Curbing the Impulse to Murder (Cosmic Laws VI-X) & Learning to Act in Faith

The overarching theme of existence, exemplified now in particular, and human history in general, is murder.  Murder is the active taking of life with intent to gain power and control over others.  It provides an outlet for the human game of domination-subjugation/master-slave that are subsumed under the dark current of the Will to Power. In the Western spiritual tradition, we contract with God to perpetuate life for ourselves and for each other. We are never meant to actively pursue the extinction of our own life or of any else’s. Yet, murder is rampant, and murderous impulse rampages abound ceaselessly day after day throughout our lives. 

The 10 Cosmic Laws (called the 10 commandments when enacted) are the Western spiritual blueprint for living harmoniously with each other and with the Divine.  Collectively these laws curb our destructive impulses, maintain order and restraint, and forge bonds amongst large numbers of people.  The first five define our relationship to Divinity and remind us of our heritage birthed through the memory of our collective consciousness to the Source of our being. The second five define the sacred contract we have with each other to perpetuate the greatest gift bestowed on us, life!   

The sixth (VI) law pithily states this overarching principle: Don’t Murder. The next four admonitions are on a continuum to murder, albeit not to the degree of extinction, but contribute to an early demise:

The seventh (VII) law, Adultery, introduces a contaminant that results in a decaying process that ultimately destroys the system into which the impurity is introduced, be it carnal, psychic, spiritual, or material. 

The eighth law (VIII), Stealing, produces despair and demoralization in the robbed from which a recovery often doesn’t take place. For example: Bernard Madoff’s theft and the pain it produced included several suicides. Similarly,  I knew of a woman whose creative work was stolen and used by someone else (naturally without credit, or compensation). She  developed cancer and died six months later. Within a week of her death, her husband committed suicide. One week later her elder son committed suicide.       

The ninth law (IX), Bearing false witness, has obvious consequences to life. Many people have been wrongly accused, imprisoned and put to death based on lies and false testimony. Reputations have been ruined through rumor and gossip. In my clinical experience, I see many people with dire physical ailments, that reflect the breakdown of their existence as recipients of lies, and that are unable to move past the the never-ending psychic and physical pain ensuing from the lies, that eventually shorten our lives. One of the main mental acts of bearing false witness is doubt. It is the seed source on the mental level of all of our troubles. It is essentially an act of mental self murder, a mental act of lying to life.  Doubt paralyzes action, incurs  anxiety, fear and worry; slowly but surely we murder ourselves through theses partial acts of suicide.  

The tenth law (X), Coveting, is the wish to claim and possess what is not ours; it includes the offshoots of envy and jealousy. Envy, defined as wanting WHAT you have -  is the seed source of war; jealousy, defined as wanting WHO you have - is the seed source of murder. They not only adversely affect those towards whom those feelings are directed but also those who harbor such feelings, viz., “eaten up by envy,” “tormented by jealousy.” Here murder is a direct consequence of these pernicious feelings.  While the others may not have this ultimate outcome, they do incur early decay of our existence and frequent self-murder.

I have not taken up the murder of our natural environment including the other species of life for which we have perverted our stewardship of care over the last 50-100 years. However, it seems eminently clear that curbing the murderous impulses within ourselves remains the preeminent requirement for life to continue on this beautiful creation called Earth.

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The Practice of Peacefulness: Act According to the 10 Laws 

How do we fulfill the prophet Isaiah’s vision of the lion laying  down with the lamb, beating swords into plowshares, and not knowing war (murder) anymore? Familiarize yourself thoroughly with the 10 Laws and learn to practice them as a regular way of life. To practice the 10 Commandments, we watch how we respond to a situation or circumstance we encounter either inwardly or outwardly where we are commanded to act. But we often hesitate to act - to take the step we know needs to be taken in the moment. Why? Doubt invades our thoughts - is this the right step, the best step, etc. ?  Will survival be certain if I take the action? I’m not sure. Conditioned through our miseducation that we can know the future, our indecision or reluctance to act becomes a corrosive agent in our lives; murdering ourselves slowly doubt by doubt.  The future is not ours to know!  Sorry, there is a large “No Trespassing” sign placed in front of the Future.  Truth be told, we don’t need to know what the future holds. Act according to the 10 Laws. They don’t address a future result! (Except the fifth to honor father and mother). They answer to the moment of your now experience.  Do so and draw the power of faith – perhaps the strongest power on earth – to yourself. 

Faith: Aligning with our Source and Ourselves

Faith, means the certainty of taking action in the moment without concern for the outcome or result; it is not contingent or dependent on other considerations. I call this “unconditional action”.  Faith brings you into alignment with the eternal Source, into a relationship I call the Alliance. This Source is the permanence that never fails us. Human beings with all their frailties, foibles, and fallibilities cannot be counted on all the time. Nonetheless, we have faith in the constancy of these relationships. How ironic to have faith in the inconstant and not in the constant; to have faith in what dies, not in what never dies.

Now, have faith in yourself as a primary starting point. Each act you take increases self faith. As that faith grows, so does your knowing of the constancy of yourself as a faithful servant to the Alliance, to the eternal Source. As I stop murdering myself, I become aligned with Permanence, and become permanent, extending my life boundlessly. The promise for following this path is laid out in Exodus 15:26 where God provides no death to those who give ear to His commandments and follow His statutes. 

For more on the 10 Commandments, see my other blogs as well as my book Healing Into Immortality.