“Now when Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judaea in the days of Herod the king, behold, there came wise men from the east to Jerusalem, saying, Where is he that is born King of the Jews? for we have seen his star in the east, and are come to worship him” (Matthew 2:1,2).
The wise men came, not from Persia as is mistakenly thought, but from India, and they represent the wisdom of India, the place where the sun of divine illumination first shone out from within the liberated sons of God, and it is from there that all spiritual knowledge arose and spread throughout the world.
Wherever the light of spiritual consciousness–and even civilization–is found, its roots are in India. Pythagoras, Apollonius of Tyana, and Jesus were all messengers of the Light of India to what was then the Western world. Apollonius and Jesus became martyrs of that Light, and Pythagoras was greatly persecuted, as well, having to live on a island to escape being killed. Mahendranath Gupta, the author of The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, said that undoubtedly there are good people in all countries of the world, but they have their faces turned toward India–for India draws the awakening soul.
When the Christ is born, wisdom arises from the depths of the spirit to reveal and manifest that Christ, “the dayspring from on high [which] hath visited us” (Luke 1:78). In other versions the word used is Orient rather than dayspring. “The east” symbolizes the “east” of the spirit as opposed to the “west” of the outer layers in which our spirit is covered, and also the intuitional right brain as opposed to the “thinking” left brain. The inner light shines upon us from the core of our being and is interpreted to us through our intuition. It is those that dwell in the “east” of spirit-consciousness that seek and find the Christ.
This being so, we must consciously cultivate the “eastern” awareness through meditation. Actually, being right-brained and spiritually oriented is what being “oriental” means. It is not geographic. After all, to the Japanese and Chinese the United States is the East. For them Paris would be the Far East. So to be Eastern is to be intuitional and spiritual. To be Western is to be just the opposite. It is a matter of the polarization of consciousness. We must all become “oriental” in the spiritual sense, for the sun only rises from the east, never from the west.
It is true that all human beings have the Christ (or Buddha) Nature, but only the “eastern” wisdom of the spirit can perceive it. Even though it is equally present to the “western” part of us, it still remains in darkness, turned away from the inner “sun-rising.” Herod and his cohorts never found Jesus. They could not: it was antithetical to their nature which was to kill the Christ, not to worship Him. In the same way, our Herod ego and his henchmen, our mind, emotions, body, and all that is “outer,” have only one capability: the destruction of Christ Consciousness. They are all the enemies of Christ, “many antichrists” of whom Saint John the Apostle wrote (I John 2:18). As wise men of the east we must outwit them as did those first wise men from the east.
Inner to outer
The journeying of the wise men from the east to the west has a profound significance: There must be a transfer of the inner spiritual consciousness into the outer part of our being and life. The west must become the east in a unification of consciousness. Until then we are spiritual schizophrenics, “a house divided against itself [that] shall not stand” (Matthew 12:25).
Meditation is the only way this transformation can take place. And when it does take place there will be a great change in us. Meditation that only produces pleasant or egoically-satisfying experiences but has no effect on our outer, ordinary life is false and should be discarded. When sugar is dissolved in water all the water tastes sweet; likewise, Right Meditation causes the perception and manifestation of spirit to be present in every atom of our life.
Even the Bible says that we are judged by our works, not by our intentions–not by what we think about it, but by what we do about it. Why? Because what is done is the real manifestation of what is going on inside. The thirty-fourth Ode of Solomon express it this way: “The likeness of that which is below is that which is above. For everything is above, and below there is nothing, but it is believed to be by those in whom there is no knowledge.” That which is going on outside is first going on inside, for the inner is the exclusive source of the outer.
This is indicated by Jesus when He says: “The Son can do nothing of himself, but what he seeth the Father do: for what things soever he doeth, these also doeth the Son likewise” (John 5:19). That is, only what “takes place” in the transcendent Godhead can take place in the immanent Godhead and be manifested through the creation. The Ode goes even further and says that things only occur “above,” and that “below” is only a reflection. So in certain instances we can judge a book by its cover. Since this is the truth, we can see that meditation is only viable when it has an external effect. Furthermore, the character and duration of that effect will reveal whether the meditation is worthwhile or not.
No delays
“We have seen his star in the east, and are come to worship him.”
As soon as the star rose, they started on the journey. It is popularly thought that spiritual consciousness can arise in us and we can muddle around for years before acting on it. But that is very chancey; in fact it is almost a guarantee of failure.
The people who are going to attain in spiritual life are those who, the moment they learn about the path to God say: “That is for me,” and start moving. Whatever form it may take, they make a beginning and keep it up. They do not make excuses, telling themselves that later on they will start. Of course, all will start one day–that is their destiny–but it may be in another lifetime, for the cycles of spiritual growth do not last forever in the life of the individual. It is like the tides of the ocean. Jesus gave this parable about excuse-makers:
“A certain man made a great supper, and bade many: and sent his servant at supper time to say to them that were bidden, Come; for all things are now ready. And they all with one consent began to make excuse. The first said unto him, I have bought a piece of ground, and I must needs go and see it: I pray thee have me excused. And another said, I have bought five yoke of oxen, and I go to prove them: I pray thee have me excused. And another said, I have married a wife, and therefore I cannot come. So that servant came, and shewed his lord these things.…And the lord said unto the servant,…none of those men which were bidden shall taste of my supper” (Luke 14:16-21,23,24).
No, they were not eternally damned, but they had wasted an entire incarnation and set up the habit of putting off spiritual life–a habit that can persist for many lifetimes, making it very hard to break out of the pattern of neglect. For make no mistake: spiritual life and spiritual practice are the same thing.
Three areas of excuse are shown in this parable:
- The addiction and distraction of material possession (“I have bought a piece of ground, and I must needs go and see it…”).
- The addiction and distraction of the body and the five senses (“I have bought five yoke of oxen, and I go to prove them…”).
- The addiction and distraction of “personal relationships” (“I have married a wife, and therefore I cannot come…”).
Which ones do we use? They are the seal of death upon us, the stone of the tomb, that must be broken and taken away if Christ is to be revealed in us resurrected. Until then we do not merit being taken seriously in regard to spiritual life.
The wise ones, the moment the inner star rises, start the journey; and persevere.
Intuitional guidance
There is something more about the wise men coming the east. This shows that when we begin to dwell within in as a result of much turning within through meditation, the wisdom of the spirit will arise in us in the form of intuitional insights. We will begin to be guided from within rather than from without. Now this scares all phony religionists, whatever their label, and they begin doing a song-and-dance routine about how important it is to “follow authority” or “have a teacher” lest the seeker be “led astray” or “fall into delusion.”
First of all, we are already led astray and fallen into delusion–mostly as a result of following such religious authorities and teachers in previous lives. If meditation does not enable us to know the way for ourselves, what is it’s value? “If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed” ( John 8:36). “For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God” (Romans 8:14).
A great spiritual renaissance took place in Thailand during the twentieth century, stemming from the Thai Buddhist Master, Acharya Mun, who restored the “forest monk” tradition which was centered on the practice of meditation. The following conversation, taken from The Venerable Phra Acharn Mun Buridatta Thera, Meditation Master by The Venerable Prha Acharn Maha Boowa Nyanasampanno, took place between Acharya Mun and a Buddhist monk-scholar.
“The Elder: You have always preferred the solitude of the wilds. What do you do when questions or doubts arise? I am here in Bangkok surrounded by the Scripture and scholars and yet there are times when I am at my wit’s end. You are known to be alone most of the time, with no access to Scripture or to scholars. What do you do for help when doubts, questions or obstacles arise?
“The Venerable Acharya: May it please your eminence. I have been studying and listening to the dharma throughout my waking hours, day and night. Never during my waking hours has the mind been disassociated from dharma, by which all doubts have been cleared up and all problems dealt with, one after another. In such a way are the defilements counteracted, fought against and eradicated. It is in the mind that all problems, obstacles and defilements occur, be they external or internal, crude or subtle, far or near, great or small. It is also in the mind that all these things are conquered. There is no need to worry about turning to anyone for help when such difficulties occur. From my experience, there is no better weapon with which to fight against defilements and to solve problems, and this is also in complete accordance with the Buddha’s saying: Atta hi attano natho–one is the master of oneself–the truth of which has been all this time evident to me. It is the dharma or well-developed mindfulness-and-wisdom which always comes to my rescue, always functioning promptly and effectively.
‘In some cases it took an unusually long time before some hurdles could be crossed, but in the end it was never beyond the power of mindfulness-and-wisdom which had to be developed specially for such particular occasions. This is why I always prefer the seclusion of the wilds, where I can come to grips with all problems through self-help.…Often an aspirant feels he is groping in the dark and is always wasting time due to trial and error. It is through steadfastness of aim and dedicated effort that I have achieved what I have, crossing one hurdle after another.”
Commenting on this conversation, at which he was present, the Venerable Maha Boowa says:
“The Elder appeared to be greatly interested and impressed in the Venerable Acharya’s explanation, giving his whole-hearted appreciation that the Venerable Acharya was indeed a competent bhikkhu [monk] able to help himself in the seclusion of the wilds. He agreed with the Venerable Acharya that the dharma recorded in the Scripture and the dharma taking place in the mind were on far different levels. Even the dharma as recorded in the Scripture cannot be as absolutely reliable now as it had been in the early centuries after the Buddha’s complete passing away. With the passage of time there were bound to be deficiencies due to the defilements of the later compilers of the texts. Such being the case, the dharma in the Scriptures and the dharma in the mind are sure to be on different levels.”
Saint Paul expressed the same inner confidence, saying: “Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think any thing as of ourselves; but our sufficiency is of God; Who also hath made us able ministers of the new testament; not of the letter, but of the spirit: for the letter killeth, but the spirit giveth life” ( II Corinthians 3:5,6).
This does not mean that we should ignore scriptures, spiritual writings, and spiritual teachers. It is only wise to learn from them and keep their precepts in mind. But none of these are legitimate if they try to bind us into dependence on them–particularly through fear.
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