by RAY C. M. HARRIS
To the Initiate on the path of Truth: The veil cannot be lifted unless you approach with clean hands and a pure, contrite heart. "And behold the veil of the temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom..." Matthew. 27:51.
Introduction
The present is just an instant, but the past is a vast eternity, much more so than most of us closeted mortals believe, or would like to believe. The spirit of truth is most potent upon the Earth, and the wax of ignorance that impedes our vision of history melts away with the heat of historical reality. All we are actively conscious of presently, can be said to be already in the past and therefore part of history.
That a child learns that it is unwise to touch a boiling kettle by the excruciating pain received by the initial or subsequent experience is exemplified, multiplied and amplified by the experiences of life's struggles. The experiences gradually become more subtle and complex, hence our illusions and arrogance, until the pain of the experience transcends the pleasure to be derived.
Indeed, like the child mentioned above, we learn from our past, from our experience. Experience is a phenomenal teacher; the true source of education. Wise action may be said therefore to be based on the nuggets of truth that have been granted to us by our struggles and experiences in life.
Each experience in our lives may seem distinct and complete in itself, but each experience should be seen as a cohesive continuity, as a link in a chain. And like a chain it is important that the connection and continuity of the links be maintained. That we are aware of it or not, the chain of events and hence the experiences of life are all linked by the underlying esoteric law of 'cause and effect'. It is therefore important for man to be consciously aware of and learn from his past experiences or history, that is, if he is to make the most of his present and future experiences and realize his full potential.
History has been referred to as the memory of human group experience. To the extent that it is forgotten, ignored or hidden, for whatever reason, we lose some of our humanity and culture. Without history, we have no knowledge of who we are or how we came to be. We become like people who have lost their memory, blindly groping in the dark to find their identity.
History is a source of great power generated by the inspired, past aspirations and accomplishments of our forefathers who struggled to realize peace, happiness and success on Earth.
History is a gift to all of us who are yearning to find self, yearning to know self, and for all searching for self-identity and self-realisation; all genuine soul-searchers and Initiates on the Path of Truth need to know their history. It has been said that a people's realisation of God can be equated to the evolvement and deification of their culture. History allows those of us, who take cognizance of it, to see right and wrong, wisdom and error in retrospect; it gives us the necessary understanding for us to desire to improve ourselves so as to realize the fullness of God's grace, which (ultimately) is divinity.
History is the record of experience and a people must know their history if they are to begin to understand themselves and the world of which they are humble inhabitants. Also by knowing our history we may live within the protective shield of hard-earned experience and wisdom.
From the book: "Destruction of Black Civilisation" by Chancellor Williams, an extract of a Sumer legend reads as follows: "What became of the black people of Sumer? the traveller asked the old man. "For ancient records show that the people of Sumer were black. What happened to them?" "Ah!" the old man sighed "they lost their history, so they died".
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