Читать книгу Lessons in Truth Series: the Everlasting Gospel of the Kingdom of God (Spirit) Within - Timothy F. Gardner - Страница 13

QUALITIES OF ONE ON THE PATH OF REALIZATION

In the New Testament the principles of living that are needed in order for us to come into the true knowledge of God are set forth. The Holy Scripture tells us in Colossians 3:1-2, “If ye be risen with Christ seek those things which are above . . . Set your affections on the things above, not on earth. . .” In these verses it is being revealed that we must seek the Eternal, and not the temporal. It is imperative that we, “… look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal” (2 Corinthians 4:18). We must learn to discriminate between that which is eternal, “the real” and the temporal. Continuing, “For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God . . . When Christ, who is our life shall appear, then ye shall also appear with Him in glory . . . Mortify therefore your members which are upon the earth; fornication, uncleanliness, covetousness, idolatry . . . In which time ye also walked sometime, when ye lived in them. But now ye also put off all these, anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy communication out of your mouth . . . Lie not one to another, seeing that ye have put off the old man with his deeds . . . And have put on the new man which is renewed in knowledge after the image of Him that created him” (Colossians 3:3-10).

And the scriptures further elaborate on this concept of the “New Man”, “Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new” (2 Corinthians 5:17). And scripture further exhorts us to, “. . . put off concerning the former conversation [ideas, opinions, beliefs] of the old man, which is corrupt [erroneous, false, based on unsound principles] according to the deceitful [deceptive, misleading] lusts; And be renewed in the spirit of your mind; And that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness” (Ephesians 4:22-24). As well, the Holy Scriptures reminds us, “Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? And what communion hath light with darkness? And what concord hath Christ with Belial? Or what part hath he that believeth with an infidel? And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? For ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you” (2 Corinthians 6:14-17).

Again, these Holy Bible verses imply that we must learn to discriminate between the Eternal and the temporal. The spiritual aspirant must develop spiritual discrimination and non-attachment—longing to know God (Spirit), separating themselves from non-believers. As well we must learn to control the mind, senses, and bodily passions and desires through spiritual practice and by having faith in the scriptures and spiritual teaching. We must change our way of thinking, knowing that our thoughts become our actions and our reality. Remembering, as a man thinketh; so is he (Proverbs 23:7).

At this time, I believe it is appropriate to stop and define the Christ as given to us by Father Hurley. Christ is defined as the wisdom and power of God. Wisdom is knowledge and the ability to apply it rightly and wisely. Knowledge, meaning to be acquainted with; to be aware of. Wise, meaning to have a proper understanding; to become aware of the true facts. So, if we have attained to a proper understanding of the knowledge of God, we shall realize that there is only one life, and that life is God. And the life that is our life is God. Thus, we realize our life is eternal and immortal. And, we shall realize our oneness with the Father, and become consciously aware of the presence of God within, experiencing eternal bliss and ecstasy.

In continuing, Ephesians 2:2-6 states, “Where in times past ye walked according to the course of this world (according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience). Among whom also we have had conversation in times past in the lust of the flesh; fulfilling the desires of the flesh, and of the mind; and were by nature the children of wrath even as others . . . But God who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us . . . Even when we were dead [barren, cut-off], in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, [by grace are ye saved] . . . And hath raised us up together and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus.”

Again, what I want to impress upon you is that God (Spirit) and worldliness cannot go together. Galatians 5:16-25 tells us, “This I say then, walk in the spirit and ye shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh . . . For the flesh lusteth against the spirit, and the spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary, the one to the other: so that ye cannot do these things that ye would . . . But if ye be led of the spirit, ye are not under the law . . . Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; adultery, fornication, uncleanliness, lasciviousness . . . Idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, sedition, heresies . . . envyings, murders, drunkenness, reveling, and such like: of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God [Spirit] . . . But the fruit of the spirit is love, joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith . . . Meekness, and temperance; against such there is such law . . . And they that are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts . . . If we live in the spirit, let us also walk in the spirit.” These scriptural passages speak specifically to the fact that our progress and development along the spiritual path is brought about by not conforming to the beliefs and opinions of this world, but by being transformed by the renewing of our mind (Romans 12:2). Again, this renewal is accomplished by spiritual discrimination and non-attachment, controlling the mind, senses, bodily passions and desires, and by having faith in the scriptures and spiritual teaching.

As we can see, special conditions must be fulfilled, before we can receive the Truth of God. Hindu philosophy also outlines special conditions, which must be fulfilled by the aspirant on the path of enlightenment. Yogi William Zorn(1968) in his spiritual treatise states, “according to the Hindu philosopher Sankaracharya, there are four spiritual qualifications that are required of aspirant who desires to know the nature of the Real Self. The renowned sage listed these four qualifications in his Viveka Chudamani [the Crest Jewel of Discrimination] (19-28).”1

These are: 1) Viveka, 2) Vairagya, 3) Shatsampatti, and 4) Mumukshutva.

In explanation, the first of these four qualifications is Viveka which means discrimination. According to these teachings the aspirant should learn to distinguish that which is permanent from that which is transient. He/she should know the Real (Eternal) from the unreal (temporal).

The second is Vairagya which means nonattachment. The aspirant on the path must overcome all desire for, and the attachment to, worldly objects. As long as there is a craving in the heart for something other than God, one will remain a slave to that desire.

The third qualification is Shatsampatti which consist of the Six Attributes, which are:

a) Shama—control over the mind and the ability to concentrate

b) Dama—Control over body and senses.

c) Uparati—Self-reliance, the state of not being dependent on anything or anyone.

d) Titiksha—Forbearance, the state of mind in which one can endure all pain and sorrow without malice, dejection, or lamentation.

e) Shraddha—Faith in the master’s teachings as set out in the scriptures.

f) Samadhana—the ability to hold the mind steadily on the Self, with total disregard for the things of a worldly nature (Zorn, 1968, p.185).1

Of these six attributes that the aspirant must develop, Shama, which is control of the mind and the ability to concentrate, is one of the most difficult to achieve. According to Yogi W. Zorn, it is a belief of Hindu Philosophy that:

I,3 He whose mind is completely still becomes aware of his true nature . . . I,4 As long as the mind is active, man identifies himself with his mind. [He continues], I,12 Mental control is brought about by abhyasa and vairagya. Abhyasa means practice and vairagya is the Sansrit term for nonattachment . . . Both [of these] . . . are necessary to achieve control over the mind . . . I,13 Abhyasa is the persistent effort to restrain the different mental activities. One of the conditions necessary to achieve control over the mind is that one should consistently try to restrain thoughts and emotions . . . Controlling the mind is a task of great magnitude . . . The mind can only be brought under control after a long and hard battle. It is not sufficient to practice for a short period each day. One should try to control thoughts at every opportunity . . . The struggle should be uninterrupted . . . The second necessity for victory in the battle for mind control is Vairagya, or nonattachment. I,15 Vairagya, is the state in which the craving for objects has been overcome. Try as one may, it is useless to attempt to become absolute master over the mind if one does not also try to overcome the desire for worldly objects. As long as there is a craving for power, wealth, and luxury one will remain a slave of one’s desires. These desires must be eliminated [spiritual life does not condemn, wealth and possessions in themselves, only the attachment that arise from the desire for it] (1968, pp. 21-22).2

The second half of Shama is the ability to concentrate. Concentration is the capacity to focus and hold the attention of the mind to one thing or one thought. The last qualification is Mumukshutva which is an ardent desire for spiritual emancipation through knowledge of one’s true self (Zorn, 1968, p.185).3

To continue, in comparison, Swami Prabhavananda expounds on Sankaracharya’s four qualifications as follows:

In Hindu philosophy it is taught that certain conditions must be fulfilled before we can receive the truth of God . . . : Discrimination, shunning ephemeral pleasures [Non-Attachment], acquiring the six treasures of life, and the desire for freedom from the bondage of life. First learn to discriminate between the eternal and the non-eternal. This discrimination is the most important thing of all. Why is it that we want to seek the truth of God? Because, we find that everything in the Universe, everything that we sense, perceive, know, and enjoy is transient. There is something in our hearts, which cannot remain satisfied with the transient. Those, in whom discrimination has developed, discriminate consciously.

When desires and impulses arise, they ask themselves: “Is this really eternal? Is this something abiding?” As this Discrimination grows in you, you lose your thirst for the pleasures of the objective world. Man wants happiness above everything. He will run after happiness wherever he can get it. But, if he has this spiritual discrimination, he will see that the pleasures of the external world are not really satisfactory, because they are not abiding. And so he will shun them, and turn toward that abiding joy, that infinite happiness [God]. Mere renunciation of desire does not help. In order to prevent the mind from running after objects, a man must cultivate certain qualities within himself.

The qualities are called in our Scriptures the Six Treasures. They are the true treasures of life. The first is tranquility of the mind, interior calmness, and peace. Then comes sense—control, mastery over your passions. As long as we remain slaves to the senses and the mind, with its passions and its restlessness, so long we cannot really desire God. The third treasure is patience and forbearance. The next is burning faith in the ideal. The heart must move toward its ideal with pleasure—the pleasure is very important. When we move toward the objects of sense-attractions, we feel great pleasure in our hearts. We must find just as much pleasure in the search for God. It is no good merely saying: “Oh, yes, I believe in God.” That is not what is known as faith. But, if you really believe in God, then your heart will move toward the ideal of God—realization with great enthusiasm. We must cultivate that. It doesn’t come all at once . . .

Then comes self-surrender. And finally, the desire for freedom from the bondage of life. That is the most important thing of all—that thirst, that longing for God, and that desire for freedom from the things that hinder our approach to Him (Prabhavananda as cited in Isherwood, 1971, pp.315-316).

To continue Swami Prabhavananda states:

Christ [Jesus], in His Sermon [on the Mount], as we shall see, speaks of these same conditions to be fulfilled in order that the purity of heart can be achieved and the truth of God revealed. But before we proceed on this subject, let me first try to explain the central note of the sermon. [Which is two-fold in nature.]

“Blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see God,” [and] “Be ye therefore perfect even as the Father in heaven is perfect.” These two verses give the central note of the Sermon on the Mount. Whatever Scriptures one reads, one finds the same note, this same theme. See God! Be ye therefore perfect! Know God! Realize Him! This is the one purpose and idea of life . . . Theologians today may argue whether one can find God or whether perfection can be achieved or not, or what Christ [Jesus] meant by knowing the truth or seeing God: But this much I can say definitely—that when Christ [Jesus] spoke to his disciples, He meant literally that God could be seen in their present lives. And the disciples were hungering just for that truth, to know God, to be perfect even as the Father in heaven is perfect. How can the spiritual aspirant who is hungering for truth be satisfied with theology, with philosophy, with doctrines and creeds? Christ [Jesus] was not teaching any creed, He was not teaching any doctrine but He was teaching how to know and realize God. The disciples who were sitting at His feet knew that the first thing in spiritual life is to know God while living in this world, not after the body is left behind, but here and now! That is what is meant by religion. That is the central note of the Sermon on the Mount. And the chief method of knowing God is told in the verse: “Blessed are the pure in heart.” The Beatitudes and the Sermon explain how that purity of heart is to be achieved. But we must remember that seeing God and attaining that perfection is not possible in what we call our normal life and consciousness. Nobody has seen God with these eyes. There is no perfection if we live in this life of the senses (Prabhavananda as cited in Isherwood, 1971, pp. 315-317).

Prabhavananda further states that:

CHRIST [Jesus] HAS TAUGHT US THAT, in order to see God, we must be pure in heart. What is meant by this purity? . . . Try to think of God now, this very moment. What do you find? The thought of God passes through your mind . . . like a flash; then all types of distractions begin. You find that you are thinking of everything else in the universe, but God. That is the test of true purity. As Christ [Jesus] understood the word: can a man, without any distractions whatever, keep his mind fixed upon love for God? Why are there these distractions? Because the mind remains impure from birth to birth—impure, because it has gathered so many impressions of so many kinds, good and bad.

These impressions have to be removed completely: to remove them, we have to know their cause. Yoga psychology defines five root causes of all our impressions. First, is ignorance, in a universal sense: This is the chief of all causes of impurity of the mind. It is natural to all mankind: because of it, we do not see God. Ignorance is our normal state of consciousness. God is within us, and all around us: we are carrying Him with us all the time. But, instead of seeing God, we see the universe, and believe it to be the ultimate reality . . . Then there is the sense of ego, which makes me think of myself as an individual being, and say: I must possess, I must enjoy, and I must have this and that. This sense of ego separates us from one another, and from the reality of God. From the sense of the ego, we develop attachment, and aversion: I want one thing, I hate another. That desire, and that hatred, is both obstacles in the path to God (Prabhavananda as cited in Isherwood, 1971, pp. 318-319).

Vedanta philosophy continues to elaborate on the ego: Ego . . . is the root—cause of our ignorance. What is Ego? But a belief in separation from God, a belief in a separate and individual existence—at best, a belief in duality, a duality of man and God, of matter and Spirit; at worst, a belief in finite and material existence as reality, and as the whole of reality ? . . .

The belief, then in an existence apart from God, is the major sin; ultimately, the only sin, error or misconception (Van Druten as cited in Isherwood, 1971, pp. 350-351).

In continuing with Swami Prabhavananda’s discourse, he states:

The final cause of our mental impurity is our clinging to life, our fear of death—and this is natural to all, good and bad alike. Buddha calls it Tanha, the thirst for life, and Christ [Jesus] refers to it as the same, “He who loves his life shall lose it.” Only the illumined saint has no sense of ego, no attachment, no hatred, and no fear of death; they have all vanished.

Even if we could have spiritual enlightenment instantly, this very moment, we shouldn’t like it, we should draw back at the borderline. Even if we have been seeking God, we draw back at the moment when we feel we are about to have the vision of Him: we are afraid, because we cling to this life and this consciousness. We are so afraid of losing this everyday consciousness, even though it means passing into that wider infinite consciousness—in comparison with which our normal perceptions are, as the Gita says, “like a thick night in a sleep.” . . . Before we are ready to realize God, we must purify our hearts [minds], we must prepare ourselves (Prabhavananda as cited in Isherwood, 1971, p. 319).

In addition to the central theme of the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus in his teachings gives us four cardinal attributes that we must develop in our search for God. They can be outlined as follows:

Attribute No. One—the Right Desire:

If we are to come into the conscious awareness of the inner-reality of God, we must possess that seemingly cold and inhuman desire, and love toward Him that Jesus taught—a desire so strong that one forsakes all material bonds willingly and joyously to gain entrance to the kingdom of God (Spirit) within.

Vedanta philosophy states that:

God becomes realized only by shutting our senses to the outward things and turning our minds toward the kingdom of heaven within. We must gather the scattered forces of the mind and direct it with a concentrated heart toward God, the abiding reality. The natural inclination of man is to seek and express life in the outside world, to find enjoyments outside. But religion tells us to overcome this natural desire and seek the true abiding happiness in God who is within.

Man, as he knows himself is not the real man. The world is not as it appears to be. Behind this surface life, where we experience the play of life and death, there is a deeper life which knows no death; behind our apparent consciousness, which gives us the knowledge of objects and things and the experiences of pleasure and pain, there is the pure, infinite, blissful consciousness. This truth of God is experienced only by those blessed souls who turn their gaze inward. Somehow, man got caught in the net of ignorance. It is the nature of ignorance to accept the unreal, the shadow, for the real . . . We may accept the shadow as the reality; we may seek life, love, happiness in the fleeting objects, persons, and things, accepting them as abiding, as real. But Mother Nature gradually reveals the truth, “God alone is the unchangeable reality, and in Him only is to be found abiding happiness” (Prabhavananda as cited in Isherwood, 1951, pp. 224-225).

If we are to embark on the spiritual path we must develop the right desire. We must do as God commanded through Saint Paul, and not look at the things which are seen, but to look at the things which are unseen; for the things which are seen are temporal. But, the things which are not seen are eternal (2 Cor. 4:18). Jesus tells us in Matthew 16:24 that, “If any man will come after me, let him deny himself [carnality] and take up his cross and follow me.” He also tells us, in Matthew 10:37-39 that, “He that loveth father or mother more than me, is not worthy of me, and he that loveth son or daughter more than me, is not worthy of me.” We must desire to find Him more than anything else. For if we do not we will not find Him, because we are not worthy. Why? Because, we will be accepting the unreal, the shadow, for the real. “He that taketh not his cross and follow after me, is not worthy of me” (Matthew 10:38).

Attribute No. Two—the Right Denial:

You must deny the flesh (worldliness), in order to attain the real. You cannot serve two masters! Carnality has no reality, in itself, and therefore cannot enter into the domain of the real, I cannot stress this enough; carnality cannot enter the kingdom of God (Spirit)! Jesus tells us, that, “he that findeth his life shall truly lose it; and he that loses his life [self] for Christ’s sake shall truly find it”(Matt.10:39). Only if we give up the old man (carnal self) can we expect to find the Christ: God (Spirit) within. In comparison the Vedanta philosophy expresses it thusly:

The watchword of religion and spiritual life is renunciation of the thirst for life in the world . . . Neither Jesus nor Buddha nor Ramakrishna nor any seer or prophet would ever make any compromise with the idea of spiritual life. They all declare in one voice that God and worldliness cannot go together . . . Where is the root of all cravings? Where is the source of worldliness and thirst for life? The root is ignorance. Ignorance is to accept the unreal for the real. The first—begotten child of ignorance is the sense of ego. All cravings and thirsts for life and worldliness are centered round this ego. This ego is a false self, not the real I. It is the outcome of false identification of the atman (the spirit within) with the body, mind, senses, etc. This sense of ego can be said to be a figment of our ignorant mind. It has no real existence. Peel off one layer after another of an onion, and what remains? Nothing. What is this ego? Are you the body, the mind, the senses, the intellect? Are you any of these, or a combination of these? Is any of them permanent? As you analyze to find what your ego is, you reach a point where you realize that it is only a shadow. Yet we build our whole world round this shadow of an ego.

Behind this ego is the real man, the Atman, God. To renounce this ego is the meaning of renunciation . . . the ego has no meaning; it is only a shadow . . . Man is spirit and has a body and mind. Through ignorance, he forgets that he is spirit and identifies with the body, mind, senses, etc. and thus there arises the sense of ego. Religion teaches us to overcome this ignorance and realize that our real life, love, happiness can be found only in spirit in God . . . Religion tells us to wake up from this sleep of ignorance, stop chasing the shadow; gather all the forces of the mind, intellect, senses and direct them to the realization of the one end—which is God, the abiding reality . . . (Prabhavananda as cited in Isherwood, 1951, pp. 225-226).

Attribute No. Three—the Right Discrimination:

We must realize God (Spirit) alone is real. All else is illusory (temporal, transient). As stated before, by following carnality we are following a shadow; something that has no substantiality of itself. We must abandon hope and trust in the transient, for God (Spirit) is our hope! In the Beatitudes Jesus lays out plainly the qualities and attributes that the aspirant on the path must possess in order to come into the conscious awareness of the kingdom of God (Spirit). In Matthew 5:3 Jesus states, “Blessed are the poor in spirit [material bonds given up to find Him], for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” Fortunate is the man that has given up carnality; the belief in some power other than God (Spirit), for he shall find the Christ: God (Spirit) within. For as long as we direct our minds outward on the things of the world we overlook the reality of God (Spirit) within. God (Spirit) is within us and is waiting for us to turn to Him. We must remember God (Spirit) is the Life of our life. “He is the true light [Life], which lighteth every man that cometh into the world” (John 1:9).

Father Hurley taught that, “Every soul is by nature in bondage to the flesh; and to the things of the flesh. It is by ignorance that we misidentify our True Selves: God (Spirit) within, to be one with the earthly selves. Thus, all suffering is a result of this bondage. Our souls are longing for eternal happiness. So the soul looks relentlessly out in the world for the food that will satisfy its hunger. Just to find after consuming meal after meal, that it did not satisfy it all” (Hurley as cited in UHSCA Sunday School Synopsis, n.d.). Such, is the chase, after the fruits of the flesh. For they have no true reality and thus cannot insure lasting joy, happiness, and security. To continue on, Jesus states, “Blessed are ye that mourn for ye shall be comforted.” Fortunate is he who cries and toils because he has not found God (Spirit); for he shall find that peace that surpasseth all understanding.

Attribute No. Four—the Right Knowledge:

The right knowledge is the realization of God (Spirit) as Omnipresence and Omnipotence. “I and the Father are One” (John 10:30). The kingdom of God (Spirit) is within. That which I am seeking, I already am. Jesus told us that we shall know the truth and the truth shall set us free. Father Hurley takes this one step further and tells us the knowledge of the truth of who we are, and what we are, shall set us free.

Saint Paul proclaimed, “For I reckon that the suffering of this present time [the pains we feel now] are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us” (Romans 8:18). For once finding Him, God (Spirit), there isn’t a destruction of self; but, an expansion and embracing of all that is, for God (Spirit) is All. “Blessed are they that hunger after righteousness [the correct comprehension, seeks out spiritual principles and laws] for they shall be filled” (Matt. 5:6). Truly, one that desires to find God (Spirit) within over all else shall become aware of the ever-present presence of Christ within themselves. Perfection is already within. It is not something that is attained.