[continued from previous message]   
      
   The sensation of love ultimately starts with one's own self and flows outward   
   to encompass everything which one feels to be an extension of oneself. It is   
   not so much that one should love one's neighbor as oneself, but rather that   
   one can love one's    
   neighbor only when one feels that neighbor to be nothing less than an   
   extension of one's own self, a necessary component of one's own being.   
   Likewise it follows that if one wishes to love God, then one must first find   
   the link between oneself and God;    
   one must first feel God to be an extension of one's own identity; or,   
   alternatively, one must conceive oneself to be an indispensable component of   
   God's Identity. So long as one imagines God to be some supernatural entity   
   living in a remote place called    
   heaven, it will be almost impossible to feel any real love for that Divinity.   
   [440] But as the imagined distance between the Divinity and the spiritual   
   aspirant starts to diminish, as the spiritual aspirant comes more and more to   
   the realization that s/   
   he is also of the same composition as the Supreme Being, that s/he is at all   
   times tenderly sheltered within the all-knowing mind of the Supreme Being,   
   then soon a genuine feeling of devotion will awaken in the heart, growing ever   
   more intense with the    
   increasing sense of proximity to God.   
      
   The growing sense of proximity to God is what one experiences in the second   
   stage of Neo-Humanism, Spirituality in Essence. These feelings of proximity   
   arise within the mind of the Neo-Humanist as a consequence of the mental   
   expansion that takes place    
   due to faithful and sincere practice of Spirituality as a Cult. At first one   
   may feel only: “In this universe, God exists and I also exist. As God is the   
   Mother/Father of this entire universe, as God is the Parent of everyone, so   
   God is also my parent.”    
   With an ideation like this, one may or may not experience some degree of   
   devotion, but that devotion cannot be very deep. In one family there may be   
   ten children born from within the womb of one single mother. Generally those   
   ten children do not think of    
   their mother as “our mother”. Rather, because of a very strong feeling of   
   intimacy with the mother, each of those ten children thinks of her as “my   
   mother”. Similarly, as the psychic distance between the spiritual aspirant and   
   God narrows due to regular    
   practice of Spiritual Cult, the ideation of the spiritual aspirant is   
   progressively transformed until s/he starts to feel that “God is my own   
   nearest and dearest Friend – my Beloved and my constant Companion.” In this   
   latter stage, one surely will    
   experience real devotion. It is the maturity of this feeling of devotion that   
   may properly be called Spirituality as a Mission.   
      
   Real devotion can never be equated with the flattery and importunity that is   
   the substance of most prayers. On the contrary, true devotion is that state of   
   mind when one can think of nothing else but the Beloved, when one wants   
   nothing else but to give    
   pleasure to God. And, since now the Deity is clearly perceived to be an   
   all-pervasive and ever-present Being, devotion to God automatically coincides   
   with love for this multifarious universe through which God is manifest. In   
   consequence, today the    
   Devotee can easily find unlimited opportunity to attend the Supreme Being, not   
   only through meditation, [441] but also through service to a suffering   
   humanity, a cruelly subjugated animal kingdom, a viciously exploited plant   
   world and a polluted    
   environment. Tomorrow, too, even after the evil excesses of the passing era   
   have been eliminated, still there will be no limit to the positive and   
   progressive outlets for humanity to express the true spirit of Devotion – the   
   intense yearning to know and    
   to serve God, the yearning that is embodied in the third stage of   
   Neo-Humanism, Spirituality as a Mission.   
      
   God   
   At the beginning of this book I sidestepped the question of God's existence,   
   primarily because of the confused connotations found associated with the word   
   God. Most Christians and Jews think of God as an old man with white hair and   
   white beard sitting on    
   some heavenly throne. In the minds of many Christians, God is also a   
   long-haired young man with nail holes in his hands and feet. If we now reject   
   such superstitious notions of God and, instead, understand God as a truly   
   all-pervasive Entity (like the    
   yogic concept of Brahma), then even this book is God. Not just the cover and   
   the pages of this book, not just the ink with which the words herein are   
   printed, but also all of the concepts – right or wrong – all are God. God is   
   not just a reality – a fact    
   of life – God is the one and only abiding Truth. God's presence is felt all   
   around us, in the clear blue sky, the gentle touch of a sweetly fragrant   
   breeze, the roaring of the ocean waves, the pleasure of being here and alive.   
   No, we cannot place God    
   under a microscope, but that does not make God less real. We cannot put a   
   sample of winter, spring, summer or fall under a microscope either, but no one   
   disputes the existence of the seasons. The seasons are proven by their   
   manifestation of various    
   natural phenomena, and God is proven by this entire magnificent universe.   
      
   There can be no effect without a cause. This is a fundamental law, supported   
   by science time and again. As it would seem that this ever-changing universe   
   is also an effect, so also for this universe a causative factor is required.   
   The name we often    
   ascribe to that Causative Factor is God; but here, if we are not to fall into   
   logical error, we must be very particular as to the meaning of the word God.   
   Logically, God cannot be just the efficient cause of this universe; God must   
   also be the material    
   cause as well. Thus God is the substance from which this universe emerges and   
   into which everything eventually dissolves. God is also the inspirational   
   force for this multicolored creation, the controller of each and every thing   
   that exists, and the    
   witness to all happenings. Generator, Operator and Destroyer – G. O. D. – God   
   is the source of our being, the sustainer of our existence, and the   
   consummation of our life.   
      
   Once a great man was asked what he thought to be the strangest thing in this   
   world. He answered that the strangest thing is that every day people are   
   dying, yet still human beings imagine that they will live forever. Indeed this   
   is peculiar, but I find    
   the strangest thing is that all around us we see the proof of God's presence.   
   We are continually showered with an abundance of Divine Grace. Yet still some   
   people try to deny the reality of God's existence. These people prefer to use   
   words like fate,    
   destiny, coincidence, or luck to describe the workings of Divine Grace – words   
   which, on close examination, also reveal a hidden faith. Candidly, I feel   
   absolutely certain that each and every human, in the core of her or his heart,   
   in the inner recesses    
   of her or his mind, has at least a primitive awareness of God's existence. I   
   exist, therefore God exists. I am; God is.   
      
      
   [continued in next message]   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)