QA121 QUESTION: Last time, you said that one entity and mankind as a whole had a great relationship [Lecture #120 The Individual and Humanity]. I think that the actual Earth sphere has a tremendous relationship, and it seems, in spite of its earthquakes and adolescent things, to have so much to teach man. Man always seems to think how he can change the Earth, instead of learning from the Earth.

Recently, I was in a place that was so strange and timeless and peaceful. It was the most thrilling experience to be there. It gave me a feeling of being that you so often spoke about, instead of chasing on to the next thing because the sun was going to come up or go down or something. Nothing happened and yet so much happened. I would love to know if you can tell us something more about the relationship of man and the Earth sphere. How can man help the Earth sphere, and also the Earth help man, if we’d only open our eyes a little more and look at it?

ANSWER: Well, let us take, for instance, climate, temperature. You have areas and spheres in this Earth – desert – of extreme heat and dryness. This heat and dryness are a reflection of an inner state so prevalent in man’s inner life – the passion of untamed emotions running rampant. I do not necessarily mean sex, nor do I want to be misunderstood in this.

But let us say the passions of anger are not understood, not faced, and smolder underground. An inner wasteland, a dryness, a lack of fertility comes about, and this corresponds to the Earth spheres where there is desert land, dry sand, unfertile soil, dry sand.

Only when man decides to look at himself in truth and face himself in a real way – not in a false way by repression – will the emotions become understandable and acceptable, and they abate. Then a real harmony – not a false superimposed harmony – begins to unfold, at least in certain areas in the soul.

This may correspond to the fruitfulness of the fertile ground you find in the middle of a desert – the oasis. Or if the general state is more overall in a personality, it may be likened to a very fertile area.

Now, let us take the very cold climate with its concomitant peace. This may be likened to the peace of withdrawal from life, which gives a temporary pleasure, undisturbed – a serenity. But again it is not really fertile, and it is not life, and it gives a temporary peace.

Now take the North Pole areas of cold and take the desert areas of heat. You find valuable sources in the Earth in both cases – the raw materials. Essential stuff can be utilized for life on Earth. This can be likened with the underground values each human being possesses.

He may not have yet arrived at the state where he can utilize them, where he is aware of them. They may be hidden behind the hot passions and the cold numbness of feelings he has inflicted upon himself. But these values exist.

Take the ocean, with its constant movement that can be likened to the human emotions and feelings. The ocean at times is soft, the waves soft and unruffled, which indicates the harmony of the soul. At times of storm the waves are higher and even dangerous – tidal waves – that bring destruction. These are the emotions of hate that put man to war with his fellow creatures – into a war within himself.

Take rain after sunshine. How important this rain is! It fertilizes the earth; it gives it the moisture. Liken this with the human being who is capable of shedding healthy tears, tears of emotions of sorrow, pain or joy. Without this ability, the soul of the human psyche remains dry.

Take the climate of consistent rain that sogs the earth and destroys growth. It can be likened to the unhealthy tears shed in self-pity.

Take a beautiful landscape where suddenly you see an area that becomes filled with petrified, dead growth and human waste. This is the beauty of a soul where you’ll find his neurosis. Now, these are just a few examples. I am sure your own ability can extend this considerably, for wherever you look, you can see these comparisons, which are not merely symbolic but truth.

QA204 QUESTION: Last week, I had to fulfill a large responsibility. Part of what I had planned depended very much on good weather. I got in touch with a place in me that didn’t want to take this responsibility, that wanted it not to work so that I could blame and feel that I was punished in some way. Yet I knew that part of me really had good intentions as well. The day turned out to be half rainy and half not rainy. I couldn’t understand whether that was really my wanting that – or maybe that’s too egotistical to think that I would affect the weather [Laughter] – but somehow I couldn’t understand the meaning of this or if this was a test or to show me something.

ANSWER: Well, that statement is not as funny as it may sound, because the weather, of course, is not the result of one person’s attitude, but the weather is the result of the sum total of so many consciousnesses combining certain attitudes. Of course, you are right in assuming that the weather was not just because of you, but maybe your attitude also contributed to it becoming this way.

Whatever the weather would have been – let us say your attitude would have been not strong enough to determine it because the other forces, either all good or all bad, would have been overwhelmingly stronger – still whatever the result, it is always up to you what you make of it.

If the weather would have been good, you could still have used it in a negative way and if the weather would have been bad, you still could have used it in a positive way. That is always your prerogative. And the fact that you are aware of this conflict, of course, is of extremely great value to you. You can go on from there, working that the negativity diminishes and the positivity increases.

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