The Student Asked:
Master, some teachers have said that I am not supposed to doubt or question their teachings, or the teachings of their predecessors. Some also teach that all the Scriptures are perfect, with no flaws at all.
Is this true?
The Master Responded:
Your question itself answers you, but I shall make solid that answer.
Despite what some Teachers and Sages have said, the Scriptures, though inspired by God and Brahman-consciousness, were written by human hands and guided by human intellect: the domain of Lord Ganesha. Remember, that Lord Ganesha, Intellect, is the Son of God, not God Himself. Ineffable Brahman alone is perfect; all else is Maya, which is inherently imperfect.
Therefore, never believe blindly. I tell you that believing something blindly, without questioning it, including everything I tell you, is one of the greatest sins you can commit. However wise any Sage or Teacher may be, he can still make mistakes, and give false teachings. Thus it is the duty of the student to check the teaching. Read what others have said about the teacher and teaching, including the critics. However, avoid gossip and propaganda, for those are meant to spread false and incomplete information, misrepresenting that which they are talking about, with the agenda of enforcing their opinions onto you as fact. Even if that propaganda comes from your own religion, do not listen to it.
The Student Asked:
How shall I discriminate between good and bad information?
The Master Responded:
Much of the time, gossip and propaganda are obvious, for they will be passionate but have little real substance. Such things will attempt to sway you by making you feel guilty for not agreeing with them. However, sometimes propaganda will be more subtle than that, and not have much emotion behind them, as well as appear to have apparently good sources to back them up. To catch those ones, you must go to those sources to make sure they're being accurately represented, as well as credible.
The essence of this teaching is this: doubt is the beginning of knowledge. When you hear something, doubt it. Make an effort to undermine that doubt by checking the source of that information. Do this until all doubts are erased: then you will have knowledge.
AUM Shanti Shanti Shantihi
Tuesday, March 9, 2010
Thursday, March 4, 2010
What are the Gods?
The Student Inquired:
The Hymns and the Stories all speak of the Gods: those powers of nature whom we can't see directly, but whose influence is apparent through nature. We see the anger of Indra in the Storm, the marathon of Vayu in a great wind, Agni's dance in the fire, and Surya's glory in the Sun.
But who are these Gods? Like the animal recently passed, they say we can see their footprints. But we can track those animals; the Gods cannot be tracked. The Gods, they say, live in another world different from ours. But then, how can they influence our own? Is it because of their divine powers that we cannot comprehend, as some of the Sages have suggested?
But if we cannot see it, and there is no way to see it, why must we assume that it must be there? Should we not, therefore, conclude that the Gods are not there?
The Master Replied:
Not so, for the greatest of Sages have said that God without His Consort, which is His Power, is nothing. The Consort of Indra is the Storm... I say, then, that Indra and the Storm are One; Vayu and the Wind are One; Agni and the Fire are One; Surya and the Sun are One.
The Student Asked:
Are the Gods, therefore, conscious, as we are?
The Master Replied:
The Sages who study the material world (scientists) have said that consciousness is dependent on a brain. As these Gods, if they are not different than their Powers, do not have brains, I must therefore say that they are not. They are not aware of themselves, nor are they able to think or grant the prayers of the superstitious.
The Student Asked:
But then, if the Gods cannot grant prayers, are not different from their Powers, and are not self-aware as we are, why is a distinction made at all? Why do we pray and give our respects to them?
The Master Replied:
It is that awareness of beauty and ugliness that humans have which makes us admire that which is beautiful and shun that which is ugly. For one who has not moved past such duality, he will behave as such.
Some people will look upon beauty and simply acknowledge it, and move on. This is, certainly, fine. Others, however, will go further, and revere that beauty: looking upon it with unmatched awe. From that power of reverence, he will create a God in his mind for that beautiful thing, which will personify all that he himself holds dear. After all, he thinks, if something is truly so beautiful, must it not also be good? This man will look upon ugliness in the reverse way, as well: projecting a self-made demon upon it and subsequently shunning it.
Know, then, that the distinction between the power of nature and the God behind it is a creation of the Mind, and is therefore an aspect of Maya (Illusion.) When we pray to these Gods, and give our respects to them, we truly give our respects to the Mind, and ultimately to Maya. Know that this form of Mine that you see is also, ultimately, Maya.
The Gods are form, which is a product of the Mind. All form is, ultimately, Maya. Therefore, if you wish to obtain the highest of spiritual wisdom, do not worship that form, but when you feel yourself beginning to admire beauty and shun ugliness, silently repeat to yourself this mantra: "Neti, Neti," which means, "Not this, not this." If you already worship that which is beautiful and shun that which is ugly as a demon, then learn of this Maya and wean your way off of it as a baby is weaned off of Mother's Milk through this mantra. Truly, the man who admires beauty and moves on, without paying it respects, is closer to that wisdom than the one who stops to worship beauty. That is my final teaching on this matter.
AUM Shanti Shanti Shantihi
The Hymns and the Stories all speak of the Gods: those powers of nature whom we can't see directly, but whose influence is apparent through nature. We see the anger of Indra in the Storm, the marathon of Vayu in a great wind, Agni's dance in the fire, and Surya's glory in the Sun.
But who are these Gods? Like the animal recently passed, they say we can see their footprints. But we can track those animals; the Gods cannot be tracked. The Gods, they say, live in another world different from ours. But then, how can they influence our own? Is it because of their divine powers that we cannot comprehend, as some of the Sages have suggested?
But if we cannot see it, and there is no way to see it, why must we assume that it must be there? Should we not, therefore, conclude that the Gods are not there?
The Master Replied:
Not so, for the greatest of Sages have said that God without His Consort, which is His Power, is nothing. The Consort of Indra is the Storm... I say, then, that Indra and the Storm are One; Vayu and the Wind are One; Agni and the Fire are One; Surya and the Sun are One.
The Student Asked:
Are the Gods, therefore, conscious, as we are?
The Master Replied:
The Sages who study the material world (scientists) have said that consciousness is dependent on a brain. As these Gods, if they are not different than their Powers, do not have brains, I must therefore say that they are not. They are not aware of themselves, nor are they able to think or grant the prayers of the superstitious.
The Student Asked:
But then, if the Gods cannot grant prayers, are not different from their Powers, and are not self-aware as we are, why is a distinction made at all? Why do we pray and give our respects to them?
The Master Replied:
It is that awareness of beauty and ugliness that humans have which makes us admire that which is beautiful and shun that which is ugly. For one who has not moved past such duality, he will behave as such.
Some people will look upon beauty and simply acknowledge it, and move on. This is, certainly, fine. Others, however, will go further, and revere that beauty: looking upon it with unmatched awe. From that power of reverence, he will create a God in his mind for that beautiful thing, which will personify all that he himself holds dear. After all, he thinks, if something is truly so beautiful, must it not also be good? This man will look upon ugliness in the reverse way, as well: projecting a self-made demon upon it and subsequently shunning it.
Know, then, that the distinction between the power of nature and the God behind it is a creation of the Mind, and is therefore an aspect of Maya (Illusion.) When we pray to these Gods, and give our respects to them, we truly give our respects to the Mind, and ultimately to Maya. Know that this form of Mine that you see is also, ultimately, Maya.
The Gods are form, which is a product of the Mind. All form is, ultimately, Maya. Therefore, if you wish to obtain the highest of spiritual wisdom, do not worship that form, but when you feel yourself beginning to admire beauty and shun ugliness, silently repeat to yourself this mantra: "Neti, Neti," which means, "Not this, not this." If you already worship that which is beautiful and shun that which is ugly as a demon, then learn of this Maya and wean your way off of it as a baby is weaned off of Mother's Milk through this mantra. Truly, the man who admires beauty and moves on, without paying it respects, is closer to that wisdom than the one who stops to worship beauty. That is my final teaching on this matter.
AUM Shanti Shanti Shantihi
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