[continued from previous message]   
      
   relationship is one of love and affection, and not of any fear   
   complex.  One must not say, "Oh God, I am a sinner."  You need not   
   say like this - it is superfluous to say like this.  Because   
   whatever you did is known to Him.  Then what is the necessity of   
   saying, "Oh God, I am a sinner?"  He knows everything; you need not   
   remind Him that your are a sinner.   
      
   And you know, if you always think, "I am a sinner, I am a sinner",   
   then actually you will become a sinner, if you are not already a   
   sinner - because what a person thinks, he or she will become like   
   that.  If you always think, 'I am a sinner, I am a sinner", then   
   actually you will become a sinner.  So what are you to think?  What   
   are you to ideate upon?  That is: "Oh Father, I am your loving   
   child.  I was a bit misguided, now please help me.  I want to sit on   
   your lap, I want to remain with you, I want to be an ideal boy, an   
   ideal girl of yours, just help me.  I am very weak and you are the   
   strongest personality", you should say like this.  Why should you   
   say, "I am a culprit, I am a sinner, I am a bad person?"  And in the   
   social sphere, in the civic sphere, in any other sphere of society,   
   you may be a bad person, but for your Father you are not at all   
   bad.  He will always try to save you and rectify you.  He has got   
   immense grace for you.  So you should not destroy or distort your   
   career by saying, 'I am a sinner, I am bad.'  Then naturally your   
   Father will be angry.  He will say, "Oh naughty chap, I know your   
   are a sinner.  What's the necessity of saying that?"  So you should   
   remember that the noumenal cause although it is the Supreme entity   
   in the entire universe, has a very close relationship with you.   
   That Supreme noumenal entity is your loving Father; He is not the   
   judge of a court.  He is your loving Father, the relationship is   
   purely domestic.   
      
   Now, when one is ensconced in the supreme stance, in the Supreme   
   idea, one will be successful in each and every arena of human life.   
   Whatever you will do like rendering social service - will be   
   fruitful, and you will get immense pleasure in it.  But if there is   
   no love for the Supreme entity, then what will happen?  Your work   
   will be fruitless, and you will suffer from different kinds of   
   psychic disease, including frustration.  If you do your spiritual   
   meditation for ten or twenty-four hours in a day, but there is no   
   love for the Supreme Entity, you are simply misusing the time,   
   abusing the time.  So the first and foremost thing is that you   
   should always remember that you are not an ordinary person, you have   
   not come from an ordinary family, you have come from the noblest and   
   the highest family of the universe because your Father is the most   
   respectable person in the entire universe.  So you must not suffer   
   from any sort of defeatist complex, any sort of fear complex or any   
   sort of hopelessness or helplessness, because your Father is always   
   with you." (THE NOUMENAL CAUSE AND THE PERSONAL GOD, Subha's'ita   
   Sam'graha Part 12, Ba'ba' in Fiesch, 20 May 1979 DMC, Timmern,   
   Germany)   
      
   This is the approach that must be taken.  It also gets rid of   
   pettiness and narrow sentiments.   
      
   "All petty thoughts and narrow sentiments disappear from the mind of   
   a person moving towards the Supreme Entity. God includes all;   
   therefore to love God means to love all. So spiritual aspirants of   
   God see God in everyone and everything, loving all equally. They   
   look upon all countries as their own country, all languages as their   
   own language, and all races as their own race.  Even the worms and   
   insects that infest hell are as dear to them as the greatest of   
   human beings. To them, the importance and glamour of tiny ant is   
   equal to that of an elephant. They realise that the entire universe   
   is their own self, that the all-thinking God is their own all-   
   thinking self. This is the true stance of immortality." (THE SUPREME   
   QUESTION -- 2, Subha's'ita Sam'graha Part 7, Paos' Pu'rn'ima' 1958,   
   Trimohan, Bhagalpur)   
      
   That is why in texts on spirituality the Oneness of God is the   
   emphasis.  For example,   
      
   "He is controlling the psychic realm which sustains and nourishes   
   the entire life-flow of heaven, earth and underworld - so He is   
   called Trilokana'tha [the Lord of the Three Worlds]. And in this   
   quinquelemental world, He clearly understands the nature and   
   behaviour of each and every entity, so He is called Bhu'tana'tha   
   [the Lord of All Created Beings]." (NAMAH SHIVA'YA SHANTA'YA,   
   DISCOURSE 20 (CONTINUED), SHIVA IN THE PRAN'A'MA MANTRA, 13 August   
   1982, Kashi)   
      
   There are many spiritual stories that can be resorted to so as to   
   prove how devotion is the way.   
      
   "In ancient times there was one such devotee who used to go from   
   place to place distributing the bliss of devotion. His name was   
   Narada. Once he said to the Supreme Consciousness (Parama Purus'a in   
   Sanskrit): "O Lord, all the scholars and philosophers say that You   
   are omniscient, but people do not feel Your presence everywhere.   
   Where, therefore, is the place where Your presence can most be felt?   
   Or which place do You consider as dearest to You?" The Lord   
   replied, "It is true that I am everywhere; there is no action, no   
   thought, no feeling, in which I am not present. All actions take   
   place before My eyes, within My mind. Nothing should be done or   
   thought which is meant to be hidden from Me. Still, I do not live in   
   the seventh heaven as people think. Minds which are free from   
   narrowness, limitations, and isms are the places dear to me."   
   (A'NANDA VACANA'MRTAM PART 23, THE BLISS OF THE DEVOTEE, 22 January   
   1971, Ranchi)   
      
   Also, these learning stories mock the concept of heaven and hell -   
   as these are dogmas that deny spirituality and cannot elevate the   
   human being.   
      
   "Devotees feel alike whether in heaven or in hell. In heaven they   
   are with the Supreme Consciousness and are happy. If perchance they   
   go to hell, the Cosmic Entity is also there. There is no place in   
   this universe where God is not present. If they go to hell, the Lord   
   cannot live alone in heaven. He will also have to be in hell to   
   entertain His devotees. So if devotees go to hell they are also with   
   the Supreme and dance, sing and do spiritual chants. Their minds   
   remains full of bliss. They are completely apathetic and indifferent   
   towards pleasure and pain, good name and bad name in the external   
   world. Only the devotees can say that these carry no value. Those   
   who are devoid of devotion, even if they work conscientiously, shall   
   remain aloof from the Supreme and ultimately they will have   
   abhorrence for work. While doing hard penance the minds of such   
   people will not be with God. Instead, their minds will be thinking   
   about the hardship faced during the penance." (DEVOTION -- THE ONLY   
   PATH, A'nanda Vacana'mrtam Part 5, 18 November 1978, Patna)   
      
   Devotees fear nothing, and do not fear the assertions of religious   
   dogma.  They know the Lord to be everywhere.   
      
   "Everything in this universe is controlled by Him. Nothing is beyond   
   Him, nothing is outside Him. He is both Lord of heaven and Lord of   
   hell - neither are outside Him; neither are beyond His jurisdiction.   
   That is why I have said that spiritual aspirants should never be   
   unnecessarily worried about heaven and hell. If one does noble deeds   
   or sings spiritual songs in hell, it is the bounden duty of the Lord   
   of hell to be there, too, and thus it automatically ceases to be a   
   hell. By forming a circle of the Lord's ardent devotees you can   
      
   [continued in next message]   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)