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In
the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word
was God. (John 1:1)
Before
creation, spirit existed when nothing else existed. When the spirit
projected vibratory creation out of itself, it became three —
God the Father or cosmic consciousness existing beyond vibratory
creation; the cosmic vibration of the Holy Spirit; and the Christ
intelligence or ‘only begotten son' working through the Holy
Spirit as God within vibratory creation.
We’ve previously defined the Holy Spirit as ‘the word
or intelligent vibration — intelligent energy going forth
from God. Any utterance of a word, such as ‘flower’
expressed by an intelligent being, consists of sound energy or vibration,
plus thought, which gives that vibration intelligent meaning. The
Holy Spirit combined with the Christ Consciousness (God within creation)
is what is causing that energy to vibrate into the form of light
wave energy and other unseen wave energy, gases, liquids and solids;
all of which is intelligently ordered and structured into the physical
universe.
But now we will
elaborate on this further with the use of scripture, often drawing
from the little understood Book of Revelation.
The word of
God (logos in the original Greek, meaning word or sound) is identified
in the book of Revelation as ‘Amen’.
‘These things saith the Amen, the faithful
and true witness, the beginning of the creation of God.’ (Revelation
3:14)
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all ordered creation, consciousness and sound accompany all
vibratory creation, just as the running of a motor is accompanied
by a droning, humming sound. The intelligently working cosmic
motor, planets, atoms, electrons — everything emanates
the cosmic roar named as ‘Amen’. In other words
it is the projected power of supreme consciousness (God) in
which time, space, cosmic forces compose the primordial nature
— from which causative forces are projected to produce
a universe. This sound is what our brothers and sisters in Eastern
religions call the mighty ‘Aum’ sound (pronounced
‘Om’), which can be heard in deep meditation. In
those traditions Aum is said to be the pure sound to be listened
to and contemplated for the purpose of removing attention from
external conditions (mortal body / ego consciousness) to awakening
to self-knowing (immortal soul consciousness). |
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Here is St John’s
experience of listening to the great Aum or Amen:
‘I
was in spirit on the Lord's day and heard behind me a great voice,
as of a trumpet. Saying I am Alpha and Omega, the first and the
last.’ (Revelation 1:10 -11)
‘In
the spirit’ means within St John’s consciousness. St
John was approaching the spirit — leaving the realm of matter
that is the body and material senses. He described vividly the experiences
which he had as he entered the infinite. He perceived his soul behind
the ego (described as me) and the material consciousness and sub-consciousness
and through the finer perception of the soul he heard the cosmic
sound manifesting itself as a trumpet sound, emanating from all
vibratory creation. The trumpet was saying, ‘I am the alpha
and the omega’. Can trumpets speak? Not literally, but the
spirit can signify a meaning through vibratory sounds. It is seldom
God’s way to speak audible words to a devotee; rather he vibrates
his response to the devotee’s intuition either as visions
or instant knowledge through the Aum sound. (See John 16:13)
Intuition is the all knowing faculty of the soul, which enables
one to experience direct perception of truth without the intermediary
of the senses. St Thomas of Aquinas gives an account of visions
which are not perceived through the senses but by immediate conception
through the intellect in Summa Theologiae.
Whenever we hear the cosmic trumpet sound we are
hearing the creative, preservative and destructive vibration. This
vision and conscious experience of cosmic sound urged St John to
transmit his knowledge to the world.
Reverence to the instruction of the sacred Aum sound is what Jesus
also referred to when he said, ‘…they have
kept thy word,’ (John 17:6) he meant that devotees
by tuning in with Cosmic Vibration succeeded in feeling and following
the guiding wisdom of God transmitted through the vibration of the
Holy Spirit.
Now we will focus more on Jesus’s explanation of the Holy
Spirit and his promise to send the Holy Spirit to his disciples
and how both he and the Father could be contacted and known through
the Holy Spirit.
Thomas
saith unto him, 'Lord, we know not whither thou goest; and how can
we know the way'?
Jesus saith unto him, 'I am the way, the truth, and the life: no
man cometh unto the Father, but by me.'
' If ye had known me, ye should have known my Father also: and from
henceforth ye know him, and have seen him.’ (John 14:5-7)
No person can attain the unqualified Absolute, the transcendent
Father beyond creation, until they have first manifested the ‘son’
or activating Christ consciousness within creation. Jesus, who had
achieved entire oneness with that Christ consciousness, identified
himself with it in as much as his own ego had long since been dissolved.
The Christ consciousness present within Jesus and in all vibratory
creation and phenomena is the ‘truth’, the primary substance
and essence of life of everything in creation. No human being who
is part of vibratory creation can take his or her consciousness
to Cosmic consciousness, ‘the Father’ — which
lies beyond vibratory creation and the immanent Christ consciousness
— without first experiencing the Christ-imbued cosmic vibration,
or Holy Spirit, that manifests vibratory creation, then passing
through the God-reflection of Christ Consciousness. In other words,
to ‘come unto the Father’ every human consciousness
has to expand and attain realization of the cosmic vibration first,
then know the Christ Consciousness, in order to reach Cosmic Consciousness.
Jesus went on to say that everyone who had ‘known’ him
(contacted the Christ consciousness within him) should realise that
they had also automatically contacted the Cosmic Consciousness (the
Father) for the cosmic consciousness and its only begotten reflection
omnipresent in creation — the Christ Consciousness —
are one.
Here Jesus explains his inner self as spirit. He never emphasized
his body, always the omnipresent spirit within the body. When Jesus
said that ‘Ye know him and have seen him,’ he never
meant that the thousands of people who saw the body of Jesus realized
that here was a manifestation of Christ consciousness, and therefore
of the Father. Only those advanced disciples who attuned themselves
with Christ consciousness by deep mediation could realise the presence
of the Father as one with the Christ consciousness manifested in
the incarnate form of Jesus.
‘
If ye love me, keep my commandments. And I will pray the Father,
and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with
you for ever; even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive,
because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him: but ye know him;
for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you. I will not leave
you comfortless: I will come to you.’
' Yet a little while, and the world seeth me no more; but ye see
me: because I live, ye shall live also.
' At that day ye shall know that I am in my Father, and ye in me,
and I in you.
' He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that
loveth me: and he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father, and
I will love him, and will manifest myself to him.’ (John
14:15-21)
Today
the same advice applies that Jesus gave to his immediate disciples.
If a devotee loves him (that is, loves the contact with the Christ
Consciousness in him) then they must faithfully follow the commandments
— the laws of bodily and mental discipline and meditation
— which are required to manifest the Christ consciousness
in the individual’s consciousness.
Then Jesus said
that if their love was actively expressed in the ardour of spiritual
endeavour, he would pray and intercede, for his disciples, and all
truth-seekers, that by their deep meditation they might contact
another comforter of human sorrows — the Holy Spirit or cosmic
vibration which exists in every human soul forever and forever.
The ‘Spirit of truth’ is the Cosmic Consciousness manifesting
itself as the Holy Spirit imbued with its reflection of Christ Consciousness.
Cosmic consciousness is an oceanic presence that cannot be received
in the small cup of worldly human consciousness. But when the devotee
hears within themselves in deep meditation the cosmic sound of the
Holy Spirit vibration and then merges their consciousness in that
vibration, they experience an expanding consciousness and awareness
that this sound is the repository of truth expressing the presence
of the infinite. The devotee at first has moments of intuitive perceptions
of Cosmic Consciousness dwelling within their soul, and in time
learns to be aware of it constantly.
Finally, Jesus told his advanced disciples that although his body
would soon be gone, he would leave them the art of contacting the
great comforting bliss present in cosmic vibration and through that
contact, the Christ Consciousness would be revealed to them a second
time.
| Jesus
then declared that any truth-seeker who is in tune with his
commandments of self-discipline, and practices them in every
aspect of their life, will eventually be able to contact and
devotedly love the Christ Consciousness that was present in
Jesus (and within everyone). Any devotee who loves the Christ
Consciousness receives the love in that consciousness and also
the love present in the Cosmic Consciousness, manifesting itself
to them through their divinely attuned consciousness. |
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The advanced
devotee who by meditation attains the state of Christ Consciousness
and holds onto it with increasing fervour of divine love will thereby
gradually feel the state of Cosmic Consciouness. This is the meaning
of Jesus’s words, ‘we will come and make our abode in
him.’ (John 14:23) Such a devotee can experience
Christ Consciousness in all creation and Cosmic Consciousness beyond
all creation. His or her consciousness becomes an omnipresent altar
where both reign — and both ‘make their abode’
in him or her. Just as a person can have both great wisdom and devotion
for God, so the advanced devotee is endowed with differing exalted
states of consciousness. They feel the Holy Spirit as great bliss,
Christ Intelligence as great wisdom and Cosmic Consciousness as
the essence of bliss, love, wisdom and everything that is in the
cosmos and in infinity. The ordinary man or woman is guided by their
book knowledge, worldly experience and habits acquired from the
past, but the advanced devotee is guided by the omniscient intelligences
of God, Christ and the Holy Spirit.
'But
the comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send
in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things
to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you.'(John
14: 26)
By
tuning into the vibration of the Holy Spirit or Christ imbued cosmic
vibration not only is God’s wisdom received but the consciousness
is purified and sanctified of ignorance and harmful subsconscious
tendencies and made perfect. ‘Sanctify them through thy truth:
thy word is truth.’ (John 17:17)
‘
But now I go my way to him that sent me; and none of you asketh
me, Whither goest thou?
' But because I have said these things unto you, sorrow hath
filled your heart.
' Nevertheless I tell you the truth; It is expedient for you
that I go away: for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come
unto you; but if I depart, I will send him unto you. ’ (John
16: 5-7)
‘The
truth I would impress on you is this: it is to your benefit that
my body is taken away from you, for so long as you are attached
only to this form, you will not seek my universal formless self.
Because my little physical body is departing, I will manifest within
you in my Christ and my Cosmic Consciousness; the vibration of Aum
of the Holy Spirit will dislodge all your grief and fear.’
In other words
Jesus was saying his body must be removed in order to free them
from the delusion that he was a physical being. Only after that
delusion was removed could his disciples be able to tune in with
his vast body of cosmic vibration, the great comforting Holy Spirit.
To perceive the formless Christ is the greatest Christianity —
to behold not just a man encaged in a little body-frame, but the
effulgence of Christ glory spread over the stars and wheeling universes,
shining in every atom and throb of vibratory force. The devotee
can talk to that power and it can take any form to respond. One
who feels that power realizes that God is both personal and impersonal.
That power is the conscious, intelligent light of the world —
not this world alone but the whole universe. One who communes with
that eternal light, that light which can hear, speak, smell, taste,
move, take a form, a thousand forms — that devotee knows the
formless Christ. It is the formless spirit that we should worship
and worshiping him we become free.
Many Christian
saints have seen the formless Christ or heard the Holy Spirit, often
directly as a result of the interiorized intensity of pure devotion.
St John of the Cross speaks of his own experiences of the God as
the Holy Spirit in Stanzas 14 and 15 of his Spiritual Canticle.
In poetic imagery he evokes the blissful communion between soul
and God.
‘My
beloved is the mountains,
The solitary wooded valleys,
The strange islands,
The roaring torrents,
The whisper of the amourous gales;
The tranquil night
At the approaches of the dawn,
The silent music,
The murmuring solitude,
The supper which revives, and enkindles love.’ |
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Explaining the
symbolism, Saint John describes the ‘roaring torrents’
as ‘a spiritual sound and voice overpowering all sounds and
voices in the world…
‘This voice, or
this murmuring sound of the waters, is an overflowing so abundant
as to fill the soul with good, and a power so mighty seizing upon
it as to seem not only the sound of many waters, but a most loud
roaring of thunder. But the voice is a spiritual voice, unattended
by material sounds or the pain or torment of them, but rather with
majesty, power, might, delight and glory: it is, as it were, a voice,
an infinite interior sound which endows the soul with power and
might. The apostles heard in spirit this voice when the Holy Spirit
descended on them in the sound ‘as of a mighty wind’,
as we read in the Acts of the Apostles…
‘The whisper
of the amourous gales… The whisper of the gales is a most
sublime and sweet knowledge of God and of his attributes, which
overflows into the understanding from the contact of the attributes
of God with the substance of the soul…
| ‘In
as much as this touch of God greatly satisfies and comforts
the soul, sweetly fulfilling its longing to be received into
union; this union, or touch, is called amourous gales, because,
as I have said before, the perfections of the Beloved are by
it communicated to the soul lovingly and sweetly, and through
it the whisper of knowledge to the understanding. It is called
whisper, because as a whisper of the air penetrates subtly into
the organ of hearing, so this most subtle and delicate knowledge
enters with marvelous sweetness and delight into the inmost
substance of the soul, which is the highest of all delights.’
— from A Spiritual Canticle of the Soul and the Bridegroom
of Christ, by Saint John of the Cross (trans. David Lewis,
1889) |
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The Holy Spirit
cosmic vibration appears to the devotee during meditation as cosmic
light, cosmic sound, cosmic joy and cosmic wisdom. The devotee must
not be satisfied to be merely an observer of these inner glories,
thinking thereby that everything has been attained. When the devotee
can see the divine light spread over the whole cosmos, feel the
sound of Aum thrumming throughout the cosmos, merge in the joy in
every atom and particular of the universe, intuit the wisdom of
Christ intelligence in every speck of space, then he or she has
communion with the Holy Spirit. This contact of the Holy Ghost will
be found by the advanced student to be an incomparable comforter
giving inner freedom from physical, mental and soul miseries, and
awakening in the soul the intuitive omniscience of Christ wisdom
— as promised and emphasized by Jesus.
Aum Vibration Meditation Technique – the Method for Contacting
the Holy Spirit
With the ears
blocked (industrial ear plugs available in hardware stores can be
helpful) and after meditation techniques have been practiced and
the mind is focused and the body calm; keep your attention turned
within. Keep the gaze fixed between the eyebrows and mentally chant
‘Aum’ (pronounced ‘Om’) (making no sound,
whisper, or movement of the tongue) Listen in the inside of the
right ear to any vibration you might hear and keep listening. Be
one with that vibration with reverence. You may hear the physical
vibration caused by the heart, lungs, diaphragm movement, circulation
and so on. Go deeper. As you listen on your concentration will deepen
by itself and you will begin to hear the vibrations of your electrical
body — cricket sound or bumble bee sound, flute, harp or the
oceans roar. (See Revelation 1:15) Then by continued practice
you will hear the symphony of the rolling Aum (The vibration of
your spiritual body) filling your body and mind.
All vibrations
will come through continued practice. Intensity of mental effort
during practice is needed to reach the higher and higher stages
of concentration. Practice this ten to fifteen minutes in the morning
and thirty minutes in the evening.
‘And
I heard a voice from heaven, as the voice of many waters, and
as the voice of a great thunder: and I heard the voice of harpers
harping with their harps:’ (Revelation 14:2)
These
different sounds emanate from the one Cosmic sound and vary
according to their own rate of vibration, which is required
to manifest the different elements in the cosmos.
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‘Behold, I stand at the door, and knock
(sound through the Aum vibration): if any
man hear my voice (listens to Aum),
and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with
him, and he with me.’ (Revelation 3:20)
The
Universality of Religion
‘And there are also many other things
which Jesus did, the which, if they should be written every one,
I suppose that even the world itself could not contain the books
that should be written. Amen.’ (John 21:25)
Saint John’s mastery of the deeper science, evident
in his highly symbolic Book of Revelation was doubtless
part of what he was referring to with his closing sentence in his
Gospel. Truly speaking the Bible does not exhaust Christianity.
The essence of all religion cannot be codified in ancient books;
it lives in self-sacrificing known and unknown men and women, and
in soul-intoxicated saints. The brand of a particular faith is put
on people by birth, geography, or dogma, and if one or more of these
solely determines a person’s religion he or she has very little
to boast about. An imposed, narrow-minded perspective distains as
heathenism the use of any different form or prayer, worship or terminology
than one’s own in approaching God. In reality real heathenism
lies in the absence of expression of soul qualities, no matter one’s
faith.
If people would
feast their minds fully on the soul qualities, the goodness in their
fellow human beings, there would be no appetite left for indigestible
differences. This appreciation is the foundation stone of tolerance,
which underlies the recognition of the brotherhood of man under
the one Father-Mother-Friend beloved God. This was Christ’s
teaching. This is the universal undertone of Jesus’s command
to his apostles, ‘Go ye therefore, and teach all nations.’
(Matthew 28:19) Whether this message is rudimentally understood
as a way to salvation based on spiritual morality and love for God
and one another, or comprehended in its highest intent as extolling
the science of soul ascension, it is inclusive of the expression
of soul qualities fostered in all good customs, traditions and faiths.
For if by religion we
understand only practices, particular tenets, dogmas, customs and
conventions then we may recognize significant divisions between
the many different faiths. But if religion were to primarily mean
a personal experience of the realization of God within and without
and secondarily a body of beliefs, tenets, dogmas and so on, then
there will be plenty of ground for unity. All religions will be
found to be branches of the one Universal religion of God: truth.
If truth is defined as that which is closest to reality then truth
is obviously the same in all lands.
In the broadest
sense all people are following the one universal religion of God.
All human beings can be seen to be seeking the avoidance of pain
and want and (most often without realizing it) the attainment of
bliss. Many seek pleasures and happiness mistaking those experiences
and their expectations of those experiences for bliss, but bliss
is the soul’s pure native state. It is the native state of
Spirit; so we all have an inner need for God communion and we are
all seeking God whether we realise it or not. ‘Know ye not
that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth
in you?’ (1 Corinthians 3:16). We are all reflected
spirituals selves of the universal blissful Spirit — God.
Jesus refers to the bliss of the Spirit when he says, ‘These
things have I spoken unto you, that my joy might remain in you,
and that your joy might be full.’ (John 15:11)
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one who has had the perception of the infinite can fathom the
indescribable power, the love of God that suffuses all creation
— the Christ love, the divine power of attraction that
draws all beings into an ever greater harmony and ultimately
reunites them with God. It is a love unflawed by any selfishness
or physicality or mortal instinct, uncircumscribed by the limitations
that taint even the grandest human love. The love that dwells
in the souls of all creatures — the sum and perfection
of the love of all mothers, fathers, all friends, all lovers
— that is Christ love: the love of the Father reflected
in the consciousness of Jesus and every God-united devotee.
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To feel that
soul-love of all pure hearts is to be transported in an ecstasy
of joy so great, so overwhelming, that it cannot be contained —
a charge of bliss passing through one’s being, a thousand
million volts of rapturous power. This divine emotion is beyond
description — a communion of unutterable sweetness with the
infinite grace, the indescribable glory, the eternal protection.
That is the love of God which Jesus felt, and in which he sheltered
his disciples: ‘As the Father hath loved me, so have
I loved you: continue ye in my love.’ (John 15:9)
How we act in
response to that innate need to avoid pain and want and attain bliss
obviously differs according to one’s wisdom. Take the case
of a man who wishes to commit suicide and a truly religious man
who has dispassion for things of the world and wants to renounce
worldly life and lead a purely spiritual life. Both of these men
are seeking to get rid of the pain that is troubling them and put
an end to pain and suffering permanently. Whether they are successful
or not; as far as their motives are concerned there is unity. The
first uses means that are unwise; because of ignorance he does not
know what will free him from pain and bring him bliss. The religious
man having more wisdom is more likely to know and practice the most
effective means of removing permanently, all pain and want —
physical, mental and spiritual — and gain true bliss.
The word 'religion'
derives from the Latin word religare: to bind. Religion
binds us by rules, laws and injunctions in order that we may not
degenerate and suffer misery — bodily, mentally and spiritually.
In its highest sense it offers a scientific means of practical training
to achieve God-union based on definite wise actions that produce
definite results. These means are ancient and are the result of
great sages who personally have succeeded in uniting their souls
with God. Such methods work universally in all lands.
All prophets and sages
who sang truth through their lives, in the different ages were fountains
of the One Divine Source. Whenever darkness and ignorance descend
on humanity those that groped in it send force anguished cries.
Divine souls, those who have dispelled from within themselves the
darkness of delusion and have become transparent channels as sons
of God, arise at divine command from the womb of time to render
help and redeem souls entombed in the sepulcher of ignorance.
The messages
of some prophets addresses the needs of a particular culture and
age; but those emissaries who are commissioned with a God-given
world mission deliver universal truths that resonate throughout
all ages in timeless relevancy. Such was the spoken and lived word
of Jesus.
The Highest
Scientific Technique of Meditation in the Christian Tradition
We have so far
given some of these scientific techniques of meditation and explained
their application and use. We will now turn our attention to the
most direct and effective scientific means of achieving God union.
It is the method referred to in the bible as the following:
‘…lifted up the serpent...’(John 3:14)
;‘…take up serpents...’ (Mark 16:18)
and ‘…be ye therefore as wise as serpents...’
(Obviously these references do not refer to physical serpents which
have no wisdom, are quick to anger and are often unintelligent enough
to court their own death by biting people).
The serpent
has been metaphorically used since ancient times to describe a powerful
life current of creative energy residing in a subtle-coiled passageway
at the base of the spine. In ordinary waking consciousness, the
body’s life force flows from the brain (specifically the medulla
oblongata) down the spine and out through this coiled passage, enlivening
the physical body and the senses and tying the indwelling soul to
the mortal form.
'...Man shall not live by bread alone, but
by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.' (Matthew
4:4)
| In
the higher states of consciousness that are the goals of meditation,
the matter-bound flow of ‘serpent energy’ is reversed
to flow up the spine to awaken the dormant spiritual faculties
in the cerebrospinal centres (chakras in Eastern religious traditions).
This bestows divine consciousness or soul consciousness. These
cerebrospinal centres are described as seven golden candlesticks
in St John’s account of his experience of higher states
of consciousness. (See Revelation 1:12) They can be
seen with the physical eyes using Polycontrast Interference
Photography technology. (http://www.item-bioenergy.com/pip/index.html) |
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The background
and reasons for this practice are best understood using an interpretation
of Genesis given to a disciple by a God-realised Yogi in
Autobiography of a Yogi by Paramahansa Yogananda:
‘ “The
Adam and Eve story is incomprehensible to me!” I observed
with considerable heat one day in my early struggles with the allegory.
“Why did God punish not only the guilty pair, but also the
innocent unborn generations?”
Master
was more amused by my vehemence than my ignorance. “Genesis
is deeply symbolic, and cannot be grasped by a literal interpretation,”
he explained. “Its ‘tree of life’ is the human
body. The spinal cord is like an upturned tree, with man’s
hair as its roots, and afferent and efferent nerves as branches.
The tree of the nervous system bears many enjoyable fruits,
or sensations of sight, sound, smell, taste, and touch. In these,
man may rightfully indulge; but he was forbidden the experience
of sex, the ‘apple’ at the center of the bodily
garden.
“The ‘serpent’ represents the coiled-up spinal
energy which stimulates the sex nerves. ‘Adam’ is
reason, and ‘Eve’ is feeling. When the emotion or
Eve-consciousness in any human being is overpowered by the sex
impulse, his reason or Adam also succumbs. |
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“God created
the human species by materializing the bodies of man and woman through
the force of His will; He endowed the new species with the power
to create children in a similar ‘immaculate’ or divine
manner. Because His manifestation in the individualized soul had
hitherto been limited to animals, instinct-bound and lacking the
potentialities of full reason, God made the first human bodies,
symbolically called Adam and Eve. To these, for advantageous upward
evolution, He transferred the souls or divine essence of two animals.
In Adam or man, reason predominated; in Eve or woman, feeling was
ascendant. Thus was expressed the duality or polarity which underlies
the phenomenal worlds. Reason and feeling remain in a heaven of
cooperative joy so long as the human mind is not tricked by the
serpentine energy of animal propensities.
“The human body was therefore not solely a result of evolution
from beasts, but was produced by an act of special creation by God.
The animal forms were too crude to express full divinity; the human
being was uniquely given a tremendous mental capacity — the
‘thousand-petaled lotus’ of the brain — as well
as acutely awakened occult (hidden) centers in the spine.
“God, or the Divine Consciousness present within the first
created pair, counseled them to enjoy all human sensibilities, but
not to put their concentration on touch sensations. These were banned
in order to avoid the development of the sex organs, which would
enmesh humanity in the inferior animal method of propagation. The
warning not to revive subconsciously-present bestial memories was
not heeded. Resuming the way of brute procreation, Adam and Eve
fell from the state of heavenly joy natural to the original perfect
man.
“Knowledge of ‘good and evil’ refers to the cosmic
dualistic compulsion. Falling under the sway of maya (cosmic delusion)
through misuse of his feeling and reason, or Eve — and Adam
— consciousness, man relinquishes his right to enter the heavenly
garden of divine self-sufficiency. The personal responsibility of
every human being is to restore his ‘parents’ or dual
nature to a unified harmony or Eden.”
Jesus refers
to this personal responsibility in the following passage:
And no man hath ascended up to heaven, but
he that came down from heaven, even the Son of man which is in heaven.
And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must
the Son of man be lifted up:
That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal
life. (John 3:13-15)
Jesus’s reference to Moses comes from Exodus 4:2-4.
When in the wilderness God spoke to Moses out of the burning bush,
so Moses asked God for a sign of spiritual authority by which he
could be recognized as having been sent by God to accomplish the
tasks to which God had appointed him.
And the Lord said unto him, ' What is that
in thine hand?' And he said, 'A rod.'
And he said, 'Cast it on the ground.' And he cast it on the ground,
and it became a serpent; and Moses fled from before it.
And the Lord said unto Moses, 'Put forth thine hand, and take it
by the tail.' And he put forth his hand, and caught it, and it became
a rod in his hand: (Exodus 4:2-4)
| The
‘rod’ is the spine, in which, as we have seen, reside
the life force centres of life and consciousness that are the
dynamos not only of the physical vitalities, but of all divine
powers and spiritual perceptions when awakened by the lifting
of the fiery serpent of life force at the base, ‘tail,’of
the spine. The metaphors of the ‘serpent’ and ‘rod’
are variously repeated in the story of Moses, in keeping with
scriptural tradition of linking historical events with esoteric
symbology. The rod, or staff, of Moses was the medium through
which he demonstated miraculous powers according to the will
of God in carrying out his special dispensation to free the
Israelites in Egypt — such as the often cited parting
of the Red Sea; the saving of the people in the wilderness,
from death by fiery serpents created by their misdeeds, to counteract
which the Lord directed Moses: 'Make thee a fiery serpent, and
set it upon a pole: and it shall come to pass, that every one
that is bitten, when he looketh upon it, shall live.”
(Numbers 21:6-8) |
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Spiritual death
results from the misuse of the animating fiery life force; spiritual
life is the blessing bestowed when the life force and consciousness
are uplifted to the highest centre of divine consciousness in the
body at the top of the spinal ‘pole’ in the cerebrum,
where God dwells as the soul.
It should be noted that most ancient sacred writings do not clearly
distinguish history and symbology; rather they intermix the two
in the tradition of scriptural revelation. Prophets would pick up
instances of everyday life and events of their times and from them
draw similes to express subtle spiritual truths. Divine profundities
would not otherwise be conceivable by the ordinary person unless
defined in common terms. When, as they often did, scriptural prophets
used obscure and abstruse metaphors and allegories, it was to conceal
the deepest revelations of Spirit from ignorant, spiritually unprepared
minds.
We will
continue with St John’s experience of drawing the life current
up the spine which opened his spiritual eye of perception so he
could see the following:
‘And
in the midst of the seven candlesticks one like unto the Son of
man, clothed with a garment down to the foot, and girt about the
paps with a golden girdle.’ (Revelation 1:13)
Around
the seven centres as the base he saw one subtle luminous body (the
subtle body made of life energy) like the physical body (son of
man).
'His
head and his hairs were white like wool, as white as snow; and his
eyes were as a flame of fire.’ (Revelation 1:14)
Life
force is white (the origin of all colours; the wool reference suggests
softness). His eyes were as a flame of fire. (The third or spiritual
eye burning as one flame and not the two gross flames of life energy
which are present in the physical eyes).
‘And
his feet like unto fine brass, as if they burned in a furnace; and
his voice as the sound of many waters.’ (Revelation 1:15)
Feet
like fine brass refers to the seat of grosser vibrations of lighter
colour as brass; that is yellow. And his voice as the sound of many
waters refers to the Christ Consciousness and cosmic vibration manifesting
the varying cosmic sound of Aum, which is the sound the body makes).
‘And
when I saw him, I fell at his feet as dead.’ (Revelation
1:17)
St.
Paul also knew the technique by which he could switch life currents
to and from the senses and rise above mortal body consciousness.
He was therefore able to say: ' Verily, I protest by our
rejoicing which I have in Christ, I die daily.' (1 Corinthians
15)
‘Behold,
he cometh out of the clouds (he shall come out of the clouds
of ignorance) and every eye (spiritual eye) shall
see him.’ (Revelation 1:7)
As we have said it is the spirit behind the body of Christ with
which one should strive to be united — to rise from the tomb
of ignorance and realize in the ascension of the soul the resurrection
of the Christ within. This is the true meaning of the second coming.
| The
actual technique for ‘raising the serpent’ is an
ancient one which was given by India’s Rishi’s.
Rishis (literally, ‘seers’) are God-realised sages
free from all sin and delusion who serve as ideal human models
for the inspiration of humankind. Through trade routes these
techniques were made known to spiritually receptive and capable
people in the West such as the Prophets of the Old Testament.
Due to an ancient yogic injunction this technique must be taught
personally at first through an initiation ritual by someone
authorized to demonstrate it and teach it. This injunction is
to ensure the ancient methods are handed down faithfully and
are kept pure so they may continue to serve sincere truth-seekers
in the way intended by God. |
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For those of
you interested in being initiated into this ancient practice we
advise that you first read the book Autobiography of a Yogi
recommended below. This goes into far greater detail about
the technique and the science of God-realisation. We also ask that
you experiment with the techniques given in the Christmas Meditation
Service to find which ones work best for you. Another very
useful technique for developing concentration is given via this
link. Good concentration is vital for the effective practise
of the ancient technique you will be taught that gently 'raises
the serpent'.
Then for all
sincere truth seekers who contact us we
will arrange for their initiation through a special ceremony rich
with Christian tradition and culture; centred on seeking the Christ
Consiousness within. This initiation ceremony is currently being
lovingly prepared with full concentration on Christ and it will
be in keeping with yogic traditions that all faiths are to be fully
respected as pathways leading to God. In the past people of all
different faiths who have been initiated into the highest techniques
of this ancient science have been called on to remain faithful to
their original religion and remain in their own religious communities
working to become the finest living examples of their faith they
can be. In this spirit we also hope clergy who become qualified
in the practice of these techniques to the extent they can be authorized
to teach it to others, will then be able to initiate others within
their church communities.
The Source of these Teachings
The vast majority
of the material in the Christmas Meditation Service and
this discourse come directly from The Second Coming of Christ:
The Resurrection of the Christ Within You by Paramahansa Yogananda
(listed below). Yogananda was a God-realised Yogi who was sent to
the West on a holy mission to teach about the universality of truth
that is common to both Eastern and Western religious traditions.
(Specifically the truths common to both the Bible and the
Hindu Bhagavad Gita.) Arriving in the US in the 1920s he
needed to present his teachings according to the strong Christian
culture that was present there at the time. Studying the Bible
he became very devoted to Jesus and would meditate on him for many
hours at a time. Over the years he experienced many divine visions
of Jesus and communed with him frequently. During such communions
his face would be suffused with peace and bliss, sometimes with
tears of love flowing from his eyes. Once he described Jesus in
these words: ‘His face was divine...His eyes were the most
beautiful, the most loving eyes I have ever seen. The whole universe
I saw glistening in those eyes.’
Through direct,
loving communion with Jesus he was able to discern the deepest truths
in the Gospels — a small glimpse of which has been presented
to you. We’ve tried to use his original words as much as possible
and only altered his words or added our own to make the work flow
or modernize the language. All of this work was done by listening
with reverence to the Aum vibration, so the reader may have confidence
that this work was performed lovingly and with great care that Christ
and the great Yogi master Yogananda should guide it. Indeed the
sacred Aum was heard during much of this work and hours often passed
by unnoticed due to the concentration put into this work. Although
these compilations were prepared by one person the term ‘we’
is frequently used to acknowledge that person’s complete dependence
on Spirit for everything. Through observing the evolution of this
campaign it can be seen that what started out as a sincere desire
and effort to 'Give Christmas back to Christ', has now evolved into
a work to help awaken Christ in the hearts' of the all. God's love
knows no limits.
Our next article features the highest meaning of the Holy Eucharist;
the second coming of our beloved Christ and much more:
Further Reading and References
For further
reading we recommend:
 |
Second Coming of Christ: The
Resurrection of the Christ Within You by Paramahansa Yogananda
Paperback (UK)
(US
& Canada), Hardback (UK)
(US
& Canada)*
ISBN: 978-0-87612-557-1 |
* Any commission earned from the Amazon links will be used for charitable
work only.
Further references:
The prayers and guided meditations used in the Christmas Meditation
Service come from two more books from Paramahansa Yogananda.
Whispers from Eternity is a book of prayers, poems and
chants to inspire God-communion. The original edition can be read
online for free via this
link. Otherwise it can be purchased online via the following
links: Paperback (UK)
(US
& Canada), Hardback (UK)
(US
& Canada)
ISBN: 978-1565892354
The other book
is Metaphysical Meditations which contains highly inspirational
universal prayers, affirmations and visualisations. Paperback (UK)
(US
& Canada), Hardback (UK)
(US
& Canada) ISBN: 978-0876120415
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