The Five Elements: Quest for the ultimate truth

Spirituality in Depth: 

                 Spirituality is: “Reality of the unseen”. Spirituality is an existent reality that cannot be seen through the human eyes. The source that keeps one alive, and the words that one speaks, as well as all the human behaviors that one experiences in life are elements that manifest themselves through the reality of the unseen (Spirituality). All these elements are not seen through the human eyes, but we know that they do exist. Being spiritual simply is: “To have awareness of the reality of the unseen”. To reveal spirituality in depth, we will have to explain it metaphorically by personifying the human behaviors that we are familiar with.

                There are two forces that manifest themselves through the reality of the unseen, which influence all the human behaviors. These two forces are the force of light, and the force of darkness. The force of light is what we call: “The Righteous Team” and the force of darkness is what we call: “The Devil’s Team”. The members of The Righteous Team are: Belief, Courage, Confidence, Happiness and Love. Belief confirms. Courage empowers. Confidence inspires. Happiness creates joy. Love Harmonizes.  The members of The Devil’s Team are: Doubt, Fear, Low Self-Esteem, Anger and Hate. Doubt confuses. Fear terrifies. Low Self-Esteem demoralizes. Anger blames. Hate despises. These two teams are a team of light and a team of darkness, and each member of each team has his own opponent from the other team. 

(1)   Belief versus Doubt

(2)  Courage versusFear

(3)  Confidence versus Low self - esteem

(4) Happiness versus Anger

(5)  Love versus Hate

              Each member of the righteous team stands for morality, and each member of the devil’s team stands for immorality. These two teams are different in every way. The Devil’s Team creates darkness that blinds the human spirit, and The Righteous Team provides clarity that allows the human spirit to see far beyond what the eyes can see. The members of The Devil’s Team can only function in one’s life when the members of The Righteous Team are not given the chance to manifest themselves. The Righteous Team enlightens one’s journey for one to see every step of the way to the aimed objective. This is the team that prevails at any time and in any situation when they are allowed to manifest, because wherever there is Belief there can be no Doubt, wherever there is Courage there can be no Fear, wherever there is Confidence there can be no Low Self-Esteem, wherever there is Happiness there can be no Anger and wherever there is Love there can be no Hate. 

                The Righteous Team manifests in one’s life through two different paths: one of the paths requires no physical action, and the other path is where one is guided to greatness beyond the desires that one can plan. They are Imagination and Calling. Imagination is a path that requires no action, and calling is the path on which one is guided to greatness that will plow a purposeful journey for many. However, The Devil’s Team manifests in one’s life through three different paths, and they are; Hobby, Mission and Dreams, and through these three paths, it is where many souls lose their moral purposes in life. 

Paths of the Righteous Team: 

Imagination:

                 Imagination is a path that allows the spirit to go beyond any physical limitations of the body, and see the invisible, or do the impossible, or violate any rule or regulation without getting condemned for it. One can only be condemned in society for planning or committing an act that is condemned, but not for imagining the act. Imagination poses no threat or benefit to reality, unless the thoughts move to the stage of action. Imagination is the path where the spirit can fantasize anything without the awareness of anyone else.

               Imagination is the training ground of the spirit, because it enables the spirit to go beyond the moment of physical reality. However, in imagination whatever the spirit sees in the future and chooses to bring to the present can come to reality if the spirit sticks with it, good or bad. Therefore one must analyze the thoughts of the spirit before they become a desire that one would take action to achieve.

 Calling:

          Calling is a path that one is guided onto his or her God given purpose in life. Every soul purposes on this earth are to serve the greater good, and Calling is the path that keeps the spirit on its true purpose. Any existence has a purpose for being. No existence was created or made to serve itself alone. When an existence manifests to it’s purpose, the reality of the manifestation will effect far beyond the existence itself. For example, a pen is a small object, but its purpose is to write with, and written words can extend or change people’s views on life itself. So if humans give a pen a purpose that can effect lives, then what purpose would God give to humans to manifest in life? One’s purpose for being here in this world is far greater than one serving one’s own-self only, or for living just for survival.  Everyone is born with a great purpose that develops throughout the course of time, if it is not decimated by the limitations of society. 

          Purpose is a God given ability that one is born with, that develops throughout the course of time, which is different from the abilities that one learns through life experiences. We have seen three or five year old children expressing athletic, artistic or spiritual ability, which they did not learn. However, we don’t see a three or five year old child with the ability to plan a war, because God created no one, or gives anyone a purpose to harm others. But a child can grow up, and learn through life experiences, abilities that would bring harm to many. There are many “professions” in society that derail humans from their God given purpose in life. Calling enables one to tap into an ability that brings purposeful joy into many lives, but the journey is an unpredictable one, because the aimed goal is beyond intellectual planning.

           In Calling, the spirit can see the aimed goal clear as crystal, but the spirit would not be able to plan how and when to achieve the goal in detail. But whatever the goal is, the spirit will already see the achievement before it comes to pass. Calling is where the human spirit dares any challenge that lies ahead because of the empowerment of the purpose. People who are on the path of their calling are often seen as “Stubborn” “Arrogant” or “Foolish,” because they cannot be intimidated, nor can they be discouraged from their aimed goal. They will see a clear picture of what is about to come. In Calling one understands the values of morality and walks under the principle of moral righteousness. In Calling one walks with honor, determination and a graceful character till the end, because it is where one understands, that the path will continue even after one is long gone, and the fruits of harmony will blossom and enlighten many souls for a long time to come.  

The Paths of the Devil Team: 

Hobby:

               Hobby is a path that allows one to act without requirement of the sacrifice and discipline that one needs to achieve rewards from society. Any reward of society has a price tag, and Hobby is a path that allows one to act for the joy alone, but not for the reward. People tend to enjoy their hobbies more than they would their chosen career, because a hobby is a path free of pressures from society. However, being free from the pressures of society does not make one free from the pressures of morality, because when one acts just for the joy of it, one might fail to realize the moral consequences of his or her actions.

               One must realize that each action has an outcome, and if an action of a Hobby violates morality, one can only enjoy it for the lack of understanding of the consequences, because only evil gets served when morality is violated. We have seen humans being tortured as a Hobby, animals being hunted down as a Hobby, and many kinds of cruel hobbies that violate morality that people see as joyful. But one must understand that any Hobby that violates morality is no longer a Hobby, but a condemned act under the moral authorities of righteousness. 

Mission:

              Mission is a path that can be mistaken for the path of Calling because they have a similarity in determination, but they are very different in purpose. In Mission, one is willing to destroy or be destroyed to achieve the aimed goal, and that is the difference between Calling and Mission. In Calling one understands that any act of destruction is an act of evil, and when evil is part of any journey, that journey will no longer lead to greater good. In Mission, one is willing to achieve the aimed goal at all costs, and this is where evil and immorality can be justified as honorable or as a necessity. There is no honor or necessity in the destruction of any creation of God.

             Any objective in which destroying lives is part of the plan, it would not matter how honorable or necessary it might seem, that path will lead one only to evil, period. Mission is the path in which destroying lives can be justified in the name of righteousness, or legitimized in the name of democracy. But the fact of the matter is that, there is nothing righteous about destroying lives, and destroying lives in any name is nothing but pure evil. No life was created to destroy or be destroyed in any name or in any cause.

 Dream:

              “Dream” is the path where everyone is vulnerable to evil and immorality, because it is a path where desires are designed based on the framework of our confused and unjust society. Dream is a desire that can be planned in detail, and achieved as it is planned, because the knowledge of the planning and the achievement are available. For example: If one desires to be a fireman, policeman or a businessman, the knowledge of how to become one is available for one to choose. People choose to be firemen, policemen or businessmen because no one is born with their fireman or policeman credentials nor are they born with a business degree. These are just examples of desires that we call dreams, because any desire that society designed a plan for achieving falls into the category of dream. The path of dream is where every human being is vulnerable for their lives to be ruined. We have seen people, who are pursuing their dream, but when they break meaningless rules of society, their dream and their lives can be ruined altogether. 

                Dream is a path where people can come up close and personal with the devil himself, and many will surrender their soul for the exchange for their aimed desire. There are many dreams that one is better off not having in the first place due to the price that one will have to pay to get them. You’ll see people joining an army for the “pride” of the uniform, or for the thrill of operating its heavy machineries of destruction and so on. You’ll see soldiers looking proud in their uniforms, and they do act with enthusiasm on a battlefield due to their heavy machineries of destruction. But some soldiers will come back home from the battlefield as mentally unstable, due to their close encounter with evil. Some will come back home as amputees, and many in a body bag. 

                Then those who are mentally disturbed will be given a justification for their lost mind as “A good cause.” The amputees will be given a piece of metal for their lost limbs. And the family of the dead will get a piece of flag as recognition for their loss. These are just a few examples of tragedies that people do encounter on the path of “Dream”. The journey of a dream starts with a plan to bring a desire to reality, and the desire is reinforced with commitment and determination. Commitment is the element that does the work, and determination is the element that empowers the spirit to overcome the task that lies ahead. However, just commitment and determination does not always achieve a planned desire, and that is why many would compromise with their moral principles when achievement is in a bleak stage.

 This is how (the devil’s team members) Doubt, Fear, Low Self-Esteem, Anger and Hate manifest on the path of dream.

                 Doubt is the first member of the devil’s team that creates confusion. Doubt confuses the spirit as to the real and the unreal, or the possible and the impossible. When doubt successfully confuses the spirit, the spirit will no longer be certain even to the obvious. When Doubt cripples the spirit’s abilities of certainty, intellectuality will be the criteria that the spirit will function upon, because intellectuality values sight over common sense. Many are in denial of the existence of God based on their intellectualism; even with all of the existences we see that no one is capable of creating but God.

               Doubt does not give confirmation of anything, because its role is to create confusion, and when one is going after a desire, confusion is the first ingredient in the recipe for failure. When Doubt succeeds to create confusion in one’s spirit, that’s when the second member of The Devil’s Team, Fear, will show up. Fear is the second member of The Devil’s Team, and its role is to cripple the spirit’s will to proceed toward its objectives. Fear always brings bad news to the spirit by foretelling a potential disaster that lies ahead. Fear can make one turn away from one’s aimed objective, or proceed with an expectation of a disaster that is waiting to happen. When fear is crippling one’s spirit, he will give one a list of people whom one might know who have failed to reach the same objective that one is aiming for, and then he will convince one that one will be just another failure. 

               Fear will tell you that, “if those who failed before you can’t do it, what makes you think that you can?” Most people pursue a desire because they have heard of or seen someone who achieved the same desire. So when fear is trying to put you on its list of failures, your response to fear should be the simple metaphor that, “There are some who already achieved the desire I am aiming for, and if they can do it, so can I.” If your aimed objective is for the greater good, you’ll need to realize that fear is an enemy of righteousness, and you should not allow it to stand between you and greatness. Fear always makes one expect the worst in anything. If you think about the things that you fear, you’ll realize that they are no more than an expectation of an unpleasant situation. 

             Fear is an expectation, but not a situation. For example, if someone points a gun at you, Fear will tell you that you will get shot, and the expectation of getting shot is what can cripple your spirit, even though you have not been shot yet. The expectation of getting shot is what cripples your spirit, but not the situation of a gun being pointed at you, because if you know that the gun has no bullet, you will not fear an unloaded gun. Even in religion you’ll hear the term, “Fear Your God.” Why would anyone fear God? God needs not to be feared, because God is not a threat to anyone. It is evil that makes one fear God, because if evil was not condemned by God, one would not have a reason to fear God for their acts of evil, or for their desire to do evil.

              When one is welcome into heaven, one will no longer have reason to fear if he or she will be doomed in hell by the hand of God. In heaven one will no longer doubt the existence of God, and one will no longer feel low self-esteem as an unworthy creation of God, and one will no longer feel anger or hate towards anyone. These five elements; Doubt, Fear, Low Self-Esteem, Anger and Hate, do not exist within the presence of God. These members of The Devil’s Team are elements of darkness that blind one’s spirit from seeing the light of God. When you analyze what people fear the most in today’s society, it is the expectation of losing their job, not having enough money, getting evicted from their home or losing their house, not being able to take care of themselves when they get old, and the most common one: “Will I succeed in life?” and so on.

              We all have experienced expecting the worst, and then when the moment arrived, it turned out to be nothing but a false expectation, and then we felt relief. When fear succeeds in stopping one from proceeding towards one’s aimed objective, that’s where the third member of The Devil’s Team, low Self-Esteem, will show up to continue Fear’s trail of decapitation of the spirit. Low Self-Esteem is the third member of The Devil’s Team. Low Self-Esteem will give one a long list of what one lacks to achieve the aimed objectives, and the list usually starts with the physical appearance of the body, then lack of education, cultural background or religious affiliation, and so on. The list can include even things that have nothing to do with the aimed objective; because Low Self-Esteem gives one many senseless reasons that can make one feel incompetent.

             When Low Self-Esteem is able to make you focus on your physical self, then his job is done, because he will waste your time by telling you what is not right about you. If you focus on your physical self instead of your inner self, you will never know who you truly are, or what you are truly capable of. If you realize the uniqueness within yourself, you will not allow Low Self-Esteem to waste your time by telling you what is not right about you. If you ever allow Low Self-Esteem to influence your spirit, that’s when Anger will show up to reinforce Low Self-Esteem, and when that happens, your spirit will face an imminent decapitation. Anger is the fourth member of The Devil’s Team, and the most aggressive of them all.

             Anger doesn’t waste any time to bring emotions into a situation that one has no control over, or seems to be losing control of. Anger is the judgmental element that claims to know it all. Anger will come in a situation saying that things are not what they should be, and start pointing fingers at what is wrong about it, and who to blame for it, and what to do about it. Anger will claim to be on its victims’ side by telling them that they are someone else’s victim, and who to blame will depend on the situation, but whatever the situation is, anger does not have the solution.

             When you struggle towards an objective, Anger will first make you think that you have failed, and then comfort you by saying, “Your failure is not your fault, because you did your best. You see Jennifer, Bill & Michael? They are all successful, why not you? It’s because people who should help you don’t want you to succeed.” Then Anger will give you its long list of people who are responsible for your failure, and the list will start with your loved ones and end with people who don’t even know that you exist, because everyone is on Anger’s blame list. Anger can make you see and feel the worst in anyone or anything that comes your way, and when that happens, you are about to become a fallen victim of the devil’s team. When you start seeing and feeling the worst towards others, you’ll need to reevaluate your thoughts, otherwise Anger will give you a right that you do not need. Any issue that you feel Anger towards, you should approach with an open mind, because Anger is poor at moral judgment, and has no solution for any situation that needs to be morally solved. 

             Anger is not a friend, but a foe. However, when you allow Anger to be your advisor in any situation, that’s where the fifth member, and the captain of The Devil’s Team, “Hate”, will show up. Hate is the quietest member of the devil’s team, but also the most dangerous of them all. Hate will walk into your life with its arrogant pride, offering you a solution to your problem, but if you have any knowledge about hate’s history, you will realize that hate is a problem in and of itself. Hate will tell you that those who are on your list of Anger deserve to be punished, and hate will help you to do the job. If you take Hate’s advice you’ll be doomed as a victim of evil, because Hate will do the emotional work, and then push you to do the physical work.

             When you proceed with hate’s advice, even when society is on your side, you will have violated the moral laws of righteousness, which are the only valid laws in the eyes of the God of humanity. When hate is on your side, it will drag you onto a path of destruction, where the rule of the journey is, destroy or be destroyed. These five members of The Devil’s Team are elements (spirits), which destroy that which was not meant to be destroyed. There are people who will do anything to achieve their desires, even destroy lives when they see it as necessary. Individuals as such are victims of the devil’s team, because there is no achievement in society that is worth the condemnation of moral righteousness.

               The urge to achieve a desire can blind many from their morality and I can testify as a victim. There was a time when morality meant very little to my urge to succeed in society. But it doesn’t matter what kind of achievement you see as success, when morality is violated in the process, whatever was achieved will possess the darkness that creates hollowness within the soul. There are many who aim for an honorable goal, but how they achieved it is what will darken their soul and haunt their spirit with guilt. Through The Five Elements one understands that one can achieve an honorable goal with honor. One does not have to give in to immorality or evil in order to achieve an honorable goal, because whether it is a big or a small goal one is aiming to achieve, the righteous team can take one all the way to accomplishment.

              Many give in to the immorality when their intellectual plan seems to be failing them, and they see failure as not an option; therefore to compromise their moral principles is seen as a necessity. Just an intellectual planning is not enough to prevail against the devil’s team. It is like a metaphor of a marathon race. When one has the desire to run a marathon, the planning will start with the commitment to train, and the determination to run the race. The objective of the race can be finishing first, or just completing the race. However, having the commitment to train and the determination to run does not mean the runner will meet his or her objective.

             We have seen some marathon runners who might be the favorite choice to cross the finish line first, who end up not even finishing the race. It doesn’t mean that they weren’t committed to their training, or that they lacked the determination to win the race, but whatever it was has failed them. We also have seen some runners who collapse right after they crossed the finish line, and if one can run twenty-six miles, for one to take a few extra walking steps shouldn’t be a problem. What kept the favorite from finishing the race as expected was not lack of ability, and it is not physical capability that kept the runner from collapsing before crossing the finish line. If one runs twenty-six miles without stopping, one should be able to walk a few extra steps without being held up by others. The favorite choice runner failed to meet expectations because his or her spirit lost focus on the objective, and the body reacted to what became the end result.

              The runner who collapsed after crossing the finish line was reinforced by the spiritual elements (The Righteous Team) that accommodate one to the aimed objective. These spiritual elements (The Righteous Team) exist within everyone, whether one realizes it or not, and when they accomplish their purpose, the body will return to its normal level of capacity. This is the reason why the runner collapsed right after crossing the finish line, after running twenty-six miles, because the spiritual elements (the righteous team) that kept the runner going, have met their goal. 

              The members of The Righteous Team are the spiritual elements that can guide anyone to achieve their “dream”, big or small, as long as it serves a purpose toward the greater good, and this is how they manifest in one’s life. However, there is one spiritual element that is not included in the righteous team, and that is “Hope” also known in religious terms as “Faith”. Faith is the weakest spiritual element, because it has no certainty of anything. People say, “Have Hope” when they have no certainty, or run out of options for a solution. It is the same metaphor when people say, “Have Faith in God” because they have no certainty whether God will respond to them. Faith is the reason people doubt the existence of a Divine God, because Faith has failed them from realizing many of the obvious existences that only a Divine Existence can.

             When it comes to knowing God, Faith is the element most used as a guide, and if a guide who is not even certain of the obvious is guiding one to an unseen God, it is most likely that one will be wandering throughout the journey, which many of us can testify to. Faith is not a member of The Righteous Team, because faith is not even certain of the existence of God, while there is plenty of evidence that confirms the existence of a Divine Creator. The five members of The Righteous Team are elements who are competent and certain of their purpose. No objective is too big or too small for The Righteous Team to accomplish. Any objective that serves the greater good, The Righteous Team can bring to reality against any odds.

             When you are on the starting point of your aimed objective, as soon as you take the first step forward, the first member of The Righteous Team, Belief, will show up to reinforce the cause. Belief is the element that cannot be shaken, because Belief stands on solid ground that cannot be doubted. As the saying goes, “Seeing is believing,” because Belief realizes and confirms the obvious, and when you take the first step toward your objective, Belief will make you realize that you are a step ahead from your starting point, and all it took was a step forward. Just then you’ll understand that going forward is just another step forward, and for each step you take, Belief will report the progress you have made.

              When you realize that you are progressing toward your objective, Doubt would no longer be able to convince you that you will not get there, and that’s when the second member of The Righteous Team, Courage, shows up to join the cause. Courage is the element that empowers your spirit to take more steps forward, because that’s all it takes to get wherever you are going. When Courage is on your side, Fear has no chance to turn you away from your objective, because whatever fear might tell you lies ahead, Courage will promise you that it is competent to get you through it, and when you keep on going, you will be joined by the third member of The Righteous Team, Confidence. When Confidence joins the cause, The Devil’s Team will have to find someone else to pick on, but not you any longer because when Confidence is on your side you will be unstoppable by any evil means. 

              Confidence Sets You Free. Confident people see themselves as able to match up with any task that might lie ahead of them on any journey. Confidence will tell you that, “If you have come this far, there is no reason why you can’t go all the way,” and when you see yourself unstoppable towards any objective, that’s when the fourth member of the righteous team, Happiness, will show up to join the cause. Happiness is the element that unfolds the reality of your aimed objective right before your eyes. Happiness will join you with a great joy of worthiness of the objective that is about to become reality and when the objective is achieved, that’s when the fifth member, and the captain of The Righteous Team, Love, will show up to join the cause. Love is the element that makes one realize that success is good only when it is shared, because any good that is not shared is no longer good. 

              Any achievement that is not shared is not a success, as far as moral righteousness is concerned, and Love will not be part of that celebration. Those who do not share their success because of their arrogance over their achievement; these individuals are the ones who will feel empty within their souls regardless of their achievement, because they have betrayed moral righteousness. The purpose of The Righteous Team is to guide anyone to achieve any objective that is meant to be shared for the greater good, but they are often betrayed when they meet their purpose, and then what was good and meant for good becomes an accessory for evil & immorality. One must understand that all goods are to be shared, and when one is willing to share his or her goods with others, one will not be enslaved within one’s own self by greed.

                The ones who betrayed The Righteous Team after they achieved their goal will end up like an empty barrel rolling on a street making a lot of noise, because it is empty, and when it can no longer roll or stops rolling, many would not mind or even care. These are people who have a lot of useless energy to burn, and they will run all over the place wanting to be seen with their achievement, organizing gatherings trying to fulfill their souls, but will end up doing nothing that is purposeful to moral righteousness, and that purposeless path will often lead them into trouble that their achievement won’t be able to get them out of. 

                Many people betrayed moral righteousness by failing to give their fair share to those who are in need. They would rather give to whom they want to give, whether whom they give to are in need or not. Many give by expecting something in return and they will call it “Sharing” or “Generosity”, which is nothing but a game of hypocrisy. I experienced this kind of hypocrisy when I achieved success in my athletic career. When I achieved recognition in my career, I have sometimes gone into restaurants with my wife and children, or sometimes with friends. Most of the time after we finish eating, the manager or the owner, whom I know of course, will come and say that the meal is on the house, meaning that I do not have to pay the bill. What a generous offer! But I always insist on paying the bill, and if they continue to insist I usually give most of the money for the meal to the waiter as a tip and the rest, as soon as I leave the restaurant I will give to the first person I see who I think needs that money.

               Don’t get me wrong for seeming to be unappreciative for the offer I’m being given. I am truly honored by the offer, but I know that I was given the offer because of my career achievements. When I think about it, the offer doesn’t make me feel good to the extent that they might think. I knew these very same people when I was struggling, trying to make ends meet. I used to come to these same restaurants (when I could afford it) and was treated like everyone else was, eat & pay. I didn’t get any attention or any special treatment from the owner or the waiters. So if they offer me a free meal now, which I can afford, their act of generosity should not make me stick my nose up, just because I’m being treated differently than others.

               If you really think about it, you’ll understand that they did not offer me a free meal out of their generosity, because there are many people who deserve that free meal more than I. These kind acts of generosity are nothing but hypocrisy, because I was not given special treatment for who I am as an individual, but for what I had achieved. Many give for the wrong reason or to the wrong hands. Giving one who is not in need, while leaving the neediest empty handed, that is an inhumane game of hypocrisy. Giving as a gimmick is not generosity. There are many who owe humanity an overdue generosity, as well as so many who failed to give their fare share to humanity, because the darkness of greed has blinded their spirit from realizing their moral obligation towards others.

Continue the Journey With The 5 Elements: Quest for the ultimate truth