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Chapter 2

"To the angel of the assembly in Ephesus write: "He who holds the seven stars in his right hand, he who walks among the seven golden lampstands says these things:

"I know your works, and your toil and perseverance, and that you can't tolerate evil men, and have tested those who call themselves apostles, and they are not, and found them false. You have perseverance and have endured for my name's sake, and have not grown weary. But I have this against you, that you left your first love. Remember therefore from where you have fallen, and repent and do the first works; or else I am coming to you swiftly, and will move your lampstand out of its place, unless you repent. But this you have, that you hate the works of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate. He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the assemblies. To him who overcomes I will give to eat of the tree of life, which is in the Paradise of my God. …

⦿ First level – Muladhara. This chakra is associated with hell. At the level of this chakra, rajas, the energy of anger, is strong. A person at this level is easily angry. Both for yourself and for other people. This anger comes with a waste of energy. And because of this, the energy cannot rise, sublimate higher, to the next chakra. Through anger and hatred, a person strengthens his connection with hell. The solution to this problem is not to inhibit hatred in order to follow anger, but to cultivate the opposite of hate: love. However, love is different. It is necessary to pay attention not to any love, but only to the first. Scripture gives a hint: repent that you left your first love, and remember therefore from where you have fallen.

First love – "Jesus said to him, "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the first and great commandment. A second likewise is this, You shall love your neighbor as yourself. The whole law and the prophets depend on these two commandments."" (Mat. ch. 22).

1. 1. The first highest love is to love the original highest instance: the highest Absolute. The Supreme Absolute is the original highest absolute state. The same as the Atman or essence of the Buddha. The Absolute is identical to Nirvana. "Nirvana" translates as "lack of excitement." It would be more correct to understand nirvana as not as some place in some space, but as, simply, a state. The state of nirvana is a state of liberation, a state of absolute peace. Nirvana is defined in the sutras as the destruction of worldly desires, or as the eradication of knowledge and experience. As a result of the destruction of worldly desires in the state of nirvana comes deliverance, liberation from suffering. Initially, the True Ego of a person is part of the Absolute. That is why the scriptures say that "blasphemy against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven." The “Holy Spirit” here is precisely understood as the Absolute, and it is easy to understand why it is the blasphemy against the Absolute that a person will not be forgiven for. Since the True Ego is a fundamental component of the structure of the soul, by blaspheming the Absolute and, accordingly, the True Ego, a person distances himself from his own True Ego, actually destroying himself. Since the Absolute resides in nirvana, and since the achievement of the state of the Absolute (as well as nirvana) occurs through pratyahara (separation from the senses), as well as through meditation with the denial of all worlds of samsara; the Absolute is indifferent to samsara; the assertion of many schools of Hinduism (as well as the Abrahamic religions) that Brahman the Absolute is the creator of samsara is erroneous. Such a delusion of the overwhelming number of confessions can be fully explained by the fact that samsara tends to try to keep souls within itself by any means. And, therefore, samsara weaves cunning nets: “the fetters of samsara,” from which it is difficult for souls to extricate themselves. The similar aforementioned erroneous view of the Absolute is also one of these fetters. The image of the Absolute can be imagined as a transparent void in which there is nothing. The yantra (symbol) of the Absolute can be a diamond.

1. 2. With the highest love one must also love the Almighty. This is the second part of "first love". The Absolute is the end, and the Almighty is the means. The end is always more important than the means. Unlike the Absolute, the Almighty is a living being. This means that the Almighty has a soul, has a mind, has its own will. Unlike an ordinary person, the Almighty is a god. This means that the Almighty, like all the inhabitants of the astral, does not have an ordinary physical body, but only an astral body. The Almighty is the highest god of the upper astral (Pure Heavens). The Almighty is the Buddha. This means that he has reached the state of nirvana (mahanirvana) and is constantly in this state. The Almighty is that very rare soul who, at the highest divine level, is engaged in the universal salvation of souls. This means, that the Almighty is able to lead a very large number of his disciples to the highest state. Since the deepest essence of the Almighty and the essence of the Absolute coincide, the image of the Almighty may well be presented as identical with the Absolute. However, one can notice some difference in the features of the "first love" for the Absolute and the "first love" for the Almighty. If love for the Absolute is accompanied by bliss, then love for the Almighty is accompanied by mobilization. To love the Almighty means to be faithful to him: "be faithful." "To be faithful" means to do what the Almighty requires; to do what the Almighty teaches, what the Almighty calls for. The essential attribute of the Almighty are the four highest spiritual qualities: maitri, karuna, prashansa and shanti.

2. 1. Maitri – is holy love. First Karuna. This is the same love that the Bible speaks of: "Love your neighbor as yourself" – the second most important commandment. In the strictest sense, holy love is a strong desire for this or that soul to reach the highest spiritual state.

2. 2. Karuna – translated as compassion. Second Karuna. In a broad sense, in the Mahayana system of practice, the Buddhist Karuna includes all four states of the soul: Maitri, Karuna, Prashansa, and Shanti. In its own, not expanded, meaning, in the strictest sense, karuna is a strong regret that this or that soul has not yet reached the highest spiritual state, the state of nirvana.

2. 3. Prashansa – translated as praise. Third Karuna. In the strictest sense, prashansa is a strong praise for the fact that a particular soul is advancing to the highest state or has reached the highest spiritual state.

2. 4. Shanti – translates as steadfastness. Fourth Karuna. Whatever happens and whatever she does, the soul of shanti always remains in a calm, peaceful state.

The above six qualities do not turn on in a person at the snap of a finger. To master these qualities, you need to engage in appropriate meditations. In particular, one should practice the six Karuna meditations. All meditations should be done while sitting in the correct sitting posture. You need to sit in the lotus position or as close as possible to it, straighten the spine, raise the top of the head as high as possible. Hands can lie in any position. The duration of the classes is from one minute to one hour for each meditation.

1. Meditation of the Absolute. Imagine that the whole world around you and you yourself have disappeared, that everything has turned into a transparent void. At the same time, you practice pratyahara (stopping the senses): "no feelings – no suffering, no suffering – no movement". Maintain, in accordance with this formula, immobility. The key phrase to start this meditation is "nothing".

2. Meditation of fidelity to the Almighty. Form an inner attitude to fulfill any command of the Highest God. The key phrase to start this meditation is: “Lord! Lord! Lord!" As another variation of this meditation, you can practice the following. Repent that you are not doing what the Highest God tells you to do. The key phrase to start this meditation is: “Forgive me, Lord! Forgive me, Lord! Forgive me, Lord!"

3. Shanti (steadiness) meditation. Imagine, one after another, situations that occur in your life and that make you suffer to one degree or another. Repeating again and again the mental experience of these situations or unpleasant sensations from them, maintain inner peace of mind. As you live through these various situations in your life, remain unwavering, no matter what happens in these situations. The key phrase to start this meditation is "don't care".

4. Prashansa (praise) meditation. Introduce one by one those who are superior to you in some way, and praise their excellent qualities from the bottom of your heart. The key phrase to start this meditation is: “Glory to Thee, Lord! Glory to Thee, Lord! Glory to Thee, Lord!”

5. Karuna (compassion) meditation. Experience great pain, great regret that all souls are suffering, that all souls do not know the Truth, that they are not engaged in spiritual practice, that they are captured by delusions, that they are captured by worldly desires. Imagine these souls one by one and try to warm them up, try to share your inner warmth with them. The key phrase to start this meditation is "what a pity".

6. Shanti (holy love) meditation. Think how wonderful it would be if all souls were happy. Imagine souls near and far one by one, and think that you wish from the bottom of your heart that these souls destroy their worldly desires and that these souls achieve spiritual awakening and liberation. The key phrase to start this meditation is: "I want all souls to be happy".

One should be able to understand the difference between “philosophical absolute truth”, “spiritual absolute Truth” and that “Truth to which the Buddha awakens” and by the name of awakening to which this title of Buddha has this title. You should also be able to understand between the concept of "Truth" with a capital letter and the concept of "truth" with a small letter.

Truth with a small letter is called the content of the thought about the essence of the knowable, which has overcome the status of a hypothesis in the procedures for checking for compliance with the knowable; coincidence of thinking and reality as opposed to delusion (contradiction of thinking and reality). The criterion of truth is practice. Truth with a small letter is also called the statements of a person when it corresponds to reality (truth as opposed to lies). The concept of truth is also still used in logic, when one or another logical statement has no contradictions.

The concept of absolute truth (with a small letter) is used in philosophy. In philosophy, absolute truth is a true statement, which acts as the original scientific knowledge, the content of which does not imply problematization, correction. In other words, if a statement can be problematized with further correction according to the criterion of completeness, or according to the criterion of relativity, or according to the criterion of situationality (and also, in some philosophical schools, according to the criterion of chance, concreteness), then this truth is not absolute.

The essence of philosophical absolute truth lies in its absence.

Truth with a capital letter is usually understood as spiritual absolute Truth.

The essence of the spiritual absolute Truth lies not in the existence of the One God and not in the structure (universal interconnectedness, structure) of the universe, and not in the existence of the other world, but in the eradication of worldly desires.

The eradication of worldly desires means the same as liberation from addictions, from samsara, from the fetters of samsara, from suffering, from illusions, from bonds, from karma and from other such things; means the same as the achievement of nirvana, the absence of excitement, the state of the Absolute, the state of absolute peace.

In essence, there is no difference between "spiritual absolute Truth" and "The Truth to which a Buddha awakens". This is the same. However, it is very important to understand the difference between the two related things that are being discussed here. “The truth to which a buddha awakens” is the state of mahanirvana, the experience of this state, and what remains of the buddha as a result of this experience. All this material cannot be conveyed in a verbal-logical form. However, on the third hand, all this material can be conveyed to some extent in a verbal-logical form. So, it is precisely the part that can be conveyed in a verbal-logical form and is transmitted by the concept of “spiritual absolute Truth”. The experience of a Buddha is reflected by this concept, but it is not reduced to it in sufficient completeness.