[continued from previous message]   
      
   Two patients were engaged in a heated discussion at the local psychiatric   
   ward. The first one, having turned out all the lights and switched on  his   
   torch ,kept inviting the second one to climb up the beam of light in order   
   that he might escape from the    
   hospital. “Just climb up the beam, go out through the skylight, and you're   
   free”, he said. But the second patient kept refusing, “I won't do it; no, I   
   won't do it”. Finally patient number one became exasperated and he demanded to   
   know the reason why    
   number two was so adamant in his rejection of what seemed to be a brilliant   
   plan. After much coaxing, finally number two confessed. “I don't really trust   
   you – maybe when I get to the top you'll turn off the torch, and then I'll   
   fall down.”   
      
      
      
   Living in the Present   
   Deep within each and every living being is an intense yearning for absolute   
   freedom. That freedom may be conceived in terms of infinite happiness,   
   infinite peace or infinite anything; but only after achieving the state of   
   infinite consciousness or    
   infinite being can one really feel free. In the realm of philosophy, infinity   
   is not many but one, and that one may also be called God. Hence the state of   
   infinite consciousness is but one posture of Divinity, and this primary goal   
   of human existence    
   signifies nothing short of merger in the one Perfect Being.   
      
   Where there is love for the Lord – devotion for the all-attractive,   
   honey-sweet, faithful and eternal companion – then that devotion is the most   
   valuable treasure anyone may possess; for, by virtue of that love, that   
   devotion, one may proceed at full    
   speed on the blissful path to Supreme Beatitude. This devotion must be   
   preserved and protected against the fierce onslaughts of materialism. As in   
   the case of a tender sapling, a fence must be built around that devotion, to   
   protect it against the ravages    
   of nature until it becomes sufficiently strong and sufficiently developed to   
   offer a sweet shelter of its own. That protective fence can only be a proper   
   philosophy which, first of all, establishes a happy and harmonious balance   
   between the spiritual and    
   material worlds and, secondly, provides a constant source of inspiration for   
   the dynamic progress of both the individual and society. In both of these   
   respects, religions in general and Western religions in particular have failed   
   miserably. These    
   religions could not maintain a proper balance between the fields of spiritual   
   subjectivity and mundane objectivity, nor could they furnish the requisite   
   inspiration for unit and collective progress toward the ultimate desideratum   
   of life, the sublime    
   stance of universalism.   
      
   As long ago as 5000 B.C., Sadashiva, the premier preceptor of Tantra,   
   cautioned the people to be wary of self-aggrandizing intellectuals who   
   propagate poisonous philosophies which create only psychic complexes and   
   social disaster. He advised everyone    
   very simply – to live in the present, varttama'nes'u vartteta. Human life is   
   an ideological flow – a psycho-spiritual endeavor –far more than any mere   
   physical existence. Hence one must always maintain a proper ideation while   
   moving in this material    
   world. Everything and everyone must be treated with equal love; but this world   
   is real, and the problems which confront us every day must be solved.   
   Therefore, while observing a proper subjective approach, we must also maintain   
   an objective adjustment.    
   Many philosophies which sound pleasant to the ears yield no harvest in the   
   hard and rocky soil of this earth.   
      
   Ivory-Tower Economics   
   Jesus said, “Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not,   
   neither do they spin: and yet I say unto you that even Solomon in all his   
   glory was not arrayed like one of these.” [224] The words are surely poetic,   
   that is to say, they sound    
   quite nice, but how far is it reasonable to draw comparisons between the life   
   of a plant and that of a human being? Even if what Jesus said were logical or   
   true (which it is not), this sophistry is hardly a sound basis on which to   
   discourage people from    
   planning what work needs to be done today and tomorrow. Yet that is exactly   
   where Jesus' argument leads “Therefore take no thought, saying what shall we   
   eat or what shall we drink or wherewithal shall we be clothed .... Take   
   therefore no thought for the    
   morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient   
   unto the day is the evil thereof.” [225]   
      
   Jesus liked to hold out a vision of an economic utopia wherein people could   
   live without working, just keeping their minds on God. But that society has   
   never existed, and will most probably never exist. When the nun; and monks in   
   Christian monasteries    
   must work – if only to till the fields, press the grapes or prepare the meals   
   – then how is it possible for the secular communities to adapt to such a   
   philosophy?   
      
   The story of Mary and Martha [226] is another example of this unconstrained   
   fantasy of Jesus, that nobody need work any longer. Martha had received Jesus   
   into her house and had started the cumbersome duty of serving the guests. Her   
   sister, Mary, rather    
   than helping just sat at the feet of Jesus. When Martha complained about this   
   to Jesus, Jesus said that Mary had chosen the only thing which one needs, that   
   which cannot be taken away from her. While it may be true that spiritual truth   
   is absolute and    
   eternal – a more solid foundation for life than the shifting sands of this   
   ever-changing and uncertain world – nevertheless, some courtesies must surely   
   be shown to a guest in one's house. Had it not been for the selfless service   
   and attention to duty of    
   Martha, it is quite possible that Jesus and his followers might have left her   
   home most dissatisfied with the hospitality there.   
      
   Truth about the Way and the Life   
   Undoubtedly Jesus was acquainted with spiritual laws, for his teachings   
   reflect the same. .From any point of view, he had many years to prepare   
   himself, through study of the Jewish scriptures, for his mission. The lost   
   eighteen years (which may have been    
   only eight years if Luke's date of birth is accepted) incline one to suspect   
   that Jesus had not just intensive training but extensive training as well.   
   Much evidence is surfacing now to indicate that Jesus studied Buddhist – or   
   Jain – meditation    
   techniques in India. [227] If that be the case, then he would surely have been   
   instructed that the final state to be achieved through meditation is Samadhi,   
   absorption into the Supreme Being, merger in the one infinite ocean of   
   Consciousness. Throughout    
   the past seven thousand years, many Indian yogis have attained the state of   
   Vashikara, or Perfection, by keeping in mind that their own higher identity is   
   nothing less then God. Hence it is little surprise to find Jesus announcing   
   the first fundamental    
   principle of yoga meditation – “I am one with the Supreme Being.” [228] What   
   is surprising, however, is the way in which Jesus abused this concept in order   
   to establish his superiority over all the Jews, and to prove their   
   indispensable need for his    
   intercession with God on their behalf. “No man cometh unto the Father but by   
   me” has become a cornerstone, perhaps the cornerstone, of Christian dogma.   
   [229] And, inextricably associated with that primitive superstition is its   
   even darker underside –    
   belief in Jesus as the only path to salvation, and that those who deny him are   
   forever damned. [230]   
      
   The Power of Positive Thinking   
      
   [continued in next message]   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)