In the Light of Truth

33. Ideal people

Idealists — or let us rather call them would-be-idealists. Here we must make a distinction and carefully exclude all those who only call themselves idealists and like to be considered so by others, but who do not even belong to the group we call would-be-idealists. This latter is the large class of mawkish enthusiasts of both sexes, together with imaginative visionaries who can never learn to control their gifts or make use of them. We must also exclude those who are always dissatisfied with existing conditions and justify their dissatisfaction by saying that they are more ideal than their contemporaries, and therefore do not harmonise with the age. Then there is the great army of the “misunderstood” of which women and girls form the greater part. These imagine they are misunderstood, or — in other words — they are convinced they are in possession of valuable gifts which those around them are incapable of understanding. In reality these souls possess no hidden treasure of any kind but have an unfailing supply of immoderate and impossible wishes.

All such “misunderstood” people are simply useless people, for they prove themselves useless for the present time. They only incline to what is unreal, even to what is frivolous and always to what is unsuitable for a healthy life on earth. Unfortunately the way these eternally misunderstood girls and women choose to live too often ends in immorality. They want to be consoled and let themselves be consoled too easily and too often, which a certain class of men is quick to see and unscrupulous to profit by. These misunderstood people will always be unreliable in every respect.

They think themselves ideal but they are in truth absolutely worthless, so that a serious person free from selfish intention had better avoid them. It would be vain to try to help them. Those who approach them are mostly “comforters” with evil intentions, but here retributive reaction soon sets in, for on the breast or in the arms of such a comforter the woman or girl who felt misunderstood will feel so again in a few days or weeks, and will again long to be understood, for in fact she does not know what she wants.

To all these groups of useless and unprofitable people we must add another: the group of harmless dreamers, apparently as guileless as children. But the “harmless dreamer” is only harmless with regard to the effect on himself, that is to say on his own person; he is by no means harmless to his surroundings and to the people he meets.

On many people, intercourse with the harmless dreamer acts like a slow, corroding poison, destructive and consuming, because, by developing his far-fetched, impracticable ideas, he drags them out of normal healthy life into impossible regions of thought, unsuited to life on this earth.

I do not say that such a dreamer is impure or bad, on the contrary. He may have the best intentions, but he will always strive for something unreal, something impracticable for this earth, thus his influence does not advance man on earth but acts destructively, hinderingly.

Of the remaining would-be-idealists we must distinguish two kinds: those who are only followers or imitators, and those who are really striving after the ideal. These first are weaklings who are always longing for something quite impossible of attainment, at least on earth, who, therefore, can never be happy nor even glad. They greatly resemble the misunderstood group. In time they become morbid sentimentalists, and that leads to nothing good. Having thus thoroughly sifted and sorted them, we must now look for the remaining few, figuratively speaking, with a lantern.

Even these few are not really what one can call idealists in the true sense of the word, but, as I said above, men who are striving after the ideal (who have the quality of personally and actively striving after the ideal on earth). Here at last are those we can take seriously as of full value. These have a high aim, sometimes a stupendous goal before their eyes, but they never allow themselves to soar and hover about in the clouds, and have their feet firmly rooted in mother earth; they do not wander away into what is unreal and impractical for life here below. They strive on, step by step, towards the distant goal with practical eye and cunning hand without harming any who do not deserve punishment. The usefulness of that sort of people is seldom limited to single individuals, and there is no question of their taking unfair advantage of anyone, as to do so would not justify their title to idealism. Every man could and should strive towards the ideal, no matter what his profession is on earth. He can ennoble every kind of work in, so doing and give it wider future prospects, only he must not forget to keep within the compass of life on earth. If he goes beyond that, he becomes unreal and thus detrimental to the earth. The result is that advancement, the basic condition and mark of idealism can never be attained. It is man's duty on earth to aim at the highest attainment possible for him, and to strive for it with all his heart and soul. It must be work worthy of a human being, not a mere troubling for food and drink as an animal does, and as, unfortunately, many men do; nor must he allow his intellect to incite him to compete for worldly fame and position regardless of the general welfare and advancement of mankind which must always be his first consideration. Those who disregard this are of less service to the world than animals; an animal is always natural and appropriately fills his appointed place in the world and does his work, even if it is but to keep other creatures alert, thus preventing them from relapsing into indolent ways. Indolence leads to destruction; activity and motion are conditions of life, — so keep awake! The distinguishing mark of the man who is honestly striving for the ideal is that he tries to lift what he finds in this mundane world on to a higher level, not in the sense of the intellectual materialist (in increasing dominion and power) but in ennobling it. His ideas will all be practicable and will bring profit and advantage to the individual as well as to mankind in general. Whereas the hare-brained ideas of the would-be-idealists lead away into dreamland with the mischievous result that man overlooks and neglects the present opportunity that actuality offers to all men to mature themselves as is intended.

Idealists with communistic tendencies are seriously detrimental, for the realisation of their ideas would, in spite of their being well-meaning, only bring about unhealthy conditions. They resemble builders who construct a house on their premises which is to be put up elsewhere. In the builder's yard all seems admirable, but when taken to the place of its destination, it stands unsteadily and askew, so that nobody can inhabit it, for there the ground is uneven and it is impossible to level it in spite of every effort and greatest labour. The builder has forgotten to take this possibility into consideration or to reckon with existing conditions. He who is really striving for the ideal does not make such a mistake.

In the same way it will always be impossible to realise ideal communism, for men are on different stages of maturity: they are the uneven ground unsuitable for the builder's erection. The ground will always be uneven, for it is not possible for all men on earth to attain the same degree of maturity. Each individual is and will always be a separate spiritual entity, a person who in virtue of his free will can develop in different ways. The free will to dispose of his own person will never be taken from him. But by the Cosmic Turning Point, mankind has lost the free will it hitherto enjoyed in matters external, for now at “the Time of the End”, Divine Will has become incarnate, which naturally must dominate human will, as it stands above it and is more powerful!

Once more only each individual may decide in his heart whether he will soar upwards to the Light that quickens or whether he will descend to Darkness which annihilates!

And now, reader, seek out those who are truly striving after the ideal, and help and further them, for they are builders of genuine utility to man.

[Grail Message by Abdrushin]  [Resonances to the Grail Message]