Page 473 - THE SILENT HEALING POWER By DR. MURDO MACDONALD-BAYNE

IS OUR CIVILIZATION CRUMBLING?*

“A man’s ways seem all right to himself but the

Eternal has the verdict on his life.” Prov. 16: 2.

Truth is not created in man’s mind, what is created in the mind is
but an idea of Truth according to man’s conditioning. What the individual

does is to create a civilization that dominates him.
It is the self that causes all the misery in the world. Is it not the self
that has ambitions to attract social distinction and accumulate power? The

individual has his own social distinctions which result in ruthless competition
in every way of life.
Do we not divide ourselves into groups with social standards which

only bring sorrow and conflict, without understanding, so the rot sets in. As
long as we hold on to our separate groups, our divisions, we will fail to build a
lasting civilization.

When civilization is built upon the false foundation of division it cannot
last, it must decay and pass away. Have we not seen similar civilizations
come and go for that very reason? And is not ours fast crumbling about us
at this very hour?

There is a solid foundation based upon unity, not so-called unity which
we speak about, for that is merely an escape from seeing why we are not
united. We hold an ideal of unity while we still hold fast to our divisions and

separations. We refuse to give up our creeds and nationalities, our political
differences, because we will not discern the falseness of them all, they are
but the expression of our own conditioning in which we are bound.
You can only help by understanding the cause and that is by under-

standing yourself, who is the cause of the rot. Whatever you understand of
yourself for the time being that is Truth, that is freedom. By understanding
the self you can see the false and when you see the false, no matter in what

measure, great or small, it is revealing the Truth. For the Truth is not made up,
the Truth does not condition you. You can discover how you are conditioned
only in your relationship with one another.

As I talk to you, you listen, but how do you listen? If you are prejudiced,
that is you listen, conditioned by your own background, with all your condem-
nation, prejudices for or against what I say, then you are not listening. If you

* See Notes page 476
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