On the other hand, Advaita Vedanta seems to advocate that all will essentially merge with Brahman, regardless of the path. Could you help explain your views on all this? I am feeling somewhat lost in the big city that Hinduism can be.

You are right, Hinduism is “the big city,” but that is because it is all-embracing. Every possible truth and view of that truth was long ago set forth by the sages of India. However in contemporary India we can find a lot of errant nonsense, for some parts of the big city have become slums and others are really outside the city limits even if they appear to be inside.

The truth as set forth in the upanishads and the Bhagavad Gita is the same: the goal of the individual is to unite with Brahman the Absolute. Then, like Brahman they can do/be whatever they like. Just as Brahman is both with and without qualities and both with and without form, so they can be. To say that one is superior or more ultimate than the other is to miss the point: Brahman is beyond such distinctions, for Brahman is absolutely ONE. In fact, Brahman transcends anything that can be said about It. The wise seek the Goal and leave the talk to others. As they say in the American South: “The empty wagon rattles the most.”

The upanishads and Gita affirm the eternal, divine nature of the atman-self. It, too, is part of Brahman. This perspective is essential to right understanding of any philosophical point.

You mention both the personal, and impersonal aspects of God in an article. You say that since Brahman can manifest as the transient universe, then obviously he can manifest as a deity (according to the particular devotee) as well. I certainly agree with you. My only thing is, the existence of the personal god in that way seems dependent upon an individual to perceive and need such a thing.

Again, remember that Brahman and the jiva are really one and inseparable and in a sense interdependent. Consequently as the jiva moves toward the Goal, whatever it needs will come to it or arise in its consciousness.

Are paths like bhakti and the impersonal advaitic path of yoga and meditation, equal? Do they all lead to the same thing?

Certainly, because there is only the One to realize. The Bhagavad Gita affirms this unequivocally.

Are a personal god and the impersonal brahman on the same level, or is one more ultimate than the other?

There is only The One. Our distinctions rise from our limited, unenlightened consciousness.

“Therefore, become a yogi” (Bhagavad Gita 6:46).

More Hidden Gems:

• A Practical Approach to Solving Meditation Problems
• Escaping the Forest of Delusion
• Why Jesus Was Tempted by the Devil: the Cosmic Struggle

[Note: We have been working with our email service, Benchmark, on the problem where the day after a blog post goes out, an empty email is sent. Hopefully this issue is a thing of the past. Thanks for your patience.]

The following is a commentary on the words of Jesus from the 22nd chapter of the Aquarian Gospel, when Jesus as a boy first went to India.

“In all the world there are two things; the one is truth; the other falsehood is; and truth is that which is, and falsehood that which seems to be.”

Books upon books have been written on this subject. Life is like a motion picture. When the light shines on the screen we see colors, forms, and motion. People are born, live, and die right before our gaze. But they do not. Everything we see is only a modification of the single beam of light coming from the projector. But it passes through the film and overlays the screen as all we behold. When the movie is over the light is turned off and only the blank screen remains–unchanged. So God is the reality that underlies all illusion projected by our mind onto the screen of our awareness or by the cosmic will of God upon Himself. God is the great Magician, the great Illusionist–and we are little apprentices in magic and illusion.

No one denounces motion pictures as lies, false though they be. Why? Because they are not meant to deceive anyone. Everyone in the theater knows that only the screen is there. We, too, know this deep within, but we have blocked it out of our consciousness for time out of mind. The illusion is not evil–it is just illusion. And it has a purpose. Life is an educational training film if we will observe it and learn as we should. All about us is a mere appearance, but an appearance with an intelligent purpose which we must learn and benefit from. Becoming able to see through the illusion to the reality behind it is one of its major purposes.

Truth

“Now truth is aught, and has no cause, and yet it is the cause of everything.”

Usually we think of “aught” as meaning “anything” in an intentionally vague sense. But it also means one. When I was a child, older people sometimes spoke of the year 1917 as “nineteen aught and seven.” So Jesus is saying that God is the One that is the Cause of the Many (everything). Yet, God has no cause whatsoever, but is Self-existent. If we look to the depths of anything we will discover God as its source. Even evil? Yes, for evil is not an entity in itself but a state of the distortion of good. All things do originate in God and return to God whether that is readily perceptible or not.

Falsehood

“Falsehood is naught, and yet it is the manifest of aught.”

This affirms what I have just written, but is even broader. All that (at least in appearance) is not God is Zero. That is, it has no self-existence, but is only a modification of That Which Is. Why does Jesus call it falsehood? Because we see it falsely. If we “see true” we will see the True. Jesus is telling us that the world is real and true because it emanates from God; but our interpretation is false, so to us it is Falsehood. But only in our own minds. If we see with the Divine Eye it will be seen as a revelation of Truth. So we should not reflexively turn away or push away anything, but try to see its true nature. Then we may turn or push away, but with a right understanding. The Bhagavad Gita sums it up rightly: we should see all things in God and God in all things.

• Read the section of the Aquarian Gospel from which these verses are taken.
• Read more in the full Commentary on these verses of the Aquarian Gospel.

“And when the pleasure seekers urged that Jesus join them in their mirth, he said, How could I seek for pleasure for myself while others are in want? How can you think that while the children cry for bread, while those in haunts of sin call out for sympathy and love that I can fill myself to full with the good things of life?” (Aquarian Gospel 51:15, 16). (Find out more about the Aquarian Gospel.)

When my friend the Raja of Chandod went to visit Gandhi, the Mahatma challenged him as to what he was doing for the welfare of the people in his kingdom. He replied he was doing nothing and did not care about the suffering of the people. Gandhiji saw into the Raja’s nature and saw what even the young man did not realize was there. “That is not so,” he told him. “Here is a test: Have a sumptuous meal made for yourself and put in your automobile. Then have yourself driven to one of the villages in your domain at noon time. Go right into the midst of the village and have a table set there with the food, and then you eat it with the hungry people watching. If you can do that, you really do not care.”

“I will–it will be easy,” said the Raja. So he followed Gandhi’s instructions. “But,” he told me, “when I started to take the first bite I looked at the faces around me and my heart was shattered. I could not eat. I asked the people’s forgiveness and went home and began planning how to alleviate their suffering. Ever since then, that has been my purpose in life.”

I wish I had pictures of my walk around the town of Chandod with him to share with you. How the people loved him! They came around and spoke to him with the love of children for a loving father. He listened to all they had to say and advised them about their problems. When I went to the little bank a few days later, the workers there told me of all the things the Raja had done for them over the years, raising the level of the life of everyone living there. He had even given part of his home to house a free school for village children. He lived in utter simplicity himself, not much different from those he cared for.

I saw for myself the ideals of Jesus being lived by him–and by others I met in India. No wonder Jesus loved that land.

Further Reading:

• The Yogi as the Light in the World
• The Symbolism of the Resurrection
• Churchianity or Truth?

Also, read The Aquarian Gospel, and Swami Nirmalananda’s Commentary on the Aquarian Gospel.

Q: I was able to visit the cave of Jesus near Vashishtha Guha with friends twice in the past 6 months! It is a powerful and vibrant cave. No one was near when we engaged ourselves in meditation. I thank you again and again. Would you please tell me of some more places in India visited by Jesus and directions to visit there?

There are two places in the holy city of Kankhal which we usually do not speak about as most people would think we were being overimaginative, but we will relate them to you.

The first is the Ganga channel that you cross from Hardwar to Kankhal. You reach this by turning to the right (east) at the Mrityunjaya fountain as you are entering the main part of Hardwar. Now this is the strange part. Go to stand in the mid-part of the bridge and you may feel a very definite spiritual atmosphere. The canal was made less than 20 years after independence. Apparently Jesus stayed and meditated here when it was solid land.

To reach the second place, just keep on going east across the bridge into Kankhal. As you proceed, you will come to several old ashrams on your right hand (south). After a bit you will come to a large area enclosed by iron fencing in the middle of which there is a small but ornate Shiva temple of carved stone (really a roof on supports rather than an enclosed building). Meditate here and you may feel the presence of Jesus.

When we go to Hardwar we always visit these two places. We make flower offerings into the Ganga from the bridge.

Two other places where Jesus lived are Varanasi and Jagannath Puri. We have no idea where he lived in Varanasi, but in Puri he lived in the Govardhan Math of Sri Shankaracharya–so said Jagadguru Bharat Krishna Tirtha, the former Shankaracharya. He claimed there were records of Jesus having lived there, but his research was thrown out by a servant while he was visiting America (!), and he did not live long enough to rewrite it.

It is also said that somewhere in Puri there is a small shrine containing nothing but a plain wooden cross, and that every day for many centuries a Brahmin does some kind of worship there. Unfortunately this is all we know.

We hope this will be helpful for you and that you will report to us about any investigations you may make of these places.

Further Reading:

• The Christ of India
• The Cave Where Jesus Stayed

“Two blind people wanted to drink water at the RagiGudda temple, Bangalore. When they were unable to operate the tap, this mother monkey opened the tap for them, allowed them to drink water, drank some water herself and then closed the tap before leaving the scene.”