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The Fourth and Final part of the Series How to Know God

“By learning, a man cannot know him, if he desist not from evil, if he control not his senses, if he quiet not his mind, and practice not meditation.” (Katha Upanishad 1:2:24)

• Persisting in evil

Evil in all forms must be abandoned if the Self, which is all good, is to be known. This should not be hard to understand, but many deny it anyway, or try to skirt around it. Of them Jesus said: “They have their reward” (Matthew 6:2,5,16)–a false security that is really “the sleep of death.” (Psalms 13:3) But for us who wish to live it is important to determine what is good and what is evil, what is right and what is wrong.

Sanatana Dharma has a concept of right and wrong unique among the world religions. The others teach that something is right or wrong because their God or Prophet has said so in their infallible scriptures. “It is in the Bible,” “It is in the ZendAvesta,” “It is in the Koran,” etc. Although the scriptures of Hindu Dharma do mention things as being good or evil, the basis for the statements are utterly different from that of other religions.

Sanatana Dharma does not look upon a thing as wrong because God or gods have declared it wrong or some lawgiver has prohibited it. And the same in relation to the things that are right. Rather, a thing is good or evil according to its innate character. Many times people tried to get Mata Anandamayi to approve or disapprove of something. But she would simply say: “If it takes you toward the Goal it is good. If it takes you away from the Goal it is evil.”

That which darkens, obscures, or limits our consciousness is bad. That which lights, clears, and expands our consciousness is good. That which helps in the search for God is good; that which hinders or delays it is not.

We all know people who declare that their addictions and illusions either do not hurt them or even are good for them. Very well; they have their reward. But the intelligent do not engage in such childish rationalization. They impartially examine and conclude accordingly. It is all a matter of the individual’s interest and honesty. In other words, it is all in our hands–as are all the aspects of our life if we face up to it. Sanatana Dharma does not list “bads” and “goods” because it assumes that those who wish to pursue dharma can judge for themselves. Though we can certainly determine whether the Vedic scriptures consider something harmful or helpful, we should look upon the list as neither exhaustive or even binding. Sanatana Dharma is Manava Dharma–human dharma. And human beings use their intelligent reason. Sanatana Dharma also leaves every one free to be wise or foolish. Dharma never condemns or praises. It just waits to be fulfilled.

• Lack of sense control

The senses must be controlled, but we usually mistake the way to do so. The upanishads use the simile of horses pulling a chariot, and we mistake that, too, thinking it a symbol of incredible forces to be overcome. But we need not think of it so drastically. Before you control a horse, you tame it. So before we control the senses we “tame” them through purification. Sadhana is the only way. Meditation alone purifies in a lasting manner.

At the same time we purify the senses by directing them Godward. We make the eyes look at sacred symbols or depictions, the ears to hear the words of sacred texts and sacred music, the nose to smell the offered incense, the tongue to taste the offered sweets or food, and the inner sense of touch to feel the exalted atmosphere created by worship and contact with the holy. Pilgrimage is valuable because it is a “total sense” experience of holiness. The good news is that we need not struggle with the senses, but turn them in spiritual directions.

• Restlessness of mind

Restlessness of mind is itself great suffering. Yama says that a quiet mind is indispensable to self-knowledge. Here is what Krishna has to say about it:

“If a yogi has perfect control over his mind, and struggles continually in this way to unite himself with Brahman, he will come at last to the crowning peace of Nirvana, the peace that is in me.” (Bhagavad Gita 6:15)

“When can a man be said to have achieved union with Brahman? When his mind is under perfect control and freed from all desires, so that he becomes absorbed in the Atman, and nothing else. “The light of a lamp does not flicker in a windless place”: that is the simile which describes a yogi of one-pointed mind, who meditates upon the Atman. When, through the practice of yoga, the mind ceases its restless movements, and becomes still, he realizes the Atman. It satisfies him entirely. Then he knows that infinite happiness which can be realized by the purified heart but is beyond the grasp of the senses. He stands firm in this realization. Because of it, he can never again wander from the inmost truth of his being.” (Bhagavad Gita 6:18-21)

Can I say more than that?

• Without meditation

“Without meditation, where is peace? Without peace, where is happiness?” (Bhagavad Gita 2:66)

The sine qua non of self-knowledge is meditation. The Self is ever-present but we do not perceive it because our vision is obscured by the illusion known as Maya. After describing the method of meditation, Krishna says: “If he practices meditation in this manner, his heart will become pure” (Bhagavad Gita 6:12) and the Self will become literally self-evident. In conclusion he remarks: “Make a habit of practicing meditation, and do not let your mind be distracted. In this way you will come finally to the Lord, who is the light-giver, the highest of the high.” (Bhagavad Gita 8:8)

The formula

The Self can be known by those who truly desire to know. And that true desire manifests through desisting from evil, controlling of the senses, quieting (restraining) the mind, and practicing meditation. This is the real Formula For Success.

Related articles:

• Foundations of Yoga
• Introduction to Om Yoga

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Part Three in the series “How to Know God”

In the previous post Yama spoke about what doesn’t work in the search for God. Yama’s words of seeming negation are really quite positive, for he then tells Nachiketa: “But by him who longs for him is he known. Verily unto him does the Self reveal his true being.”

This is a remarkable statement. There are no tools or gimmicks that can mechanically lead us to the vision of the Self. Certainly there are methods that aid in our search–that is what yoga is all about. But it is a mistake to think that a technique can be applied like a crowbar to break open the inner treasury and loot the vault. (And this is the attitude of most “seekers.”) Methods, such as yoga (meditation), worship, and good deeds are necessary to successfully prosecute our quest for God. Their function is twofold: they prepare us–make us capable–for the attainment of self-knowledge, and they are manifestations–evidence, actually–of the genuineness of our aspiration. By engaging in them we live out our intention.

Ma Anandamayi continually assured people that the desire for God was the way to God–everything else were aids or expressions, but it is our own divine self-will that accomplishes our liberation. This is very important to understand.

It is commonly said that all religions are valid, that they all led to the same goal. That is true to some degree, but it leaves out the real fact: it is the seeking that brings about the finding. Frankly, it is the seekers who validate the religions, not the other way around. People finding God in all religions is not a statement about the worth of those religions, but a statement about the worth of those people. Sri Ramakrishna attained God-vision through the various religions he practiced and thereby demonstrated their viability as spiritual paths. But he also revealed that it is the nature of the individual to attain that vision whatever the path that is followed. For without that innate capacity what value would the religions have? The jivatman by its nature can know the Paramatman. As the Psalmist said: “Deep calleth unto deep.” (Psalms 42:7) Like attracts like; it really does take one to know one.

Swami Prabhavananda notes that an alternate translation can be: “Whom the Self chooses, by him is he attained.” In India they have the saying: “He who chooses God has first been chosen by Him.” Jesus told his disciples: “ Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you.” (John 15:16) The very fact that we are seeking God is guarantee of our finding, for it is an indication that He has called us. And He does not call in vain. Nor do we seek in vain. (“Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you.” (Matthew 7:7)) “Verily unto him does the Self reveal his true being.”

Yet there are obstacles to knowing the Self:

“By learning, a man cannot know him, if he desist not from evil, if he control not his senses, if he quiet not his mind, and practice not meditation. (Katha Upanishad 1:2:24)

Learning

Yama lists mere intellectual study, the heaping up of extraneous “knowledge” which by its character is external and superficial as an obstacle–not so much in itself, but by the illusion of knowledge that arises in the self-satisfied mind of the “knower.” Yama’s assertion shows how mistaken it is to translate swadhyaya (self-study) as “study of scriptures” when we encounter it in the Yoga Sutras.

The Kena Upanishad examines this matter, saying: “He by whom Brahman is not known, knows It; he by whom It is known, knows It not. It is not known by those who know It; It is known by those who do not know It.” (Kena Upanishad 2:3) Obviously the word “know” has two meanings here. One is the mere intellection about Brahman, the other is knowledge derived from the direct experience of Brahman, from conscious union with Brahman. There is a knowing that is unknowing and an unknowing that is knowing. That is why Swami Prabhavananda renders the Kena verse: “He truly knows Brahman who knows him as beyond knowledge; he who thinks that he knows, knows not. The ignorant think that Brahman is known, but the wise know him to be beyond knowledge.”

Previously in this series:

• How to Know God
• What Doesn’t Work in the Search for God

Next and last in this series:

• Four Obstacles to Finding God and the Formula for Success

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Part Two in the series “How to Know God”

“The Self is not known through study of the scriptures, nor through subtlety of the intellect, nor through much learning; but by him who longs for him is he known.’ Verily unto him does the Self reveal his true being.”

Not through subtlety of the intellect

We cannot possibly figure out the nature of anything, much less the Self, by mere intellection. This is not the fault of the mind, any more than it is the fault of a blender that you cannot get television programs through it. There is absolutely no faculty which can perceive or reveal the Self. The Self alone knows Itself. As long as we attempt to perceive the Self through any intermediary, just so long shall we be frustrated–or worse, deluded. There is no instrument, however subtle, no capacity of the mind, however refined, that can reveal the Self.

Yet, the purified intellect (buddhi) can intuit the presence of the Self and even some of its traits, and this is good, but this is not Self-knowledge. Many intelligent people with highly developed intellects mistake this intuition for direct experience and knowledge. This is a subtle trap we must avoid diligently. How could we know if we have fallen into the trap rather than risen into the Light? That, actually is easy to determine. If we can talk about what we perceive, and define it, then it is not the Self, but only our approximation. That which lies within the range of speech lies outside the Self. No matter how near we can come to the Self, it is not the same as knowing the Self. For when the Self is revealed, all “knowing” not only ceases, it becomes impossible.

Intelligence should not be confused with intellectuality. Intelligence is a help to the revelation of the Self, but intellectuality is an insurmountable hindrance. That is why Jesus said to God: “Thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent, and hast revealed them unto babes.” (Matthew 11:25) To demonstrate this vividly, “Jesus called a little child unto him, and set him in the midst of them, and said, Verily I say unto you, Except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven.” (Matthew 18:2,3) Think how direct and uncomplicated a child’s mind usually is. Also, they are capable of intensely magical/mystical thought. How unquestioning they accept the idea of the miraculous, including the power of the individual–including themselves–to work marvels. How sad that they ever come to “know better” in a wrong way.

A friend of mine was watching a television program in which a pianist seemed to be floating in the air and even turning over and over. “How do you suppose they do that?” she mused to herself aloud. Instantly her five-year-old said: “Easy! There’s a magician hidden in the piano.” And that is so true: there is a magical being hidden in each one of us known as the Self which can do–and does–all things.

Not through much learning

Vyasa was the greatest sage of post-Vedic India, codifier of the Vedas, commentator on the Yoga Sutras, author of the Mahabharata (which includes the Bhagavad Gita), and the Brahma Sutras (Vedanta Sutras). Vast as his writings were, he summed up everything that was taught by these holy books, saying:

I shall tell you in half a verse what has been written in tens of millions of books:

Brahman is real. The world is unreal. The jiva [individual spirit] is none other than Brahman.

That is it. So when the future Swami Turiyananda told Sri Ramakrishna that he studied Vedanta for several hours a day, the great Master was astonished. Quoting the words of Vyasa, he asked: “How can you spend hours studying something so simple? What more is there to say?” Turiyananda got the idea behind the idea and himself became a knower of the Self.

All the learning in the world is futile in relation to the Self and Brahman, for they lie outside the scope of the intellect. The ear cannot hear color, the eye cannot smell fragrance. No thing can know the Self but the Self.

Then how can the Self be known? Red the next article The Key to Finding God.

Related articles: How to Misuse Your Power of Thought

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The eighth and final installment of this special eight part series, A New Look at the Beatitudes, using The New Testament: An Expanded Translation, by Kenneth Wuest.

“Spiritually prosperous are those who have been persecuted on account of righteousness, because theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”
–Matthew 5:10

Those who embody this beatitude get the same reward as those who manifest the first beatitude. The nature of righteousness has already been considered, so we need only look at what is mean by persecution. The Greek word is dioko, which means to pursue, to “hound,” someone, to put pressure on them. From its root word deilos, it means to attempt instilling fear in someone in order to make them timid. Oddly, it is itself the root word of diakonos–minister or deacon. Persecution, then, is inverted service: oppression.

The blessedness lies not in being maltreated but in the purpose for the maltreatment: the pursuit of righteousness. It is also important to realize that the persecution does not ultimately come from any individuals but from the forces of ignorance in the cosmos and in us. If we deal with the latter, the former will be defused.

Jesus continues this subject, saying: “Spiritually prosperous are you whenever they shall revile you and persecute you and say every pernicious thing against you, speaking deliberate falsehoods on account of me.” (Matthew 5:11) Those who hate the teacher hate the students as well. I know this by personal experience. Often hypocrites pretend to respect the teacher while being openly contemptuous of the disciples. This was very much the case around Anandamayi Ma. “I revere Ma, but have no use for those that live around her,” was a common statement made by Indians and non-Indians alike.

Anyhow, what is in store for those who would become righteous?

1. Oneidizo–being slandered, railed at, chided, taunted, reproached, reviled, and upbraided. All this, and more you can be sure. Mockery and defamation are hard gifts to accept but they are showered us those that seek the kingdom. “Oh! I’ve heard of you…,” and the recitation begins.
2. Dioko–already covered, but no less bitter in the receiving.
3. Eiposi pan poniron rema kath’ umon–all manner of evil-speaking directed against you. The sky–and hell–is the limit.

How should we react? With sweet but wan acquiescence and pardon? Not a bit of it! “Be rejoicing and exult exceedingly, because your reward is great in heaven. For in this manner they persecuted the prophets who were before you.” (Matthew 5:12) There it is, as plain as need be. Ignore the braying and the barking and the howling and rejoice in your spirit. Saint Luke uses the words chairo and agalliao. Chairo means to be cheerful in the sense of being calmly happy and content. It implies a kind of impersonal satisfaction. It does meant to rejoice and be happy, but in a very peaceful way. Agalliao, on the other hand means to jump for joy and exult, to rejoice greatly. We should rejoice both outwardly and in the peace of our inner being.

That which usually produces resentment, anger, or pain should be the cause of our great rejoicing. Why? “Because your reward is great in heaven”–not a mythological heaven little better than earth, but the true heaven, the boundless expanse of the Spirit. When we have our sights set on infinity, why would we do anything but rejoice, whatever comes.

We should note that our reward is because of righteousness, not because of the maltreatment and slander of the wicked and the foolish–they do the same to those who are not blessed.

In good company

“For in this manner they persecuted the prophets who were before you.” Jesus really honors us by putting us in the company of the prophets, and the persecutors likewise honor us by holding the same opinion of us.

Do we know of a single holy person that was not persecuted and slandered–and worse? Many have been tortured and killed for the sake of righteousness. But so what: “Fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul.” (Matthew 10:28)

All those who go against the current of the world are reacted to in a negative, even a hateful and destructive way, and this is one of the signs that they are going in the right direction. Let us be going!

Previous posts in this series:
• What Did Jesus Really Say in the Sermon on the Mount?
• The Kingdom of Heaven According to Jesus
• What Jesus Really Means by Meekness
• When Craving is a Good Thing
• Mercy and the Law of Karma
• Clean to the Core of Our Being
• The Spiritual Process of Making Peace

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Part 7 of a special eight part series, A New Look at the Beatitudes, using The New Testament: An Expanded Translation, by Kenneth Wuest.

“Spiritually prosperous are those who make peace, because they themselves shall be called sons of God.”
–Matthew 5:9

This beatitude has nothing to do with people who plead for peace, demonstrate or peace, protest for peace, or in some other way bully for peace. It is about making peace, actually creating peace rather than making a cause out of it. This requires a level of spiritual development that must first be obtained by each individual. So the first step in peacemaking is personal spiritual development.

The Greek word is eirenopoios, which is made up of two words: eirene and poieo.

Poieo means both making and doing, and also means to abide. Peacemakers, then, create, act out, and live in peace. A peacemaker “commits peace” just as others “make war.” Peace can be actively practiced. Poieo not only means to cause something, it means to perpetuate (preserve) it. Only in the spiritual realm can there be real “peacekeepers.” So peacemaking is a continual process. It also means to provide something, implying that peacemakers know how to share peace. In my experience this is an essential mark of a saint.

Eirene, the word translated “peace,” means peace, quietness (tranquility), and rest. It occurs ninety-two times in the New Testament, so it is an important subject indeed. It comes from the root word eiro, “to join,” and so has the same connotations as yoga. It also means oneness–unity–and the restoration of unity.

An example

From all this it has to be evident that peacemaking is an exclusively spiritual matter, even though it naturally will have external manifestations in the world around us. I had a bit of experience of this when I returned from my first trip to India. For quite some time I lived in a small room in a slightly rundown part of Los Angeles. This was no problem for me as a monk, but what was not so positive was the nature of the people in the house my room faced. Although a minister’s family, throughout the day they argued with one another and yelled at their little brother whose constant running around could somehow be heard in “my” house as though he was romping in there. On occasion they engaged in what they thought was singing–usually “pop” songs of the most annoying type.

Late one afternoon after some hours of meditation, I was sitting by the open window looking at a small statue of the Virgin Mary in my room. The “dynamic duo” were washing dishes across the way and burst into raucous strains of something awful. Ignoring the din, I mentally began reciting the Hail Mary. Instantly the caterwauling stopped and the two began sweetly singing Ave Maria. This was no coincidence, I was sure. This was confirmed by the fact that after I had been there a little less than a month the arguing and yelling stopped completely. Whenever I heard the little boy spoken to it was always with kindness, and he stopping bouncing off the walls. At least five people were sharers in my peace. Later I had the same kind of experience when working with a few dozen of the nastiest, most hostile people I ever dealt with. It only took a few weeks before peace reigned and the people were quiet and gentle to one another in place of the shouting, cursing, and name-calling that had prevailed when I first came there.

Sons of God

Peace is born in Silence, born in the hearts of those who enter and abide in the peace of meditation. They, too, are “born” and “shall be called sons of God.”

The word kaleo does not mean “called” in the sense of being declared or named something. Rather, it means to be bidden, to hear themselves being called for. “As many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God.” (John 1:12) So the peacemakers shall be called to become the sons of God. Kaleo also means to be called in the sense of being urged on or incited to something. Peacemakers do not sit around feeling tranquil; they are stirred to move ever onward toward the divine Goal. It also means to hail someone with their name or title. So the peacemakers shall, like Jesus, hear the words: “This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.” (Matthew 3:17; 17:5)

Sons are of the same species as their father and mother. Even more, physically they are of the very substance of their parents. To be sons of God is to be essentially the same as God our Father, to have that status revealed to us and manifested by us to the world.

Next: Part 8 and the last post of A New Look at the Beatitudes – Blessed Persecution: A Cause for Rejoicing.

Previous posts in this series:
• What Did Jesus Really Say in the Sermon on the Mount?
• The Kingdom of Heaven According to Jesus
• What Jesus Really Means by Meekness
• When Craving is a Good Thing
• Mercy and the Law of Karma
• Clean to the Core of Our Being

Keep up to date with the latest posts. Subscribe to the Atma Jyoti Blog

Part 6 of a special eight part series, A New Look at the Beatitudes, using The New Testament: An Expanded Translation, by Kenneth Wuest.

“Spiritually prosperous are those who are pure in the sphere of the heart, because they themselves shall see God.”

The vision of God

In our relative experience, seeing something is not much in the way of comprehension, partly because there is much more to an object than outward appearance, and also because of the limitation and conditionings of our faculty of seeing. Also, the ordinary seeing of an object has no lasting effect on us since the seeing brings about no touching or linking of us with the thing seen. But God essentially is not an object but a subject–just as are we in our true nature. Therefore the “seeing” of God is the joining of the two subjects in a union of consciousness. This is a profound condition, the goal of all Yoga, for if it is persisted in, the merging of the two becomes inevitable. So a promise of the vision of God is a promise of union with God. Knowing what is requisite for that vision is then of prime concern to the intelligent seeker: purity in the sphere of the heart.

Kardia means not just the physical organ that circulates the blood, but embraces the ideas of thoughts, feelings, and mind. It means the core, the center of our being–our spirit–and thus the source of life itself. So Jesus is speaking of the essence of our being as well as its adjuncts of body and mind and their activities internal and external.

The Greek word katharos (from which we get catharsis) is very rich in meaning, and therefore very instructive for us. It appears twenty-eight times in the New Testament. It has many meanings:

1. Clean in the sense of having been made free from all impurities and implies a vigorous and thorough expulsion of all impurity.
2. Purged–as above.
3. Clear in the sense of having nothing obscuring it.
4. Transparent–as above.
5. Unmixed with any other thing whatsoever–absolute singleness of constitution as in chemical purity. This is an ideal symbol for perfect unity of consciousness.
6. Without defect–both without any flaw and also without any lack, complete in all ways.
7. Spotless, without any alien marking, and without any marking at all as that would disrupt its purity in the sense of perfect unity.

By using this word (The Hebrew word tahowr, which was no doubt used by Jesus, conveys the identical meanings. So we lose little in the translation from Hebrew/Aramaic to Greek except in those cases where the text has been deliberately falsified. But that is not a subject to cover here.) Saint Luke is conveying the idea that we must be clean, clear, undivided, and complete in our consciousness from all conditionings or limitations whatsoever. This is no small thing! And it cannot be accomplished without meditation as a major component of our life.

When this is accomplished we shall see–shall know–both ourselves and God. The Greek term optanamai means to see with wide-open eyes without obscurity, impediment, or interruption. Interestingly, it also means to be seen, anticipating the words of Saint Paul: “For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known.” (I Corinthians 13:12) It also means to experience that which is seen. So the vision of God is the experience of divinity Itself and of assimilation to That.

A final meaning in this beatitude is conveyed by the word autos, which Wuest accurately renders themselves, the idea being that the pure in heart see God directly without any intermediary, and certainly see God for themselves, there being no need for another person to do it for them. This is most important, for it strips away the fraudulent mask of most religion. Despite the lip-service to the nature of the self (atma) and the capacity of human being for enlightenment, even in India we hear nonsense about gods or avatars or gurus “doing it for you” either altogether or in some degree. What a clever out for the ego clinging to its idols and toys of ignorance. “I need do nothing–or little–for it has been done for me by the mercy and grace of….” What degrading foolishness. If we do not “do it” it will not be done. Knowing this is the real grace and mercy of God and the saints.

Next: Part 7 of A New Look at the Beatitudes – The Spiritual Process of Making Peace.

Previous posts in this series:
• What Did Jesus Really Say in the Sermon on the Mount?
• The Kingdom of Heaven According to Jesus
• What Jesus Really Means by Meekness
• When Craving is a Good Thing
• Mercy and the Law of Karma

Keep up to date with the latest posts. Subscribe to the Atma Jyoti Blog.