[continued from previous message]   
      
   Devotion cannot be a cult, a spiritual practice, because devotion is not at   
   all mechanical. No one can turn it on or turn it off, like a light switch or a   
   water faucet. Similarly, devotion cannot be taken as a principle of life,   
   because devotion cannot    
   be implemented by a direct application of will power. Just by trying, one   
   cannot love one's enemy, love one's neighbor or love God. [438] One may sing   
   devotional songs, and that singing may be treated as an aspect of spiritual   
   cult. But the mere singing    
   of devotional songs does not necessarily mean that one is feeling devotion.   
   One may also endeavor always to be courteous and respectful toward others;   
   and, indeed, this credo, that all are worthy of equal love and respect, may be   
   taken as a principle of    
   one's life. Yet the acceptance even of that high principle does not   
   necessarily mean that one is feeling devotion. Fortunately or unfortunately,   
   love just is not so simple. If it were, human beings would long ago have put   
   an end to hatred and war.   
      
   Devotion is neither the vehicle nor the way – it is the destination. Devotion   
   can never be taken as a mere cult, nor even as a principle of life, despite   
   the fact that both one's cult and one's principles may be tailored by the   
   devotee with devotion in    
   mind. Whatever anyone may say, true devotion is of a much higher order than   
   either cult or principle. Only devotion can convert the dry performance of   
   duty into a blissful outpouring of love. Only devotion can provide the   
   constant inspiration and    
   boundless energy required to materialize that universalistic society which   
   today exists only in the imagination of dreamers and philosophers. Devotion is   
   truly the water of eternal life – the highest reality for the devotee, and the   
   only salvation for a    
   suffering humanity. When everything has been said and done, devotion is our   
   very reason for being and the crowning glory of human existence.   
      
   The Neo-Humanistic spiritual cult is derived from devotion, but the simple   
   practice of that cult does not in itself indicate that one is feeling   
   devotion. The Neo-Humanistic principles are derived from devotion, yet the   
   clear acceptance of those    
   principles does not prove that one is feeling devotion. It is quite easy to   
   plough one's garden and to plant the best seeds according to the proper   
   system; but if there be no water to irrigate the land, all one's efforts will   
   remain fruitless. And even    
   if there be a perfectly congenial environment, still those seeds will not   
   sprout immediately; the sprouting will take some time. Here you may ask how it   
   happens that real devotion can blossom out of Spirituality in Essence and   
   Spirituality as a Cult.    
   Before answering this question we should note that the seeds of devotion are   
   indeed planted within every cell of our body and mind. Moreover, we are   
   forever being drenched by the infinite shower of Divine Grace. But, due to the   
   blinding effect of our    
   petty ego, our small-I feeling, we often remain oblivious to the flow of   
   devotion. The regular practice of spiritual cult expands our small mind; and,   
   with the benefit of wisdom gained from our inner expanded angle of vision, we   
   soon become conscious of    
   that sweet and benevolent force which has been nurturing us from the   
   beginning, and which is indeed our very lifeblood.   
      
   Everything in this manifest universe possesses unique qualities. A fire burns,   
   a baby cries, milk is white, and coal is black. Regarding that cosmic   
   consciousness which is the material cause of all things in this universe, its   
   fundamental quality is to    
   attract. Consciousness attracts consciousness. Though it may be said that   
   repulsion is negative attraction, it can never be accepted that attraction is   
   negative repulsion. Then what is attraction? Attraction is just a technical   
   name for love, as    
   consciousness is a technical name for God. Dogs bark, cats purr, sheep bleat,   
   and God loves.   
      
   God is certainly very great; and, so far as this universe is concerned, God is   
   all-powerful. Still there are two things that even God cannot do. God cannot   
   create a second God. God may create an endless variety of things, but God   
   cannot create another    
   God, because all of that which God creates is right within God's own cosmic   
   mind. Even should some fortunate individual be so blessed as to merge her or   
   his identity with that of God, still only one Entity would remain. So, the   
   first thing that God    
   cannot do is to create a second Infinite Being. The second impossibility for   
   God is to hate anyone or anything. Hating is a complete violation of God's   
   intrinsic nature. Love is not a law that was made by God; rather, Love is the   
   law that governs God.    
   God must love everything in this universe. Even supposing God should want to   
   hate someone, to repulse someone, even if God should tell someone to go away   
   or to get out – how could that someone go beyond the precincts of God's mind?   
      
   Clearly attraction is the fundamental law of Nature, and the essential   
   characteristic of Consciousness. As human beings are composed of   
   Consciousness, the law of attraction governs human nature as well. Consciously   
   or unconsciously, human beings are    
   attracted to each and every entity of this universe. Generally most people are   
   aware of their attraction toward those objects which they feel to be   
   physically or psychically close to them. When one brings a stray dog into   
   one's home, after a few days one    
   normally develops a special affection for that particular dog. One feels much   
   greater love for that dog than for all the other stray dogs one may encounter   
   on the street. And why is that? Simply stated, one's affection grows because   
   that dog is now in    
   one's home – that dog is now “my dog”. Due to proximity one's sense of   
   mine-ness has extended to that dog, which, only a few days back, was an   
   unknown and unloved stranger. Due to proximity one may say, “These are my   
   parents, this is my spouse, these are    
   my children, and this is my dog.”   
      
   The law of attraction applies even in respect to inanimate objects. One   
   generally feels an affinity toward the clothing and ornaments which one wears.   
   One also develops a sentiment for one's own home, one's city, and even one's   
   country. The reason behind    
   this possessive feeling is only propinquity, but it should be emphasized and   
   understood that the causative factor here is not so much the physical   
   proximity as the psychic proximity. Hence one often feels a greater   
   sentimental tie to one's relatives than    
   to one's neighbors, even though one's relatives may be living at a far greater   
   physical distance from oneself than those neighbors. [439]   
      
      
   [continued in next message]   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)