M2456
The Road to True Happiness
by Martinus
1. The end of feeling secure
Is there anyone for whom the daily existence is absolutely stable,
completely happy? If a person were to answer this question honestly and sincerely on the basis
of his own experience or that of others it would have to be: “No!” People are not happy. They
are sometimes happier than at other times, but it is not any stable feeling of security or state
of happiness.
This instability finds expression in as many ways as there are people.
It can start as early as childhood. A little child may be born to good and loving parents,
nursed and cared for under the most wonderful conditions and thus apparently have the very best
possibilities for experiencing a happy childhood and start in life. But suddenly the mother
dies, and the father remarries; and with the new stepmother conditions in the home are changed.
The time before the mother died will seem as a lost happiness for the child; it cannot develop a
good and confident relationship with it’s new mother and it feels that it’s security in life is
gone. The atmosphere in the home has been poisoned. There may be many reasons for this. It may
not be the fault of the stepmother. For the child it may mean a certain distortion of its
attitude towards life, a negativity that will follow it the rest of its life, if it is unable to
overcome it. There are many other ways one may lose the feeling of security and happiness in
childhood. When people view their childhood as an especially secure and happy period of their
life, it is often because it stands out as a radiant contrast to events in their later life,
with insecurity, pain and disappointment.
2. No man is immune to unhappiness
Many
people feel security and happiness for a while when they are in love, engaged or on their
honeymoon. This happiness may be of shorter or longer duration. but then it may break down. The
cause may be death, illness or an accident, or one partner falling in love with someone else, or
something else entirely. No matter what the cause, the feeling of security and happiness is
gone. Catastrophe, sorrow and pain have taken its place. These factors are often followed by
fear and mistrust of everything and every one and disappointment in finding that the happiness
could not last. Older people who have had a relatively happy existence may also be hit by grief
and misfortune in their old age. It hits much harder if that person has led a pampered
existence.
Who can be sure that he is completely invulnerable, completely tree of or
immune to misfortune? No one can be sure. Some think that wealth and power protect them and they
fight to attain these benefits. But sooner or later they come to the realization that happiness
cannot be purchased and that the one who seems powerful, confident and great is exactly as
powerless as everyone else in life’s manifestation of fate. The millionaires and billionaires
and whoever in other ways are the “great people” of the world must also experience the feeling
of insecurity, e.g. by the fear of suddenly no longer being great and of losing their power and
position. The lifestyle of such people often exposes them to fatal illnesses much more easily
than people who cannot afford to eat and drink so much. Their idleness or contrarily their
overexertion to stay on top causes bad nerves, also producing illness. Finally wealth and power
cannot relieve anybody of sorrows experienced in relations with family and friends, who die
suddenly, unrequited love, disappointment over the children and much more. The wealthy have
their sorrows and worries and the less well off as well as the poor have theirs. Some have the
misfortune as a sudden breakdown, others slide in to it little by little, but no one escapes
experiencing it in some way.
3. The apparent injustice of life
But what
about people who consider themselves saved or holy? Are they an exception? The exception is not
that they avoid misfortune, sorrow and suffering. Even if they go to church every Sunday, take
communion regularly and in other ways follow the dogma and prescriptions of a church, a sect or
religion they are still as likely to be among the patients in the hospitals as their “unsaved”
or “sinful” fellow citizens. And does not even a believer in time of distress say: “Why should
this happen to me?” He thought that he could feel secure in his “holiness”, but he experienced
something quite different. And then the question is if he can avoid becoming bitter.
Life would be most unjust, as many people think it is, if belonging to a
certain race, a faith, a social group, a particular age group or sex would predestine some
people to be happier than others. But that is because they see and evaluate conditions from a
momentary situation, the causes and effects of which they do not know. The world is not unjust!
No man experiences more suffering, pain and sorrow than any other, even though it may appear so.
To understand this is a part of the road to lasting happiness. But there is more to it than
that! Is it really possible for man to achieve an existence without sorrow and suffering,
without disappointment and bitterness, without sickness, privation or pain? Yes, it is possible!
And it is also possible for the individual to start right now to create that condition, i.e. to
create the causes that will effect such a condition sometime in the future.
4. A growing knowledge of cause and
effect
Terrestrial man in general and researchers in particular know a
great deal about the relationship between cause and effect. It is just such knowledge that helps
separate terrestrial humanity from the animals. But terrestrial man’s knowledge of cause-and
effect-relationships - also in regard to scientific knowledge - is still very scant. It is
concentrated in small local areas and in the relationship to physical matter. It is, how ever, a
start, and when man has had enough experience, it will go far, indeed, it will actually lead him
to the experience of true happiness
It may sound strange, when one thinks of the
same humanity’s present situation when wars, revolutions, abuse of power, murder, crimes and all
kinds of mental aberration are more rampant than at any time in history. But who has created the
cause of these conditions? Terrestrial human beings themselves have done it. And who is capable
of creating causes that will result in completely different and new conditions? Also terrestrial
human beings themselves. But one cannot expect them to do it. One cannot expect that the
Russians, Americans, Chinese or any other people suddenly will be interested only in creating
peace. No, one cannot, even though the statesmen and politicians say that that is what they
want. But is the situation hopeless then? No, there is not only hope, there is certainty that
mankind will emerge from all its misfortune and pain and suffering. People in general are just
not able to see it and know what they should do; they are still without knowledge of the laws of
life and thus of the causes that will bring the peace and happiness as effects. They have
certainly been told, not least by Christ who, with his life and his death and with his example
has shown them what is the way, the truth and the life. But they did not understand him. They
built up a religion of dogma and ceremony with the doctrine of atonement, salvation and
happiness after death for the believers, and eternal damnation and the torment of hell for the
infidels. No one can be blamed for this. For human beings must act on the basis of their
understanding, knowledge and insight. They must act according to the stage of development at
which they have arrived. They cannot think and act any differently. But that does not mean that
Christianity has not had tremendous significance for the development of mankind, especially here
in the West.
5. Christianity and people of our time
When
one looks at the fact that the so-called Christian nations have been the most ingenious warriors
of the world, one cannot blame someone who has started to think about things and conditions in
life, for having the view that Christianity has been in vain. It is not exactly a feeling of
security and happiness that the Christian peoples have created for others, i.e. they have not
created the causes that would result in happiness and a feeling of security. But concurrent with
the Western development of war machinery and violent domination by which the people of other
continents were made slaves or partially eradicated, something else developed in the West. This
is so far the greatest result of Christianity, even though it is not immediately apparent. It is
the development of humane feelings in the individual people and the creation of humanistic
enterprises in all the states and nations. Neither the humane and loving individuals nor the
humane institutions, it is true, are numerous or strong enough to exert a decisive influence on
the world situation. But they are on their way. And Christianity has absolutely not ended its
influence; on the contrary, it is now really going to work, because more people have matured to
grasp its importance and to combine it with their own way of living.
But is
Christianity formulated in such a way that humanely inclined people in the present and in the
future can be inspired by its spiritual content and world of ideas? No, the real content of
Christianity is disguised or hidden behind an outer form that was created by the patriarchs and
theologians of ancient and medieval times. This form does absolutely not suit people of today,
who are influenced by the scientific and technical development. They have also become so
materialistic in all areas that they have a difficult time imagining what spirit really is. But
this obstacle for the further development of Christianity is about to be removed for a science
of spirit. A spiritual science is being created, through which terrestrial man will obtain a
much greater overview of the relationship between cause and effect. As he through spiritual
science develops insight into the causes of the present situation of humanity. man can also
acquire the knowledge of how it can be changed in the long term. And what is very important — he
will learn to understand that the individual, humanely thinking human being can actually do
something to change the world situation and that he does not have to wait for all the others to
do it.
6. The business principle seen in two perspectives
One of the bearing principles of life in our time is the business
principle. This principle has been of enormous importance for the development of the entire
western civilization and culture. The business principle is also an expression of an
understanding of the relationship between cause and effect. The businessman learns that if
certain causes have such effects his business pays. The same businessman, however, is often very
materialistically inclined and so egotistical that he only thinks of whether the business at
this very moment is profitable for him. He may think only very little or not at all that it may
harm, indeed may even be an irreplaceable loss to the other party. There fore this so-called
businessman is absolutely not a businessman at all, if we observe him in a larger perspective, a
cosmic perspective. Why not? Because he is instrumental in creating a cause that some time in
the future will have the following effects on him: irreplaceable loss, bankruptcy or another
form of crash or breakdown. What in a small local perspective “pays”, does absolutely not pay in
reality and in the long run. The entire business world is therefore, as it manifests itself
today, preparing its own destruction. But the terrestrial human beings do not know the
connection between cause and effect in the long term. And how can they acquire such knowledge?
Even if a spiritual science that can explain it is created, most people do not know it and may
not even want to know it.
Only few people are interested in spiritual science and in
the knowledge of the laws of life. It will not remain so in the future. And what will be the
driving force? Misfortune, feelings of insecurity, suffering, pain and all the apparently
insurmountable difficulties to which people are exposed.
The cosmic structure of the business principle consists of giving equal value
for equal value, an exchange to the advantage of both parties. Even though it appears foolish to
a modern business man, it is, however, also where business is concerned, better to give than to
take, as Christ said. So it must be emphasized that until one acquires that attitude in the
business world as well as in life in general, one will not be able to experience true happiness.
In our time we champion the principle: it is better to take than to give; it is also called
profit, and even though a lot of good and respectable business exists, the tendency is more and
more in the direction that a few — whether they be people or states — will possess the means and
the power and will exploit the many, who are more or less the dispossessed. This is not a
criticism of business people but a characterisation and analysis of the world situation. For the
states are also businesses that are to be run for profit, and wars are one of the means that are
used when assets are at stake.
7. Misfortune and pain are a Golgotha process
What is it that people have sown through an egotistical, short-sighted
exploitation of the business principle? They have sown something that absolutely does not pay.
And this they have to learn. And they can learn this only by experiencing the effects of their
actions, and that is what they are doing now. People must learn what pays for mankind and not
just for the moment, but in the long run. Some people have started to acquire such knowledge.
They are, among others, those who could accept the ethical and love oriented content of religion
without caring significantly about the limitations of the outer form. But why were some people
more receptive than others? Indeed, why was one robber on Golgotha open and positive towards
Christ, and the other not? Because the first had learned from life and the suffering and the
misfortune that had developed sympathy and love in his mind, while the other was still tough and
hardened. All of mankind is actually like the two robbers on each side of Christ. Some more like
the one, others more like the other. And all of humanity is also crucified. It is a Golgotha
process that we see when we view a dark fate. Man’s physical body is the “cross” on which his
dark consciousness is being destroyed. It is those dark tendencies that must succumb by being
nailed to the cross. That the “cross” is flesh and blood, of animal nature, does not alter the
principle. All misfortune, suffering, pain, sorrow and disappointment that a person is exposed
to in the physical world is that person’s “crucifixion”. It is not punishment from an angry god
and it is not the result of chance. It is everything from the person’s past that he or she at
the time thought would “pay”, which now turns out not to. But through this experience, this
person will gradually learn what in human terms does pay, and eventually do it. It is an
education in becoming human. Through Christ and the two robbers mankind has been given three
examples of how a crucifixion can be borne by people on three different stages on the road of
life. First the “evil” robber. He is meeting an effect of his deeds; but he is still hardened
and full of scorn and mockery towards Christ. But he is not evil, he is ignorant and primitive.
He has started the education where he is going to learn what in human terms will pay. The “good”
robber is good because he has already learned a great deal. Indeed, so much that he can say to
the other: “We are receiving the due reward for our deeds, but this man (Christ) has done
nothing wrong”. This robber is a being who is well on his way on the road to true happiness,
even though he is still far from having reached it. The being on the middle cross has reached
it. And it is right what the robber says about him: “This man has done nothing wrong”. For
Christ the crucifixion was not instruction in what cosmically and humanly pays. He knew that.
8. Happiness and world redemption
His
kingdom was not of this world where there is sorrow, disappointment, sickness, hardship and all
kinds of misery. He had all that far behind him. Now it was his mission to show terrestrial
mankind that happiness, for which it longs so much, is achieved only by a certain form of
behaviour that creates such causes and effects that are a joy, a benefit and a blessing for its
surroundings. It was not his mission to appease an angry god and atone for the “sins” of
mankind. All so-called sin is lack of knowledge of cause and effect and of other cosmic laws;
and it is surely not sinful to be ignorant. Christ could therefore say of his persecutors and
his executioners: “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do”. The “redemption” of
the world does not consist of freeing people from the effect of their faulty way of being
through divine ”grace”. Then they would never become better or wiser; it would mean a stop in
their development; it would be most unkind. And as the Godhead is the culmination of love he
does not allow any beings to be “saved” by his “grace” and others to be “lost” by his “anger”.
All knowledge is the effect of actions and all real wise and holy men and
women who have lived on this earth have attained their insight and ability to love through the
experiences of suffering in many physical lives. They have learned what humanly pays. But when
all living beings, through their experiences of cause and effect, will reach the greatest
possible development of their consciousness, the greatest possible knowledge and the most
exalted artistic talent, why do they need Christ? Why did he have to suffer death on the cross
for the sake of mankind? Because mankind had to have an example in view; a person, who with his
own life showed how it is possible to renounce those realities or causes of which darkness is
the effect. How he, even though he meets the darkness, does not respond with darkness, but on
the contrary with his practical manner of being, expresses such a love for everything and
everybody that the nearness of God is felt not only in the light but also in the darkness. “You
shall love those who hate and persecute you”, said Christ and he showed that this was possible.
He expressed clearly, that mankind’s acquisition of the behaviour and way of being of this world
redeemer as its one and only “salvation”, with the words: “And he who does not bear his cross
and follow me, he cannot be my disciple”.
9. The continuation of Christianity
Every
single human being experiences, as previously mentioned, a crucifixion when he or she is exposed
to misery, adversity, pain, disappointment, sickness and defeat in one form or another. And then
the question is: how does he react to what is happening? In most cases the reaction is:
bitterness, depression or anger. But Christ did not react that way. True, he did cry out: “My
God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” That was a state of mind that he overcame in the very
next moment. He died without anything negative whatsoever in his mind. But that is impossible,
people say. He could do that, but others cannot. Therefore dogmas have been created to the
effect that he took on the “sins” of man, so one just had to believe, to convert, to repent
one’s sins etc. One made Christ the scapegoat instead of a model for human behaviour, because
one thought that the model was far too remote from the common man. But in the first place a
model must be perfect, and in the second place quite a number of people now are not as remote
from the model as people were at the time of Christ. Thirdly, Christianity as a world impulse
was not concluded with the life and death of Christ on this planet. He showed us by his manner
of being, and with his pronouncements, his parables and the sermon on the mount, he gave
expression for the great answers in life. And now when humanity is gradually beginning to become
sufficiently mature, the impulse continues in such a way that a spiritual science gives the
analyses of the great truths that Christ brought us.
It has become my mission to give humanity a series of analyses that together
form a world picture, a revelation of the laws of life and the divine world plan. And this
cosmology is at the same time a continuation of physical science and its limited overview of
cause and effect relationships. And it is an education in what, from a humane point of view,
pays and a disclaimer of the business principle as it is practised in our day. Cosmology is not
to be a fashion movement that spreads with great speed across the world. It will spread steadily
and quietly from person to person in the coming time, to the people that need it.
10. A new attitude to life
And who needs spiritual science? It is those people in whose consciousness
sorrow, suffering and disappointment have awakened sympathy for others who have difficulties.
That is, people whose feelings have developed to an ability to love not just one being of the
opposite sex but the beings in the surroundings altogether. These feelings do not make them
sentimental because at the same time their ability to think and acquire an overview of cause and
effect has also developed. These people have matured sufficiently to think logically not only in
physical but also in spiritual fields. And there will be more and more of such people in the
future. This will result in a change of course in the scientific direction in the mental and
spiritual fields. However, it is not a science reserved for people with a certain education. The
people who are receptive to cosmic logic are the people that life itself has educated. They are
those who have been through great difficulties and have started to feel what absolutely does not
pay.
A new form of security will grow in the minds of these people. They will no
longer fear death for they will learn that there is no death, only a change from one condition
to another, a transformation through reincarnation or rebirth, which in itself is a development.
And this development will, in time, lead man to a condition that is true happiness, as he will
be devoid of the feeling of insecurity, of disappointment and of all forms of misery that
currently plague humanity of our time. This coming condition will be achieved neither through
miracles nor through “atonement” of an angry God. The Godhead is the first to know that no being
at the moment can be any different than it is. People will acquire this knowledge. And it will
help them to forgive their neighbour and not demand that he should think or act based on
experience that he has not yet had. But when it is against oneself that “injustice” is done?
Then it means something to have understood the law of cause and effect in the perspective of the
formation of fate and of reincarnation. When one knows that nothing else can happen to one than
that to which one is oneself the ultimate cause, and that one in this or a prior incarnation has
oneself sown the fate that one is now reaping, then there is no one to be angry at. The others
one previously criticized and hated, despise and scorned are seen as tools used by providence,
so that one reaps, through them, as one has sown. Not as punishment, but as instruction and
education in what pays and what does not pay, if one wants to become human. Happiness is
achieved little by little through the transformation that occurs in the human being’s mind. For
real happiness is a state of mind independent of outer circum stances.
11. From “crucifixion” to “resurrection”
The history of terrestrial man is really a history of the crucifixion, because every
time a human being incarnates anew in physical matter or gets a new physical body, its
consciousness is “nailed” to the “cross” that the mentioned body constitutes. But could man not
develop by just living in spiritual worlds without the physical incarnation? No, until man has
really learned to think in accordance with the laws of life he must incarnate in physical matter
because it is the only cosmic sphere in which it hurts to think wrongly. And it is this
instruction and this education that eventually will teach him to think correctly. No part
whatsoever of the adversity and the difficulties that you may meet has been caused by any one
other than your self. That goes for sorrows and disappointments and it goes for sickness. But if
you try to bear your fate with patience, where it cannot be changed, and work with yourself by
changing your habits little by little in a more humane direction, you will notice how the
feeling of security and happiness will surface from within yourself. Your happiness should not
be dependent on another person’s attitude towards you, but on your own attitude toward that
person and toward your surroundings altogether. You can gradually change your attitude from
unwillingness, envy, jealousy, irritation, anger, bitterness and sourness to willingness and
friendliness and understand that no one can be any different than they are at this moment and
that it is not your concern to change them. Life will take care of that. What is your concern is
to be instrumental in transforming yourself, and even though it is difficult, the model tor “the
real human being” or “man in the image of God”, Christ, has also taught you a method that can he
of great help — and that is prayer. Through your relationship with the eternal Godhead you will
gradually achieve an inner feeling of security that will help you in any situation whatsoever.
Then your “crucifixion” is about to become your “resurrection”, then your cruciform organism
will be come a light centre of love, and happiness will be something created by your thoughts
and actions and presence. It will be something you sow; and as a man sows, so shall he also
reap.
From a lecture by Martinus at the Kosmos Holiday Camp (now Martinus
Centre, Klint) on Sunday 6 July 1947. Manuscript for the lecture revised by Mogens Møller.
Revision approved by Martinus. First published in the Danish edition of Kosmos no. 21/1968.
Original Danish title: Vejen til den sande lykke. Translation: John B. Nielsen, 1991.
Article ID: M2456
© Martinus Institut 1981, www.martinus.dk
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