[continued from previous message]   
      
   [436] It is this metamorphosis in the flow of humanity's collective mind, the   
   strengthening and uplifting of humanity's collective spiritual bearing, which   
   must be taken as the most significant measure of Spirituality in Essence. One   
   cannot reasonably    
   calculate the effectiveness of a social economy by taking into account only   
   such factors as the gross national product, or the average income, because   
   these figures do not reflect the discrepancy between the rich and the poor.   
   Such figures do not give a    
   clear picture regarding the degree of suffering and exploitation in a   
   particular society. Similarly, Spirituality in Essence cannot be properly   
   measured in terms of what a few individuals may have, theoretically, or even   
   actually, achieved – because the    
   true standard of their achievement must also be reflected in the progressive   
   change in the thought processes of the common people, or that achievement will   
   have no substantive and/or substantial importance.   
      
   [437] It has already been stated that Spirituality as a Cult operates on all   
   three planes of existence – physical, psychic and spiritual. It has also been   
   mentioned that Spirituality in Essence is concerned mainly with the psychic,   
   psycho-spiritual and    
   spiritual strata of life. Here it may be added that the final stage of   
   Neo-Humanism, Spirituality as a Mission, is primarily psycho-spiritual and   
   spiritual in nature.   
      
   [438] At the end of Chapter 3 “In the Beginning”, reference is made to the   
   statement by Jesus giving his opinion as to which are the two greatest   
   commands in Jewish law. (According to Jesus the first is to love God, and the   
   second is to love one's    
   neighbor.) In this connection we pointed out that there was no need for Jesus   
   to distinguish between loving God and loving one's neighbor and that, indeed,   
   such a distinction tends automatically to adulterate the quality of love. Here   
   it may be added    
   that Jesus was altogether wrong to declare both love for God and love for   
   one's neighbor to be significant commands – for the simple truth is that love   
   just is not the kind of law that can be humanly enforced or deliberately   
   observed. Just by passing an    
   ordinance, a ruler can never command love from or by subjects. As mentioned in   
   Chapter 7 “Consider the Lilies of the Field”, Jesus himself allegedly   
   proclaimed a “new” and “additional” command, that Christians must love each   
   other. Two thousand years of    
   history should be sufficient to prove that such an impractical law has no   
   value whatsoever.   
      
   [439] This same process of attraction applies also in respect to one's   
   relationship with the Supreme Being. In that case, however, the attraction   
   which develops cannot be pigeon-holed in the categories of emotionalism or   
   egocentricity. That attraction is    
   not in the least bit psycho-physical; rather it is purely psycho-spiritual.   
   Indeed, to be precise, the attraction cannot at all be properly called   
   sentiment, for the attraction generally arises only when ordinary sentiment   
   wanes and rationality waxes.    
   This supreme attraction, Sentiment with a capital S, is called Devotion.   
      
   [440] Search as one may, one will hardly find a single Jew who truly loves   
   God. How can one love an entity that is always kept at a tremendous distance   
   and is always thought of in abstract terms? How can one love such an   
   impersonal God? One may find many    
   Jews who fear God and still more Jews who can discourse for hours on the   
   subject of God, but it is unusual to find a Jew who truly loves God.   
      
   On the other hand, one may find many Christians who really do love Jesus or   
   who really do love Mary or who really do love their patron saints; but this   
   love cannot be equated with love for God. Although the Christian religion may   
   have declared some of    
   these personalities to be divine, that does not mean that the Christian   
   religion was correct to have done so. In the past, religion wrongly taught   
   people to worship God through the medium of idols made out of clay. Today   
   Christianity has taught people to    
   worship the inflated images of some controversial characters from the past;   
   but if one examines closely those images, one will discover that they also   
   have feet of clay.   
      
   [441] In the science of spiritual cult, the term meditation refers to the   
   concentrated endeavor to let the mind flow only in the direction of God.   
   Meditation differs radically from prayer in that meditation does not encourage   
   the practitioner to allow    
   her or his mind to digress even in contemplation of God's attributes, much   
   less contemplation of those worldly objects which the practitioner might like   
   to have or enjoy. In order to bring the mind to a pinnacled state, one   
   generally performs meditation    
   with the help of a mantra, a specially empowered word, the very sound of which   
   expands the mind, and the meaning of which keeps one constantly ideating on   
   the Supreme. Shoes of the same size do not fit everyone's feet, and similarly   
   the same mantra is    
   not equally effective for all. Hence it is desirable that the sincere   
   spiritual aspirant receive personal instruction from a qualified teacher,   
   known as an acarya (one who teaches by example).   
      
   The author earnestly recommends that anyone wishing to learn meditation in   
   order to proceed on the spiritual path should contact the nearest Ananda Marga   
   center to arrange, as early as possible, an appointment with an acarya. It may   
   be added here that in    
   Ananda Marga there is never any charge for spiritual instruction, that   
   spiritual instruction being considered the very birthright of each and every   
   human being.   
      
      
      
      
   DaWY6zM4g6lzr0yp84TVrv   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)