From: iPs3AWP@jb6SFyR.com   
      
   A CLEAR AND PERSONAL RELATIONSHIP IN ALL CIRCUMSTANCES   
   -------------------------------------------------------   
      
   The cultivation of a personal relationship with God is the core of   
   spirituality.   
      
   'Under no circumstances should human beings ever allow anything to   
   distort or interfere with their mutual relationship with the God -   
   Supreme Consciousness.  They should never think that God hates them.   
   God can never hate anyone because all are His loving children.   
   Parents may scold mischievous children but can never hate them.   
   Similarly, God may scold, but He can never hate. Sometimes parents   
   angrily shout at their child, `Go to hell you wretch', but don't   
   actually mean what they say. That is just the expression of their   
   mouths, not their minds. The same parents who utter such words   
   become extremely worried when their child falls slightly sick and   
   lament, `Oh what will happen to our child. We're at a loss as to   
   what to do'. This shows their genuine concern for the child.'   
   (PARAMA PURUS'A DOESN'T HATE ANYONE, A'nanda Vacana'mrtam Part 4, 3   
   November 1978 evening, Kalika'ta')   
      
   God is all loving no matter what the external circumstances may look   
   like between one person and another in the relative world.  God   
   cannot hate anyone and so no religious preachers can condemn anyone.   
      
   'The omniscient Supreme Cognition is the Lord of both heaven and   
   hell. He is the Father of both developed spiritual aspirants and of   
   great sinners. There is, therefore, no question of His hating even   
   the great sinners and loving the good spiritual aspirants. All are   
   one to Him. He cannot ostracize the former and embrace the latter.   
   There is no place outside Him where He can throw off the great   
   sinners. He cannot disown them either, for in that case He would not   
   remain Saviour of the Degraded.'   
   (SUBHA'S'ITA SAM'GRAHA PART 24, MYSTICISM AND SPIRITUALITY, 20   
   October 1967 DMC, Meerut)   
      
   What is the situation if a person commits a wrong?   
      
   'Various scriptures have laid down different injunctions for the   
   atonement of different sins. Some say that for such-and-such sin you   
   must atone in such-and-such way. Others say you must go to hell for   
   this or that sin. These interpretations vary from scripture to   
   scripture. About these there is only one word to say. If you walk   
   down a road you are bound to get dirty. Those who have abandoned all   
   their previous sins and come to God, accepting God as their final   
   refuge, God will free them from the bondage of sin. Their future is   
   certainly glorious. No one need worry about their past. It is   
   senseless to worry about atonement for past misdeeds. If one is able   
   to think of his or her Goal to the exclusion of everything else and   
   repeat the name of the Lord, recite that name with proper   
   understanding of its meaning, his or her future is bright. He or she   
   will have no cause to weep.   
      
   Only the Supreme Consciousness can assure the unit human beings so   
   unequivocally. This goes to show beyond any shadow of a doubt that   
   God is not just a god in the philosophical sense, but the veritable   
   manifestation of divinity. God cannot be compared to some partial   
   manifestations. "I will forgive your sins. I will free you from all   
   sins, I will take away your sins." No one but the Supreme Entity,   
   has the right to say this. No one has ever said this in the past,   
   nor will anyone say it in the future. If anyone claims this, it   
   would be only the highest audacity on his or her part. But the   
   Supreme Preceptor has proclaimed it loudly and openly: "I will   
   liberate you from all sins. You have no cause to worry."'   
   (NAMA'MI KRS'N'ASUNDARAM, DISCOURSE 24, PA'RTHASA'RATHI KRS'N'A AND   
   PARIPRASHNA, 22 March 1981, Calcutta)   
      
   Why is this so?  It comes down to the infinite expression of God.   
      
   'Whatever has been, is being and will be created is all within the   
   expression of God - the Macrocosmic Mind.  Even time, space and   
   person all emanate from His mind.  Therefore He is already of what   
   was created and what is going to be created.  If you perform   
   virtuous deeds and thus elevate yourselves to higher realms, the   
   Supreme Consciousness - God - will be there with you.  Conversely,   
   if you degrade yourself to hell due to your misdeeds, there also He   
   will be with you, because human beings are all a part and parcel of   
   Him.  Hence under no circumstances should people worry about   
   anything.  If you really go to hell then there also you will do   
   spiritual practices and spiritual chant and dance and wherever you   
   do spiritual chant and dance, there the Supreme Consciousness will   
   have to come because he Himself has said: "I do not reside in   
   heaven, nor in the hearts of yogis; but wherever my devotees sing   
   the name of the Lord I remain there.  For me there is no difference   
   between a literate and illiterate person between a scholar and a   
   fool."   
      
   So when the Supreme Consciousness is with you in all circumstances,   
   and when you are not alone, then how can you say that the world is   
   full of sorrows?  Rather the world is certainly full of joy because   
   it is from joy that the universe has emerged, in joy it is being   
   maintained, and finally the culminating point of all movement is the   
   Supreme Bliss.  All the microcosms are part and parcel of the   
   Supreme Consciousness: all are His progeny, His dear children.   
   Human beings out of ignorance commit sins, and supposedly for this   
   they are sent to hell.  But if some bad actions are committed,   
   naturally their consequences also must be undergone.  God - the   
   Supreme Consciousness - dearly loves His children, and thus He   
   sometimes scolds them and tries to rectify them through punishment.   
   Certainly He cannot want His sons and daughters to undergo pains and   
   troubles; rather He wants them progress physically, mentally, an   
   spiritually.   
      
   And what does He do to protect you?  He must lighten the burden of   
   your sins, and thus he steals them away from you.  He tells his   
   affectionate devotees, "Surrender all your sins to me; but the   
   devotees' hearts are always filled with love for Him - how can they   
   give their sins to Him?  They will rather say,  "I will feed Him   
   with dainties and delicacies, and sing sweet devotional songs to   
   Him - how can I give my sins to Him?  I cannot."  But until one's   
   sins are surrendered, one will have to undergo the vicious cycle of   
   endless births and deaths.  So what does the Supreme Consciousness   
   do in that case?  Without taking the permission of the devotees, He   
   surreptitiously steals their sins, and thus they become liberated   
   from the bondages of all their sins.  As this burden of sins is   
   removed, the devotees can move forward at a much faster speed and   
   arrive sooner at their destination.'   
   (WHAT ARE THE NOBLE TRUTHS, Subha's'ita Sam'graha Part 11, 20 March   
   1979, Kanpur)   
      
      
   [continued in next message]   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)