed; it is malleable and able to be tailored in the individual expression (i.e., thought, word and deed) to meet the specific configuration of needs in the circumstances at hand.

The wisdom of the Logos is perceived through the heart as the heart extends or “pours” (like sunlight) through the spiritual expression, mental and physical planes of being. If the heart is untroubled, the light comes though clearly. If it is troubled, the light is distorted or bent. Hence the creative command: “Let not your heart be troubled.”

Likewise, if the mind is rigid, inflexible, and colored by prejudice, falsehoods, and distorted concepts, the translation will be compromised and the expression limited by adulteration. And spiritual perception and expression in such a state is severely limited, at best.

Here is the basis by which we begin to see that we are not creatures of chance and that we are not slaves of fate. We participate in creation. We are creators. Our free will gives us the opportunity to use our capacities of body, mind, and spiritual expression for the translation of the Logos into the “earth” of our daily thoughts, words, and deeds.

Taking the principles of Being into account makes us more efficient, effective, productive in living. Attuned to the Logos we become infinitely less likely to sin, in the sense of hamartia (i.e., “missing the mark”). Hewing to the Will, the Word, the Logos, we find ourselves being centered in love, true to the truth, and unimaginably generative in life.