The world is going down the drain: there is a decline in morality, solidarity, virtues, and other human values, and a rise in enmity, violence, fraud, depression, loneliness, and other unpleasant conditions.
Advances in technology will not improve the situation and even exacerbate it by all the evidence we are witnessing. Thus, the famous saying that "time fixes everything" may not be the case this time.
While there are imminent global crises looming on our horizon, such as overpopulation and global warming, there is yet a bigger crisis ahead: the moral crisis. And its horse is swifter and wilder than all others, so that before environmental degradation and global warming destroy us, we may destroy ourselves in a "neo-wild-west".
The advent of AI and its utilization in governments and centers of power only adds more gloomy pages to this narrative of our near future. They seem to depict a community of humans with no humanity, a jungle in essence, where all power shall fall into the hands of a few titans with no mercy, no morality, who just desire more power. Then who could save us? Are we witnessing the rise of a great evil?
But there is a God who does not allow Evil to take over the entire world, even if it seems that we are on the verge of a fall. The God, the Divine principle, who brought us into the world and has protected us from harms and dangers.
Remember when you were a child, and perhaps left somewhere, and danger drew near, but God invisibly softened the situation and eliminated the danger. So you survived, and God removed many other burdens and difficulties that could break your back, and you flourished like flowers on a hillside, like ivy on a wall. God gave you understanding, self-awareness, hope, and strength, and you became the strong adult you are today.
The same God will protect the world as well, and block a complete takeover by evil forces. Thus, while the situation is discouraging, it is not hopeless.
Since ancient times, the Divine has inspired many prophets and saints in various nations and tribes with Its knowledge and remembrance, and they brought such knowledge to their people. They expounded morality and noble sciences; they stopped the evils and oppressors of their time; they established justice and a community of fraternity; they showed the path of salvation to mankind in their own language. By these means, a breeze from upper worlds blew into this world of materials and impermanence.
But after each prophet came many anti-prophets and charlatans who polluted the pure and simple teachings of the prophet and added all forms of rituals, dogmas, theologies, fables, and other superfluous elements onto the body of the religion. Soon these elements took over the whole religion, and the original teachings were lost in the footnotes of history.
And this is the situation with all religions in today's world; that they have all become corrupted and fallen from their right course. The Ten Commandments of Moses have turned into six hundred rules and rituals; the two commandments of Jesus (love God and love your neighbor) have turned into a complex theology of the Trinity and other strange doctrines; and Islam has turned into some physical rituals of ablution and prayer. The same has happened to other religions and sects.
And the main cause of today's moral decline and the rise of evil is this corruption of religions, which renders them incapable of inspiring the new generation and producing morality, virtue, and noble traits in them. Thus, the world has become misguided and degraded.
In such a situation, the Divine continues to inspire Its devotees to preach true religion and spirituality. Lie it is when they say God's revelation has ended; lie it is when they say God is silent and one has to find Its words by digging into history of a thousand years ago. Nay, God is alive and present; God is here, just as was yesterday, just as was a thousand years ago. The One who spoke to Moses is here now to speak to us as well.
Just as God sent prophets and saints in days of old, so It does the same today to save the afflicted world, to save the oppressed from oppressors, and to usher in a new restoration of righteousness and knowledge.
Along this line, God has inspired us with this mission in today's world. God does not commission the proud and the self-important, but the meek and humble. We undertake this mission in the spirit of service and duty. We do not seek salary or recognition of any kind. All these words are given by God.
So we proclaim the word of God boldly and in an uncompromising manner. For the goal is not to appeal to any group or attract a fandom and population, but to state the Truth, the Truth in its most pure and naked form; it can hurt; it can burn.
This is the true religion preached by all the prophets and saints before. Truth seekers who read these words will feel a familiar light in their hearts, which is a glow of the Divine light in the heart of all. And in these words, they shall find their own words that they kept hidden for a long time, and a voice from within confirms: "No doubt! This is it! This is it!"
For a non-believer and skeptical reader, we also recommend reading this article with open-mindedness. For none of the crises ahead of us can be solved without true spirituality and without God. Policies and politics cannot cure diseased souls.
The God we worship is the soul and source of reality, goodness, beauty, wisdom, and all other noble qualities and states. Our God is alive; indeed, how can the source of life be lifeless? So we talk to It, and It replies, and this connection is the basis of our life of prayer and devotion to God. Our God is not the fanatic and limited god of current religions with unreasonable demands.
The path to this God is through "worship" and "work," in which worship means worshiping God in purity and sincerity, and "work" means doing good works, upholding virtues, and noble qualities. This is the pure and perennial religion and path to the Divine preached by all the saints in all places. Then why people turn away and follow complex arguments?
When worshiping God, do not mix it with philosophy and theology of any kind. But just consider God as a higher principle, as something that you do not know yet. With this understanding, bow down to God in humbleness and respect. This is what we call "worshiping God in purity and sincerity." The result thereof is that God gives more knowledge of Itself to such a worshiper, which comes in a spiritual form and not in philosophical or theological forms.
Sit in a clean place and in a respectful manner; repeat some praises or thanks to God, in your own language and not in a specific language, or chant some hymns and spiritual songs. Bow down in respect and humility once in a while. These constitute an example of worship. Do this a few times a day. For advanced followers of this path, worship is about devotion and union of spirit with the Divine, and it is no longer about sitting and praying verbally. But you begin with this seated worship, and God will end it with that mystic wine of life and spirit that flows continuously.
Apart from these seated worships, remember the Divine wherever you are throughout the day. Keep a Divine spirit at all times, and let your daily activities all be done in a spirit of holiness and peace like the prophets in old times. This is also a form of worship, which is called "constant remembrance" or Divine union.
When you worship, do it with yearning and devotion. Devotion (to God) is the essence of our path. Peace, intuition, strength, as well as all Divine miracles originate from such devotion and a heart enthralled with yearning (for the Divine). In regard to this, the poet said: "I installed a picture of your beautiful face in the house of my heart – The house got ruined, but this picture still remained on the wall." Here "the house got ruined" refers to a heart from which all trifling concerns have been evacuated and is now the abode of the Divine.
Develop devotion in yourself. Yearn for God, talk with God, wake up in the middle of the night, and cry for God. These cries and tears, which are the result of a sweet love, are keys on our path. All the saints in olden days did this, and you do this as well so that you reach the same station as theirs.
But worship alone is not enough; one has to follow the Divine Law as well. For nothing brings one closer to God than following the Law of God. And the Law of God is to do good works. An ancient myth narrates that when the Divine created man, the first words It spoke to him were the commandment: "Do work! Do it with awareness [of good and evil]! Think good thoughts, say good words, and perform good deeds, and do not worship demons."
The interpretation of this commandment is, firstly, that man was created and brought into this world in order to "do work," and not to worship and pray all the time. Secondly, the work should be "good works" which appear in all aspects of life: in thoughts, in words, and in actions.
One form of good works is to develop virtues and moral traits within ourselves, such as gentleness, courage, forgiveness, empathy, wisdom, and others. Another form is to do good deeds in the external world: helping others, solving society's problems, friendship and fellowship with others, participation in building and developing, establishing justice, and others.
Indeed, good works mean to manifest Divine qualities in ourselves and in the environment around us. It is to make life enjoyable and of good quality, to make people kind and understanding, and to make cities clean and well-adorned. Our religion is the religion of happiness and cheerfulness, and we do it by means of good works.
One particular form of good works is the act of fighting with Evil and its manifestation in the external world. It means opposing injustice and fighting oppression. This is an important form of good works on our path, and it produces an immense elevation of soul and swiftly brings it into proximity with the Divine. In the highest form, when one becomes martyred in this fighting, his blood becomes that famous mystic wine whose drinking induces Divine consciousness.
Good works also include not "worshiping demons," which means avoiding activities that are useless or harmful to the soul or body. Along these lines, do not follow atheistic arguments or the dogmas of current religions, for both of these groups have not found the path; they did not humble themselves, and so the truth fled from them like a kite in the wind. Also, do not overindulge in eating or drinking or other bodily affairs, for that will harm the body and darken the soul. Also, abstain from over-engagement in video games and the internet. Do not watch too much movies, for that will alienate you from reality and is a main source of depression and dullness in our time. These are examples of staying away from demons and their worship.
Thus, worship and work (good works) are cornerstones of our path. These two should be together: worship without work does not produce much elevation of the soul, and work without worship soon loses its vigor like a meteor disappearing into the night. But together, they form the two wings of the mystic Homa bird, which flies continuously in the Divine firmament.
This is the path to Divinity; this is the pure and perennial religion taught by all the true prophets and saints in the past. But while they promised Hell in the next world for those who reject and revolt against the Divine law, we promise Hell in this very world, for everything has a limit, and the fire has already been kindled.
Beware that without God and spirituality, none of the problems in the world today will be solved. You have a choice today, which one you choose: a world ruled by the demon of greed and immoral maniacs, or a world of Divine righteousness and brotherly fellowship? The choice is yours. So arise; time is running out; be an agent of change.
As the aspirant makes progress on this path, a "holiness" and fullness of Divine spirit will come to him, and it will reflect in all aspects of his life: in his actions, in his words, in his eyes, and an extraterrestrial peace will take over his whole being so that his walking, talking, and other actions become slower and more gentle. The virtues, which are Divine attributes and names, grow in him and make him more like unto Divine, until he and the Divine become almost similar, like two curves with the same bend. At this stage, Divine effects and miraculous acts could proceed from him.
There is a plant called Eshekah, an ivy that twists around other plants and chokes them dead. It is a symbol of love (Divine love). As the aspirant follows this Divine path, his yearning and desire for It grows until this yearning surrounds him like the Eshekah plant, and he obtains the station of annihilation (annihilation of inferior existence and arriving at a Divine existence).
In regard to this station, it is narrated that the aspirant follows this path (the Divine path) until he reaches the Sea. In spiritual parables, "sea" always symbolizes the Divine. As the aspirant stands at the shoreline, in the last moment before entering the sea, a little fear and hesitation take over him, and he looks back, but realizes that there is no way back and the waves of this sea of light have already stretched to pull him inside. So he takes the last step and enters into the waves of Divine opulence, and soon he will be merged and disappear. This is the final destination of our path; this is the end. And those who reach this destination have not returned back to narrate to us what they have observed and experienced there.