By David Bruce Hughes

We are energy; we are consciousness; we are soul. We are eternal, and we are the source of this mind and body. We create our life through our ideas and projections, and every thought and action creates a result. We are powerful, whether we realize it or not. Everything we experience has been created by ourselves, consciously or unconsciously. When we create in harmony with the purpose of the universe, we experience pleasure and joy. When we create in conflict with the purpose of the universe, we experience difficulty and pain.

The purpose of the universe is to evolve conscious beings from a primitive, selfish state of sense-identification to a godlike state of spiritual maturity and responsibility. The more we contribute to this exalted purpose, the more good we do and the happier we are. When we deliberately perform actions in harmony with the universal purpose, we become godlike. We also advance in spiritual knowledge and consciousness. Every action of conscious spiritual benefit brings us great good. Therefore we should live our lives in such a way that every thought and action is directed toward furthering the principle of conscious evolution. This will bring to us and the beings in connection with us the greatest happiness and felicity.

Therefore we should not strive to conquer or harm any being. Violent thought and action will only bring harm to ourselves; what is the use of it? It is better that we love our enemies and bless those that curse us; this is powerful magic.

If we fight the current of universal conscious evolution, sooner or later we will reach a point where we can no longer sustain this struggle. At this point we wish to give up our identity; in other words, we wish to die. Death is our reaction to the struggle against the purpose of the universe, the purpose of God. We are overwhelmed by the pain of going against our true good, but we are too proud to give up our commitment to a wrong approach to living. Therefore we create a situation where we desire to stop living. We may rationalize this by portraying ourselves as frustrated, defeated, or hopeless. But in reality, we have brought on this condition ourselves.

If we live according to universal law and further the purpose of the existence of this universe, we have no need to die. Yes, this material body is impermanent; it will not last forever, and we must leave it at some point. However, there is no need to give up our identity if it is in harmony with the purpose of God and therefore brings us great joy. This is the secret of immortality. We can live on in the spiritual world or in the subtle world very happily without a material body, or we can take another body to further our purpose in harmony with the purpose of the universe; it doesn’t matter. The point is, this ego, this identity can live for ever. We do not need to die.