Page 146 - Mystic Pathways through the Bible

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140 Mystic pathways through the bible
pain, and misery and experience a sense of eternal satisfaction.
Therefore, the aim of true religion, as taught by Lord Jesus, is not to consider the whole world as an expansion of pathos. Rather, it is to understand that the world is a festivity of God and that it is your birthright to share in that festivity. The purpose of this limited life in the world of time and space is to guide you to the universal experience of the fullness of the Self and the unending festivity of Divine expansion.
As you begin to tread the spiritual path, you will experience some pain in order to free yourself of old egoistic concepts of comfort and joy. In this sense, you are very much like a captive bird that is one day given the opportunity to y out of its cage.
A bird that has grown up in a cage nds its life very comfortable. Whenever it is thirsty or hungry, someone gives it water and food by opening a little door in the cage, and the bird utters with great joy. Then one day a person comes along and opens the door and says to the bird, “Come out. You are free.” Asked to abandon its present state of security and comfort, and unaware of the joy of freedom, the bird may become frightened of what may lie ahead and be lled with uncertainty. But when the bird ies from its cage, discovering the majesty of its wings and discovering the ecstasy of ight, its previous concept of comfort and joy is spontaneously abandoned.