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Christian and Jewish Belief in Reincarnation....

The first-century Jewish historian Flavius Josephus states that the Pharisees, the founders of rabbinic Judaism for whom Paul once belonged, believed in reincarnation. He writes that the Pharisees believed that the souls of bad men are punished after death but that the souls of good men are "removed into other bodies" and they will "have power to revive and live again." The Sadducees, the other prominent Jewish sect in Palestine, did not emphasize life after death and according to the Bible "say there is no resurrection" (Matthew 22:23). From what we have just discussed, it is clear that what Matthew really states is that the Sadducees "say there is no reincarnation".



The following are some the secret teachings of Jesus from the Gnostic gospels that affirm reincarnation, revealing the secret knowledge:



"Watch and pray that you may not be born in the flesh, but that you may leave the bitter bondage of this life." (Book of Thomas the Contender)



"When you see your likeness, you are happy. But when you see your images that came into being before and that neither die nor become visible, how much you will bear!" (Gospel of Thomas)



In the Book of Thomas the Contender, Jesus tells the disciple Thomas that after death those who were once believers but have remained attached to things of "transitory beauty" will be consumed "in their concern about life" and will be "brought back to the visible realm".



In the Secret Book of John, reincarnation is placed at the heart of its discussion of the salvation of souls. The book was written by 185 AD at the latest. Here is the Secret Book of John's perspective on reincarnation:



All people have drunk the water of forgetfulness and exist in a state of ignorance. Some are able to overcome ignorance through the Spirit of life that descends upon them. These souls "will be saved and will become perfect," that is, escape the round of rebirth. John asks Jesus what will happen to those who do not attain salvation. They are hurled down "into forgetfulness" and thrown into "prison", the Gnostic code word for new body. The only way for these souls to escape, says Jesus, is to emerge from forgetfulness and acquire knowledge. A soul in this situation can do so by finding a teacher or savior who has the strength to lead her home. "This soul needs to follow another soul in whom the Spirit of life dwells, because she is saved through the Spirit. Then she will never be thrust into flesh again." (Secret Book of John)



Another Gnostic text, Pistis Sophia, outlines an elaborate system of reward and punishment that includes reincarnation. The text explains differences in fate as the effects of past-life actions. A "man who curses" is given a body that will be continually "troubled in heart". A "man who slanders" receives a body that will be "oppressed". A thief receives a "lame, crooked and blind body". A "proud" and "scornful" man receives "a lame and ugly body" that "everyone continually despises." Thus earth, as well as hell, becomes the place of punishment.



According to Pistis Sophia, some souls do experience hell as a shadowy place of torture where they go after death. But after passing through this hell, the souls return for further experiences on earth. Only a few extremely wicked souls are not allowed to reincarnate. These are cast into "outer darkness" until the time when they are destined to be "destroyed and dissolved".



Several Gnostic texts combine the ideas of reincarnation and union with God. The Apocalypse of Paul, a second-century text, describes the Merkabah-style ascent of the apostle Paul as well as the reincarnation of a soul who was not ready for such an ascent. It shows how both reincarnation and ascents fit into Gnostic theology........................from the reluctant messenger..

The Secret Teachings of Christianity..

A fragment of the Secret Gospel of Mark, one of the Gnostic texts discovered, describes Jesus performing secret initiation rites. Before the discovery of Gnostic writings, our only knowledge of it came from a letter written by Church Father Clement of Alexandria (150 AD - 211 AD), which quotes this secret gospel and refers to it as "a more spiritual gospel for the use of those who were being perfected." He said, "It even yet is most carefully guarded [by the church at Alexandria], being read only to those who are being initiated into the great mysteries." Clement insists elsewhere that Jesus revealed a secret teaching to those who were "capable of receiving it and being molded by it." Clement indicates that he possessed the secret tradition, which was handed down through the apostles. Such Gnostics were spiritual critics of the orthodox Church of what they saw as not so much a popularization as a vulgarization of Christianity. The orthodox church stressed faith, while the Gnostic church stressed knowledge (gnosis). This secret knowledge emphasized spiritual resurrection rather than physical resurrection. Indeed, the Gnostic Christians believed reincarnation to be the true interpretation of "resurrection" for those who have not attained a spiritual resurrection through this secret knowledge....................from the reluctant messenger..

A UNIVERSAL PRAYER:

Give us what no eye has seen,
What no ear has heard,
What has never occurred to the human mind.*

Lead us from the unreal to the real.
Lead us from darkness to Light.
Lead us from death to immortality.**
_________
* Jesus, Gospel of Thomas
** Hindu Upanishads

The World of Pure Thought....

Pain and suffering, sin and evil, disease and death, exist only in
the world of thoughts, not in the world of pure Thought itself. They
are not illusions, however, but they are transient. Whoever attains to
pure Thought will also attain in consciousness to a life that is
painless, sorrow-free, sinless, undecaying, and undying. Being above
desires and fears, it is necessarily above the miseries caused by
unsatisfied desires and realized fears. But at the same time he will
also have an accompanying consciousness of life in the body, which
must obey the laws of its own being, natural laws which set
limitations and imperfections upon it. This much can be said to be the
element of truth contained in some theoretical doctrines of Vedantic
Advaita and Christian Science......................by Paul Brunton

God Speaks.....

"I want to tell you, My dearest children, that this matter of Who You Are, and Who You Choose To Be, is of great importance. Not only because it sets the tone of your experience, but because it creates the nature of Mine.

All of your life you have been told that God created you. I come now to tell you this: You are creating God. That is a massive rearrangement of your understanding, I know, and yet it is a necessary one if you are to go about the true work for which you came.

This is holy work We are up to, you and I. This is sacred ground We walk.

This is the Path.

In every moment God expressed Himself in, as, and through you. You are always at choice as to how God will be created now, and She/He will never take that choice from you, nor will She punish you for making the "wrong" choice. Yet you are not without guidance in these matters, nor will you ever be. Built into you is an internal guidance system that shows you the way home. This is the voice that speaks to you always of your highest choice, that places before you your grandest vision. All you need do is heed that voice, and not abandon the vision.

Throughout your history I have sent you teachers. During every day and time have My messengers bought you glad tidings of great joy. Holy scriptures have been written, and holy lives have been lived, that you might know of this eternal truth: You and I are One.

Now again I send you scriptures - you are reading one of them now. Now again I send you messengers, seeking to bring you the Word of God.

Will you listen to these words? Will you hear these messengers? Will you become one of them?

That is the great question. That is the grand invitation. That is the glorious decision. The world awaits your announcement. And you make that announcement with your life, lived.

The human race has no chance to lift itself from its own lowest thoughts until you lift yourself to your own highest ideas.

Those ideas, expressed through you, as you, create the template, set the stage, serve as a model for the next level of human experience.

You are the life and the way. The world will follow you. You are not at choice in this matter. It is the only matter in which you have no free choice. It is simply the Way It Is. Your world will follow your idea about yourself. Ever it has been, ever it will be. First comes your thought about yourself, then follows the outer world of physical manifestation.

What you think, you create. What you create, you become. What you become, you express. What you express, you experience. What you experience, you are. What you are, you think. The circle is complete.

The holy work in which you are engaged has really just begun, for now, at last, you understand what you are doing.

It is you who have caused yourself to know this, you who have caused yourself to care. And you do care now, more that ever before, about Who You Really Are. For now, at last, you see the whole picture. Who you are, I am.

You are defining God.

I have sent you - a blessed part of Me - into physical form that I might know Myself experientially as all that I know Myself to be conceptually. Life exists as a tool for God to turn concept into experience. It exists for you to do the same. For you are God, doing this. I choose to re-create Myself anew in every single moment.

I choose to experience the grandest version of the greatest vision ever I had about Who I Am. I have created you, so that you might re-create Me. This is Our holy work. This is Our greatest joy. This is Our very reason for being."

The Metaphysics of Mysticism...

"Mystical Theology, properly understood, neither compromises nor invalidates its Rational and Dogmatic counterparts. Rather, it surpasses them in the way that the act of seeing surpasses the most definitive description of sight. The description itself remains true; it is entirely accurate inasmuch as words signify, and in signifying attempt to communicate, what is essentially an experience. But the disproportion between the experience itself and any description subsequent to it remains nearly irreconcilable. To one who is color-deficient (to carry the analogy a little further) and who has never seen the color purple, the most precise and detailed description of this absolutely unique chromatic phenomenon called purple, even when coupled with appeals to extrapolate from colors with which one is familiar, yields at best only a vague conception, and in the end brings that person no closer to the experience of the color itself. In short, we must come to terms with limitations inherent in language, especially descriptive language; limitations that are radiated in shared experiences outside of which the power of language reaches a cognitive terminus. No more can meaningfully be said. And this is precisely the plight of the mystic. And, therefore, that of mystical theology itself. "


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"And yet the very nature of love itself is incapable of being adequately expressed. Words, however well chosen, and descriptions, however articulate and exhaustive, are found in the end to be profoundly impoverished. The essence remains ineffable, to be experienced immediately, intuitively. And so the analogy itself breaks down linguistically: our experience of God can only be analogized to our experience of love --- and our experience of love is essentially recalcitrant to language. The experience of God in mystical union, like the experience of love between the bride and the bridegroom, remains intuitive and essentially unavailable to language. The experiences are comparable because they share common intuitions, and while certain subjective states attendant upon, and, as it were, accidental to, such experiences may in fact be vaguely described, the intuitive affinity itself evidently derives from some source in itself spontaneous, ever-immediate, and self-creating.

This serves to underscore yet another dimension of the persistent problem with language. Descriptive language purports to convey to us, or to signify, some aspect of reality typically not immediately available to us; it serves, then, to mediate or to approximate the reality. But it is only able to do so by presupposing an entire spectrum of shared experience necessary to intelligibility in any particular universe of discourse. In this sense, language may be viewed as an expedient in lieu of direct experience. And yet we have found that the nature of the mystical experience is essentially intuitive, immediate, direct. It is, in short, an experience --- and any language endeavoring to describe this experience necessarily presupposes this experience as a condition to the intelligibility of the account it would render. Let us suppose an individual with a rare sensory dysfunction who has never experienced the sensation "hot". No matter what linguistic categories we invoke, from the cup of hot tea to the arcana of thermodynamics, our attempts to communicate this sensation to that individual will be in vain until he has shared that experience with us, and only in light of that experience will the word "hot," and all that attends our understanding of it, become intelligible, meaningful, to him. In other words, our admission into any meaningful universe of discourse presumes shared experiences upon which it is grounded. Apart from this essential condition, any description of mystical experience, however detailed and definitive, is necessarily emptied of intelligibility. Mystical union, then, or infused contemplation as it is often called, remains to be experienced, and when spoken of is only done so analogically. Coupled with the problem of absolute incommensurability deriving from any attempt to relate the finite to the Infinite, the created conditional to the Uncreated Absolute, the mystic who would attempt to relate his experience faces a redoubtable challenge indeed.".................Diane Goble ...

Jesus heals on the Sabbath, and is censured by the Pharisees. Restores a drowned child. Rescued a wounded dog. Cares for a homeless child.

IT was the Sabbath day, and Jesus stood among the surging masses of the people in the temple courts and sacred halls. 2 The blind, the deaf, the dumb, and those obsessed were there, and Jesus spoke the Word, and they were healed. 3 On some he laid his hands, and they were healed; to others he just spoke the Word, and they were full restored to health; but others had to go and wash in certain pools; and others he anointed with a holy oil. 4 A doctor asked him why he healed in divers ways, and he replied, 5 Disease is discord in the human form, and discords are produced in many ways. 6 The body is a harpsichord; sometimes the strings are too relaxed, and then inharmony results. 7 Sometimes we find the strings too tense, and then another form of discord is induced. 8 Disease is many-formed, and these are many ways to cure, to tune anew the mystic harpsichord. 9 Now when the Pharisees were told that Jesus healed the people on the Sabbath day they were enraged, and they commanded him to quit the place. 10 But Jesus said, Was man designed to fit the Sabbath, or was the Sabbath day designed to fit the man? 11 If you had fallen in a pit and, lo, the Sabbath day had come, and I should pass your way, would you cry out. 12 Let me alone; it is a sin to help me on the Sabbath day; I'll swelter in this filth until another day? 13 You Pharisees, you hypocrites! you know you would be glad to have my help upon the Sabbath day, or any other day. 14 These people all have fallen into pits, and they are calling loud for me to help them out, and man and God would curse me should I pass along and heed them not. 15 And then the Pharisees returned to say their prayers, and curse the man of God because he heeded not their words. 16 Now, in the evening Jesus stood beside a pool; a playful child had fallen in, and it was drowned, and friends were bearing it away. 17 But Jesus called the carriers to stop; and then he stretched himself upon the lifeless form, and breathed into its mouth the breath of life. 18 And then he called aloud unto the soul that had gone out, and it returned; the child revived and lived. 19 And Jesus saw a wounded dog; it could not move; it lay beside the way and groaned with pain. He took it in his arms and bore it to the home where he abode. 20 He poured the healing oil into the wounds; he cared for it as though it were a child till it was strong and well. 21 And Jesus saw a little boy who had no home, and he was hungry; when he called for bread the people turned away. 22 And Jesus took the child and gave him bread; he wrapped him in his own warm coat, and found for him a home. 23 To those who followed him the master said, If man would gain again his lost estate he must respect the brotherhood of life. 24 Whoever is not kind to every form of life--to man, to beast, to bird, and creeping thing--cannot expect the blessings of the Holy One; for as we give, so God will give to us.............from the Aquarian Gospel of Jesus the Christ...

8 Keys to Maintain Balance During the Shift ..

We must acknowledgement our self perfection – We are and always have been of the One both in Source and within our Journeys.
Accept the journey for which we have come – why fight the very things which we have come to learn?
Maintain Personal integrity – That truth which is ours amongst all other things, that opportunity which we give ourselves to find the truth within us, not that which we have been conditioned by others to perceive.
Be that which you are, not that which you perceive others would see – You are created of light, of Grace, and of that there cannot be imperfection, only that which is of Spirit. You do not need to improve yourselves, only to acknowledge that which is your God self, your perfect being.
We must acknowledge our value – This is different than accepting perfection. Your value is how you fit within the world within and the exterior world in which you exist. To perceive that your value is greater than another’s, or less than someone else’s brings you to lack of everything else.
Accept Your Power – You are great and mighty. True Power comes not of ego, but the collective One of our Spirit. True Power is Gentle Power. You are of the light and in its seemingly nebulous construct is the essence from which all things are made. To fear inner power is to suggest that you are less than all other things. In Truth, power is of Grace, not of abusiveness or negative use and your Grace is born of unconditionality. True Power is that which is Love, the intentional living as co-creator from within all opportunities that are offered you.
Take Your value, Your perfection, Your power, Your Grace into your world – In the Now that always is, change only comes from practice of change. What this means is that to effect change we must embody it. You must walk your talk, not hide that which you know. Historically, that which is hidden is viewed as heresy in relation to the accepted norm. To change this, it is to create a new accepted norm with ease and Grace by virtue of your walking within the very light from which you are created.
Love yourselves and touch everyone you encounter with love – As all energy exchanges, what will You accept from others and what will you leave behind? You can see all others as mirrors of yourselves, that their pain also resides somewhere within us, that their joy is in our hearts as well. This is why random acts of kindness make such a difference. How many times have you said “There by the Grace of God go I”? It is true. It has always been so............. Rev. Dr. Meg Blackburn, Spirit Light Resources..spiritlite.com

Using Mental Science....

Presumably you are going to use Mental Science to ensure for you an adequate supply of happiness, service, peace and love. Therefore you must act as agent for these things and pass them on freely to any and everyone with whom you come into contact, otherwise the stream will be dammed and the flow of Infinite supply will cease as far as you are concerned and will find other and freer channels through which to progress. Get it into your head that to have fresh supplies you must make room by passing on what you already have.

The other aspect is summed up in the word "Generalisation." In your asking for supply, concentrate on the end, not on the means to the end. Let me illustrate that statement as clearly as I can. Suppose you want money with which to purchase a home of your own for your wife and children. Do not concentrate your mental powers on the money but upon the happiness, peace, and contentment which such a home will bring.

The reason for this becomes obvious if you reflect for a moment. Peace, Happiness and Contentment are your aims, but there may be quite one hundred ways by which they may come to you. All of them are known to the All-Seeing Wisdom of the Infinite Power, and for you to particularise one special way is automatically to close the other 99—any one of which may be, and probably is, much better and more suitable than your way.

Your way has only been chosen according to your very limited powers of perception.

Concentrate on the end you desire to achieve, and have complete faith that a means to that end will be chosen which will be the best possible for you.

How can I make this next proviso sufficiently clear to you?

Realise throughout your whole being that your physical and material self is helpless without the Power. You, as you are; the you that is finite and earthly is completely inadequate and incapable without the aid of the Power.

The Power is yours, but you are not the Power.

Realise the humility inherent in that sentence. Without the Power you are nothing. With the Power you are all-powerful.

Do not lose your sense of perspective. Keep your place in the scheme of things. You are the agent for the Force, not the Force itself.

I cannot urge you too strongly to read over that last paragraph again and again. Therein is the fatal pitfall clearly placed before you. Be warned, and avoid it.

When you secure this sense of humility, you can maintain it by continually giving thanks mentally for the gifts that come to you.


* * * * *


Regard your thoughts as boomerangs. If you think an evil thought of any person or anything, you will be the loser. It is your mental attitude that is disturbed and there is no one but yourself to blame. All thoughts are boomerangs. They come back to the thinker.

Whatever you think, will happen to you. Therefore think well. Think good. Think Order, Harmony and Peace. Then shall these things be added unto you.

One final matter must be dealt with. This study would not be complete without it. I want to deal with Failure.

So far I have not admitted the possibility of failure and I do not do so now. If you fail, you have not obeyed the rules which I have endeavoured to put before you. And so, here is your mental attitude towards failure. If something that you wanted has not come to pass, the fault is yours.

The Power is there. The Power wants you to have your desire. If you have not received it, do not blame the Power, blame yourself.

If there is failure, and you examine the Mental Attitude you held prior to the event, you will inevitably find one of these things.

1. Your desire was not constructive.

2. You doubted the Power's ability to give you your desire.

3. You have particularised or, in other words, you have wanted things exactly your way instead of the way of Infinite Wisdom...........mental-science.com

Pope Arrested for Believing in Reincarnation...

History records that the early Christine church believed in Reincarnation and of the souls journey back to oneness with God. This all changed by Emperial decree some 500 plus years after the death of Christ.
Emperor Justinian in 545 A.D. was able to apply the full power of Rome and his authority to stop the belief in reincarnation. He forced the ruling cardinals to draft a papal decree stating that anyone who believes that souls come from God and return to God will be punished by death. The actual decree stated:

“If anyone asserts the fabulous preexistence of souls, and shall assert the monstrous restoration which follows from it: let him be anathema. (The Anathemas against Origen), attached to the decrees of the Fifth Ecumenical Council, A.D. 545, in Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, 2d ser., 14: 318).”

What does it mean when it says monstrous restoration? This passage is aimed straight at the teachings handed down from Yeshua (Jesus) the Christ to his disciples that mankind came from God and was destined to become one with God as he was one with God. When the Jews tried to stone him for calling himself the son of God, Jesus responded by reminding them that were all gods.

John 10:33 "We are not stoning you for any of these," replied the Jews, "but for blasphemy, because you, a mere man, claim to be God." 34 Jesus answered them, "Is it not written in your Law, 'I have said you are gods'? 35 If he called them 'gods,' to whom the word of God came--and the Scripture cannot be broken-- 36 what about the one whom the Father set apart as his very own and sent into the world? Why then do you accuse me of blasphemy because I said, 'I am God's Son'? NIV

Later, just before Christ was crucified, he revealed in a prayer that he wanted his disciple to become one with God just as he was.

Jesus Prays for All Believers
John 17:20"My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, 21 that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me. 22 I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one: 23 I in them and you in me. May they be brought to complete unity to let the world know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me. NIV

A prominent theologian named Origen wrote around 250 AD about the pre-existence of the soul. He taught that the soul’s very source was God and that the soul was traveling back to oneness with God via the lessons learned in multiple lives. He taught that Christ came to show us what we can become. For centuries this was the mainstream view of Christianity but 300 years later it became a huge issue and the belief was made illegal because Emperor Constantine believed it was dangerous to the Empire to believe in reincarnation.

In the sixth century A.D., Emperor Justinian and Pope Vigilius disagreed on whether or not the teachings of Origen should be condemned as heresy. The Pope supported the teaching as being consistent with the teachings of Jesus the Messiah. The Emperor was determined to eradicate the belief even though the Pope and the church believed in reincarnation. The fact that the doctrine of reincarnation had been a part of Christian theology for over 500 years did not sway the Emperor.

Origen's writings were considered heresy by important cardinals in the sixth century. Origen's teachings had been considered as profound spiritual wisdom for three centuries. Origen lived around 250 AD and wrote about the pre-existence of the soul and in reincarnation. He taught that the soul’s very source was God and that the soul’s was traveling back to oneness with God via Reincarnation.

Emperor Justinian wanted Origen’s writings and teachings to be condemned and destroyed but Pope Vigilius refused to sign a papal decree condemning Origen's teachings on reincarnation. As a result of his disobedience, the Emperor had the Pope arrested and put into jail. In 543, Justinian convoked the Fifth General Council of the Church and told the Pope he would sign whatever into doctrine whatever the council decided. On the way there, under guard, the Pope escaped to avoid being forced to condemn Origen’s writings. The Emperor commanded the council to continue despite the Pope’s refusal to attend.

There was a logical reason why the Emperor was opposed to the concept that all of mankind originally came from God and was returing to God via the cycle of birth and death. Justinian had been convinced by high ranking cardinals that it was not in the interest of the empire to allow Origen's writings to continue to be copied and distributed. A powerful group of Cardinal’s and Bishop’s explained that if every soul had once pre-existed with God, then Christ wasn’t anything special to have come from God. These Cardinals convinced the Emperor that if people realized they were the children of God they might begin to believe they no longer needed an Emperor, or to pay taxes, or to obey the Holy Church. But since they reasoned that only Christ had come from God but God made brand new souls at the time of conception and only the Holy Church could bring these souls to God. Without the protection of the Empire or the guidance of the church, all people would be doomed to be forever cut off from God in Hell. This doctrine was very acceptabloe to the Emperor. Once Justinian understood the political danger inherent in Origen’s teachings, the rest was simply an Emperor doing what was in his best interest.

The council, as instructed by the Emperor, produced fourteen new anathemas and the very first one condemned reincarnation and the concept that souls pre-existed with God.

"If anyone asserts the fabulous preexistence of souls, and shall assert the monstrous restoration which follows from it: let him be anathema."

Even though these events are in the history books, modern Christianity treats the doctrine of reincarnation today as if Jesus never taught it or that the early church ever believed it. The fact that a soul comes from God and is destined to become God, as Christ is God, is the very reason why Satan rebelled.

Reincarnation is one of the Lost Doctrines of Christianity...............from the Reluctant Messenger...

The Evolution of the Universal Consciousness...

The universal space is inhabited by living self-aware energies, called souls, spirits, or consciousnesses. “Lumps” of some of them are small, some bigger, while others are large. But there is also the largest Consciousness that occupies the entire boundless universal space — this is God-the-Father, Who is also called the Creator, Jehovah, Savaof, Allah, Iswara, Tao, Primordial Consciousness, Adibuddha, etc.

Consciousnesses of different level of evolutionary advancement abide in different layers of multidimensional space, which are called eons in Greek, lokas — in Sanskrit, etc. These layers range by the level of their subtlety-coarseness, similar to the radio waves of different frequencies: waves of different frequency ranges do not interfere, although they exist within the same space.

Layers of multidimensional space have borders, which resemble a partition plane between transparent oil and water poured in the same glass vessel. This is how the borders between some eons really look like.

In the deepest layer of the multidimensional universal Ocean of the Absolute resides the Unified Consciousness of the Creator; this is the layer of the subtlest Consciousness. At the opposite end of the subtlety-coarseness scale there are layers of hell, inhabited by devils and demons — the coarsest souls; this is hell.

Thus, there are numerous layers-eons between the two ends of this scale. Throughout their individual evolution units of consciousness (souls) move from one layer to another in both directions, finding their abode either in hellish eons, or paradisiacal, or intermediate ones. But we have to strive to get into the subtlest eon, which is called the Abode of the Creator and located “deeper”, than paradise.

Life of God consists in His Evolution, i.e. continuation of the positive development of His Universal Organism.

This is the reason why He creates material worlds in various parts of the universe and then settles tiny particles of His energy into organic bodies on planets, which are suitable at the particular time for the existence of the latter. These particles should grow and merge back into Him and enrich Him in the end. Their growth starts on the crystalline lattices of minerals, continues in the bodies of plants, animals, and then those of humans.

Each of us has come through multitude of incarnations in his personal evolution — before getting in his current human body. And our task for now is to make maximum efforts in order to become worthy of Mergence with the Creator in His Abode.

It is clear to us now how we should love God, isn’t it?

We have to do everything we can to attain Divinity ourselves and to merge into Him, and also to help other people in doing this.

We advance towards Divinity by means of:

— Cultivation of love for all living beings and for the Creator,

— Refinement of ourselves as consciousness so that we can move into more subtle eons — away from hell and closer to the Abode of the Creator.

— Intellectual self-perfection: accumulation of knowledge about the most important, training of the thinking abilities, intellectual creativity etc.,

— Increasing the power of our refined consciousness, which is directly proportional to the size of its “lump”.

An individual consciousness has the ability to increase quantitatively (to grow). It grows in the course of incarnations as it enters physical bodies of increasing size. But at the human stages of the evolution of an individual soul this growth is accelerated if a person leads an intense life in any area: from physical labor, to intellectual work, to healing, etc. But there are also special (esoteric) methods of acceleration of the quantitative growth of consciousness that consist in various types of meditative training, which are especially effective if conducted in combination with athletic exercises and on special “power places”.

One must remember that an increase of the size and power of a coarse consciousness will make a devil out of a person and will determine a quite “stable” life in hell for him. It is only growth of a refined consciousness that has a real value.

What, then, leads to the coarsening of consciousness and what — to the refinement of it?

There are both external and internal factors. Among the former is the introduction of certain kinds of energy into the organism from outside: either coarse or refined. For instance, eating bodies of killed animals, prolonged stay inside coarse energy fields, generated by coarse people, powerful voltage transformers and similar sources — all this coarsens consciousness. Communicating with refined people, getting attuned to the subtlest natural phenomena and works of art contribute to refinement of it.

But what is even more important in this process are the person’s own emotions. Emotions are nothing else but states of consciousness. They are generated in special energy structures of the human organism — chakras. (Electric processes, registered in the brain merely reflect these states, since the brain does not generate them but only takes part in the processing and transferring of corresponding information to various organs of the body and layers of the multidimensional human organism, as well as between the consciousness that lives in the physical body and the outer environment).

All emotions and their nuances can be ranged along the subtlety-coarseness scale.

To coarse emotions belong all manifestations of anger (from fury — to irritability to jealousy to emotion of condemnation) and fear (from terror — to anxiety).

Subtle and the subtlest emotions are represented by all kinds of love, especially by tenderness (including sexually-colored one). It is not by chance that the New Testament is permeated with this topic: “Love one another with mutual affection…” (Romans, 12:10), “Greet one another with a holy kiss” (2 Cor.13:12), etc................from God Speaks.......

God and Us ...

Our Creator loves us, His creatures, like a caring Father-Mother, and seeks to give us as much good as possible. Even if what He does feels painful sometimes — it is but His educational measure: by means of pain He teaches us what we should not be. This is — for our own good. And it is in our interests — to be sensitive to such instructions of His.

The purpose of our lives consists in qualitative and quantitative development of ourselves as consciousnesses (souls). After reaching God-like degree of development by these two criteria in the end of this long process we merge into the Creator and thus enrich Him with ourselves. This constitutes His growth. And this accounts for His direct concern in our advancement in the direction that He prefers; He points out to us any deviations from this correct path by means of pain and various trouble. But if He is satisfied with our advancement, He gives us a tremendous amount of happiness and bliss — and then there remains no doubt as to the power of His most sincere Love.

Sometimes one may hear an opinion that existence of innumerable sufferings on the earth proves that God does not exist. This way of thinking is pertinent to extremely egotistic people who consider everyone, including God, to be their servants. But the Truth is opposite to this: it is us who must put ourselves to His service.

How can we serve God, then?

In order to answer this question we should first find out what He is interested in, why He created planets, stars, plants, animals, and people.

The answer cannot be found in the distorted and degraded religious concepts, which lack the evolutionary approach to the explanation of these problems, while declaring man a paltry and hopelessly sinful creature, doomed to beg the dreadful Universal Lord for forgiveness of his actual and imaginary transgressions.

But no: if we are able to break free from the darkness of religious ignorance, we can dramatically transform our miserable existence full of resentment, diseases, hate, grief and sorrow — into a vigorous life abounding with joy, creative service to other people and God, and cooperation with Him — Who is visible, audible, and loving, always there to hear us out and give us advice.

But such relationships with Him are possible only if we make real efforts on transforming ourselves in accordance with His plan and if we offer ourselves to Him as assistants, co-workers, and servants.................from God Speaks...

Infinite Power ....

Infinite Power created the stars and maintains them in their courses. Does that give you some conception of Infinite Power? Think it well over, and try to realise it.

Having realised it, you will realise also that it must, of necessity, be more than adequate to deal with your petty troubles and obstacles. If you are honest with yourself, you must recognise that a power that can control millions of planets will not be baffled, let alone beaten, by such conditions as surround you.

So the first thing to do is to get a clear conception of the absolute fact that there is an Infinity of Power available.

Now try, for the sake of practicability, to endow that Infinite Power with a Personality. What is the result? You will at once agree that, if you are going to make use of the Power of this Great Person, you must ask It to do those things which It is disposed to do. In other words, what you ask It to do must coincide with Its own plans.

It would obviously be useless to ask It to do something directly contrary or harmful to Its own work. So the lesson to be learned is summed up in "Thy will, not mine."

Or if you prefer it another way "My Will in so far as it coincides with Thy will."

Now that statement, you may say, has limited the Power. Not a bit of it. As far as you are concerned, the Power desires nothing but your Complete and Unending Happiness. Well, surely your desires do not exceed that Statement. You are not such a fool as to desire unhappiness for yourself. So anything that is for your own development and contentment is available.

To proceed to the next point: Get out of your mind once and for all that you are embarking on a lazy life, in which you sit back and everything is brought to you with no effort on your part. Far from it, you have got to work hard and incessantly. Even, when you rest your physical body, devote yourself to that one object. In other words, work at the job of recreation.

Someone may ask "Why must I work? If this Power is Infinite, surely it can do its job without me?" You are quite right. It can do its job without you. But it has certain definite channels for its operations and you are one of them. You cannot expect the Power to do for you what can only be done through you.

In previous sections we have shown that your mind is a part of the great Universal Mind or Power, and as far as you and your world are concerned, you and your personality are the headquarters and distributing centre of the Power.

Do you understand that? If you are not prepared to co-operate, the Power will turn to those who will. But the Power is so infinite that there is amply enough for us all to make full use of it by co-operation—that, in fact, is what the Power itself desires. It wants to recognize itself at work in and through everyone.

So you must be the agent for the Power in your particular sphere............................www.mental-science.com

What is it like to live an awakened life?

While the world is trying to solve its problems and everyone around you is engaged in the same, you’re not. While everybody around you is trying to figure it out, trying to arrive, trying to “get there,” trying to be worthy, you’re not. While everyone thinks that awakening is a grand, noble, halo-enshrouded thing, for you it’s not. While everybody is running from this life right now, in this moment, to try to get there, you’re not. Where everybody has an argument with somebody else, mostly everybody else, starting with themselves, you don’t. Where everybody is so sure that happiness will come when something is different than it is now, you know that it won’t. When everybody else is looking to achieve the perfect state and hold on to it, you’re not.



When everybody around you has a whole host of ideas and beliefs about a whole variety of things, you don’t. Everyone on the path is getting there; you haven’t gotten anywhere. Everyone is climbing the mountain; you’re selling hiking boots and picks at the foot in the hope that if they climb it and come back down, they may be too exhausted to do it again. When everybody else is looking to the next book, to the next teacher, to the next guru to be told what’s real, to be given the secret key to an awakened life, you’re not. You don’t have a key because there’s not a lock to put it in.



When you’re living what you are in an awakened way, being simply what you’ve always been, you’re actually very simple. You basically sit around wondering what all the fuss is about.



When everyone is sitting around saying, “I hope that happens to me,” you remember when you did that. You remember that you didn’t find a solution to that. You remember that the whole idea that there was a problem created all of that.



When you’re being what you are, when you’re living the awakened life, there’s nobody to forgive, because there’s no resentment held, no matter what.



The truth of your being doesn’t crave happiness; it could actually care less. It doesn’t crave love, not because you are so full of love, but because it just doesn’t crave love. It’s very simple. It doesn’t seek to be known, regarded highly, or understood. When you’re living what you are in an awakened way, there’s no ideal for you anymore. You’ve stepped off the entire cycle of suffering, of becoming; you’re not interested.



It’s a curious life you find yourself in. You find yourself… where you are. Not where I am, where you are. Where you really are. Where we really are. It’s a curious place to be (especially in the beginning) not to be driven by anything—pleasure or displeasure, helping or hurting, loving or hating. The only thing that will move you (and I don’t mean to be too poetic about this) is the same thing that moves a leaf hanging from a tree. It’s simply because the breeze blows that way. So you always know what to do: The breeze blows that way, and that’s the way you go. You don’t ask questions anymore. You don’t evaluate why the breeze is blowing that way because you know that you don’t know why. And you know you can’t know why. There’s never been a leaf anywhere that knows why the wind blows that way on that day at that moment. That breeze changes the orientation of your life, moment to moment to moment, simply because that’s the way life’s moving. And when you’re living in your awakened self you have no argument with the way it’s moving because it is the same as you are.



And you know that the breeze was always there, from the very beginning, and that it wasn’t reserved for special people. If you didn’t notice it at some point in your life, you know it was because you weren’t listening, or because you thought you had to figure something out before you could listen, or because you thought there had to be some conclusion before you could just listen so deeply, so without agenda, so without hope of a better future that you would feel the movement.



Many of you know what I’m speaking of.



Truth never explains why it’s moving that way at that moment. And if you ask, it won’t give any information. It would be like a leaf asking the wind, “Why are you moving that way right now?” The question doesn’t make any sense to the wind.



But your argument with the way the truth would move—whatever that way is—is no longer there for you. You’re no longer arguing with it. You’re no longer trying to figure it out. Mother Mary didn’t figure it out. Buddha didn’t figure it out. Ramana didn’t figure it out. None of them figured it out. They just became That. Simple. Ordinary—in the same way a leaf is ordinary.



When you’re living in your awakened being and living in an awakened way, power on any level is not an issue for you. It’s not interesting. The power to control another human being is not interesting. Intellectual power is not interesting. The power to control yourself is not interesting. The power that people want to give you is not interesting to you—not because it shouldn’t be; it’s just not. What would you want to do with it? You see that there’s nothing you want to do with it.



You realize, in the truth of your being, that you are the totality itself, but you have no interest whatsoever in doing anything with that knowledge, with using that knowledge.



Finally, you realize that you really don’t want to change anybody, not because you shouldn’t want to change them, because you just don’t. You might not want to be around everyone, but still you don’t want to change them.



None of this is an ideal—it’s the end of ideals. None of this is holiness; it’s the end of holiness. It’s the beginning of wholeness. None of this is something to achieve, because it’s not achievable. It’s simply what is in the truth of your being. It’s just what is. You can’t attain what’s naturally so. And nobody anywhere can ever tell you when or why, or to what degree you’ll let go of untruth; you will let go when you let go, usually when nothing else works.



When you’re living in the awakened way, in the awakened being that you are, you’re alone, and you’re finally comfortable with it. You’re alone, but you’re not lonely at all, because the only one who was ever supposed to meet you where you are—the only one who ever could meet you where you are one hundred percent—was you. Nobody else could ever fully meet you where you are—maybe ninety percent, maybe ninety-five. Nobody can meet you fully but you. When you finally do, then you don’t need anybody else to do it for you. Then you’re alone, more alone than you could ever imagine. And strangely—very strangely—you are more connected, more intimate, more at one with everything. More. And you would have never thought that those two could in any way be together: total aloneness and total oneness. You would have never guessed that that’s the way it would end up. But it does, and it always has.



And finally, when you’re just living in the awakened way that you really are, you’ll never form an image again of what it’s like. Even as it’s happening, you won’t form an image because you’ll know they’re all images, dust. The way it was yesterday won’t be the way it is today.....................by Adyashanti..

The Gospel of Buddha chapter fifteen by Paul Carus

Upaka......
Now the Blessed One thought:
"To whom shall I preach the doctrine first? Mbr> My old teachers are dead.
They would have received the good news with joy.
But my five disciples are still alive.
I shall go to them,
and to them shall I first proclaim the gospel of deliverance." [1]
At that time the five bhikkhus dwelt in the Deer Park at Benares,
and the Blessed One rose and journeyed to their abode,
not thinking of their unkindness in having left him
at a time when he was most in need of their sympathy and help,
but mindful only of the services which they had ministered unto him,
and pitying them for austerities which they practised in vain. [2]

Upaka, a young Brahman and a Jain, a former acquaintance of Siddhattha,
saw the Blessed One while he journeyed to Benares,
and, amazed at the majesty and sublime joyfulness of his appearance, said:
"Thy countenance, friend, is serene;
thine eyes are bright and indicate purity and blessedness." [3]

3 The Holy Buddha replied: "I have obtained deliverance by the exinction of self.
My body is chastened, my mind is free from desire,
and the deepest truth has taken abode in my heart.
I have obtained Nirvana,
and this is the reason that my countencance is serene and my eyes are bright.
I now desire to found the kingdom of truth upon earth,
to give light to those who are enshrouded in darkness
and to open the gate of deathlessness." [4]

Upaka replied: "Thou professest then, friend, to be Jina,
the conqueror of the world, the absolute one and holy one." [5]

The Blessed One said:
"Jinas are all those who have conquered self and the passions of self,
those alone are victors who control their minds and abstain from evil.
Therefore, Upaka, I am the Jina." [6]

Upaka shook his head. "Venerable Gotama," he said,
"thy way lies yonder," and taking another road, he went away. [7]

Jesus again visits the temple, and is favourably received by the people. Tells the parable of a king and his sons. Defines messiahship.

NEXT day the multitudes were surging through the temple courts, intent on hearing Jesus speak. 2 And when he came the people said, All hail! behold the king! 3 And Jesus spoke a parable; he said, A king had vast domains; his people all were kin, and lived in peace. 4 Now, after many years the king said to his people, Take these lands and all I have; enhance their values; rule yourselves, and live in peace. 5 And then the people formed their states; selected governors and petty kings. 6 But pride, ambition, selfish greed, and base ingratitude grew fast, and kings began to war. 7 They wrote in all their statute books that might is right; and then the strong destroyed the weak, and chaos reigned through all the vast domain. 8 A long time passed, and then the king looked out on his domain. He saw his people in their cruel wars; he saw them sick and sore distressed; he saw the strong enslave the weak, 9 And then he said, What shall I do? Shall I send forth a scourge? shall I destroy my people all? 10 And then his heart was stirred with pity and he said, I will not send a scourge; I will send forth my only son, heir to the throne, to teach the people love, and peace, and righteousness. 11 He sent his son; the people scorned him and maltreated him, and nailed him to a cross. 12 He was entombed; but death was far too weak to hold the prince, and he arose. 13 He took a form man could not kill; and then he went again to teach the people love, and peace and righteousness. 14 And thus God deals with men. 15 A lawyer came and asked, What does messiah mean? and who has right to make messiah of a man? 16 And Jesus said, Messiah is one sent from God to seek and save the lost. Messiahs are not made by men. 17 In first of every age Messiah comes to light the way; to heal up broken hearts; to set the prisoners free. Messiah and the Christ are one. 18 Because a man claims to be Christ is not a sign that he is Christ. 19 A man may cause the streams to flow from flinty rocks; may bring storms at will; may stay tempestuous winds; may heal the sick and raise the dead, and not be sent from God. 20 All nature is subservient to the will of man, and evil man, as well as good, have all the powers of mind, and may control the elements. 21 The head gives not the proof of true messiahship, for man by means of intellect, can never know of God, nor bring himself to walk in light. 22 Messiah lives not in the head, but in the heart, the seat of mercy and of love. 23 Messiah never works for selfish gains; he stands above the carnal self; his words and deeds are for the universal good. 24 Messiah never tries to be a king, to wear a crown and sit upon an earthly throne. 25 The king is earthy, of the earth; Messiah is the man from heaven. 26 And then the lawyer asked, Why do you pose as king? 27 And Jesus said, No man has ever heard me say that I am king. I could not sit in Caesar's place and be the Christ. 28 Give unto Caesar what belongs to him; give unto God the treasures of your heart. ....from the Aquarian Gospel of Jesus the Christ..

MINDFULNESS ...

Whatever thoughts arise it is important to stare at them.
Thus when one has a clear understanding of the mind
it is important to remain with it.
Although there is nothing to meditate upon,
it is important to remain in such meditation.
To be always attentive is my advice from the heart."

~Gyalwa Longchenpa

Live Thought or Dead? The Zen Point of View:

The Masters of Zen rarely discoursed. Discoursing they regarded as one
of the obstacles to enlightenment, for it encouraged and developed the
wrong kind of thinking - that 'mentation' or 'intellection' which
affirms our false identification with a fictitious ego.

'The ignorant are delighted with discoursing,' the Lankavatara Sutra
states, 'discoursing is a source of suffering in the triple world.' We
would not doubt it; yes, indeed, but when the Lanka says that
discoursing is a source of suffering it means more particularly that
it is a hindrance to the removal of ignorance, and so perpetuates our
normal state of suffering.

But, nowadays, what was meant by discoursing is chiefly represented by
books. In books, as conventionally and commercially produced today, no
idea can be conveyed in less than about ten thousand words - with
apologies for not making it a hundred thousand, in which form it would
have been much 'better'. No chance for anyone to think except the author!

Yet, when ideas are buried in a haystack of verbiage, who remembers
them, and, conversely, when ideas are concisely expressed, who pays
any attention to them? The most vital statements of the sages and
prophets, even of the Buddha and Jesus, are not taken seriously -
presumably because they are not served up in a sauce that conceals
their flavor and substitutes its own.

Instead of apologizing for not burying their ideas even more deeply in
verbiage would not modern authors do better to apologize whenever they
are unable to express an idea more concisely than in, say, one
thousand words? Ideas may vary in the amount of expression they need,
for many a hundred words should be ample. After all, the more fully
ex-pressed the less juice there remains in them, the more complete the
exposition the more dead they are on delivery; ideas mummified in
words are only museum specimens.

The ideas of the Masters, expressed in half a dozen words, are still
alive after centuries, but they are fingers pointing to intuitional
understanding, not fossilized examples of intellection.

NOTHINGNESS - NONEXISTENCE - ALLNESS

Nothingness = Is to Efface One’s Self from One’s Own Self.

Nonexistence = Is becoming nonexistent of the Self in the Self.

Allness = Is to claim one’s Essence-Self, is to Discover One’s Self in One’s Own Self.

Now, let Us disclose them, one by one:

1 - Nothingness is the Teaching System of the First Totality of All-Truthful. Here, to get rid of the Individual Egos as a result of an operation made parallel to the Evolutionary Scales is the applied operational Plan of the Programs of attaining Universal Consciousness and under the Light of this Consciousness, to efface One’s Self from One’s Own Self - To become Purified - To Transcend - To Attain.

2 - Nonexistence - the Field between the First Totality and the Second Totality is called the Subtle Dimension (That means between Two Totalities of Truth). Those who dive into the Consciousness of that very Dimension are lost in the Consciousness of Nonexistence. In this Dimension, Your entire Self and Your Cellular Awareness attain such a Whole that You become Nonexistent in Your Self. You can receive the Permission to pass to the Second Totality of Truth only after You attain this Awareness of Nonexistence. This is the very reason why this Dimension is called the Dimension of Nonexistence.

3 - Whereas, Allness is Your claiming, as a Totalistic Consciousness, Your Light of Consciousness and Self which have been lost in this Dimension of Nonexistence. This is a boundary of attaining one’s Own Essence Self, of claiming one’s Own Being, and the Gate of the Second Totality of All-Truthful opens after this very Dimension.

Each Consciousness who attains the entire Evolutionary Fulfillment (Religious and Universal) of the First Totality receives the Permission to pass to the Subtle Dimension. In this Dimension, one becomes Nonexistent. And one attains the Totality within this Nonexistence. And only afterwards, can You enter the Second Totality of Truth.

In this very Totality, You, from then on, appear with Your Genuine guise, Your Consciousness Light sheds Light on Eternities, not to be turned off ever again and from then on, You become the Sovereign of Yourself. Even though these Boundaries are easy to articulate, they are Mediums very difficult to attain.

During this Final Dimension of Transition, it is Our greatest wish that everyone can attain himself/herself without turning off his/her Light of Consciousness and that he/she can kindle the Torch of the morrows. All Evolutionary and Universal operations made on this path are investments made towards Humanity’s attaining this Consciousness Light. It is presented for Your Information...........

From WORLD BROTHERHOOD UNION UNIVERSAL UNIFICATION CENTER

To Return Home......

All of the books, poems, paintings, lectures, words and prayers are
unnessary when all you need to know is that you are Love and to Love you will
return..........namaste, thomas

SPIRITUALITY....

"Stripped of all its outer encrustations, spirituality emerges as a science, as scientific as any other, as verifiable in its results. Let any seeker take it up and let him create in the laboratory of the soul the conditions that are prerequisite; as sure as the day follows the night shall he rise into the Kingdom of God."

Kashmir Shaivism's 15 Verses of Wisdom...

1. The brilliance of the One Being's light does not vanish in external light or in darkness because all light and darkness resides in the supreme light of God Consciousness.
2. This Being is called Lord Siva. He is the nature and existence of all beings. The external objective world is the expansion of His Energy and it is filled with the glamour of the glory of God Consciousness.

3. Siva and Sakti are not aware that they are separate. They are interconnected just as fire is one with heat.

4. He is the God Bhairava. He creates, protects, destroys, conceals, and reveals His nature through the cycle of this world. This whole universe is created by God in His own nature, just as one finds the reflection of the world in a mirror.

5. The collective state of the universe is His supreme Energy (Sakti), which He created in order to recognize His own nature. This (Sakti), who is the embodiment of the collective state of the universe, loves possessing the state of God Consciousness. She is in the state of ignorance, remaining perfectly complete and full in each and every object.

6. The supreme Lord Siva, who is all-pervasive and fond of playing and falling, together with the Energy of His own nature simultaneously brings about the varieties of creation and destruction.

7. This supreme action cannot be accomplished by any other power in this universe except Lord 'Siva, who is completely independent, perfectly glorious and intelligent.

8. The limited state of consciousness is insentient and cannot simultaneously expand itself to become the various forms of the universe. The possessor of independence is absolutely different from that insentient state of consciousness. You cannot, therefore, recognize Him in only one way. The moment you recognize Him in one way you will also recognize Him in the other way.

9. This Lord Siva, who is completely independent (svatantra), has the diversity of creation and destruction existing in His own nature. And, at the same time, this diversity is found existing in its own way as the field of ignorance.

10. In this world you will find varieties of creation and destruction, some of which are created in the upper cycle, some of which are created below, and some of which are even created sideways. Attached to these worlds smaller portions of worlds are created. Pain, pleasure, and intellectual power are created according to the status of being. This is the world.

11. If you do not understand that there is actually no span of time, this misunderstanding is also the independence (svatantrya) of Lord Siva. This misunderstanding results in worldly existence (samsara). And those who are ignorant are terrified by worldly existence.

12. & 13. When, because the grace of Lord Siva is showered upon you, or due to the teachings or vibrating force of your Master, or through understanding the scriptures concerned with Supreme Siva, you attain the real knowledge of reality, that is the existent state of Lord Siva, and that is final liberation. This fullness is achieved by elevated souls and is called liberation in this life (jivanmukti).

14. These two cycles, bondage and liberation, are the play of Lord Siva and nothing else. They are not separate from Lord Siva because differentiated states have not risen at all. In reality, nothing has happened to Lord Siva.

15. In this way the Lord, Bhairava, the essence of all being, has held in His own way in His own nature, the three great energies: the energy of will (iccha-sakti), the energy of action (kriya-sakti), and the energy of knowledge (jnana-sakti). These three energies are just like that trident which is the three-fold lotus. And seated on this lotus is Lord Bhairava, who is the nature of the whole universe of 118 worlds.

16. I, Abhinavagupta, have written and revealed these verses for some of my dear disciples who have very little intellectual understanding. For those disciples, who are deeply devoted to me, I have composed these fifteen verses just to elevate them instantaneously.

Source: Self Realization in Kashmir Shaivism by John Hughes pp. 21-34; State University of New York Press

The Gospel of Buddha...chap.fourteen by Paul Carus circa 1894

The Blessed One having attained Buddhahood while resting under the shepherd's Nigrodha tree
on the banks of the river Neranyjara, pronounced this solemn utterance: [1]

"How blest in happy solitude
Is he who hears of truth the call!
How blest to be both kind and good,
To practice self-restraint to all!
How blest from passion to be free,
All sensuous joys to let pass by!
Yet highest bliss enjoyeth he
Who quits the pride of 'I am I.' [2]
"I have recognized the deepest truth,
which is sublime and peace-giving,
but difficult to understand;
for most men move in a sphere of worldly interests
and find their delights in worldly desires. [3]

"The worldling will not understand the doctrine,
for to him there is happiness in selfhood only,
and the bliss that lies in a complete surrender to truth
is unintelligible to him. [4]

"He will call resignation what to the enlightened mind is the purest joy.
He will see annihilation where the perfected one finds immortality.
He will regard as death what the conqueror of self knows to be life everlasting. [5]

"The truth remains hidden from him who is in the bondage of hate and desire.
Nirvana remains incomprehensible and mysterious
to the vulgar whose minds are beclouded with worldly interests.
Should I preach the doctrine and mankind not comprehend it,
it would bring me only fatigue and trouble." [6]

Mara, the Evil One, on hearing the words of the Blessed Buddha,
approached and said: "Be greeted, thou Holy One.
Thou hast attained the highest bliss
and it is time for thee to enter into the final Nirvana." [7]

Then Brahma Sahampati descended from the heavens
and, having worshipped the Blessed One, said: [8]

"Alas! the world must perish,
should the Holy One, the Tathagata, decide not to teach the Dharma. [9]

"Be merciful to those that struggle;
have compassion upon the sufferers;
pity the creatures who are hopelessly entangled in the snares of sorrow. [10]

"There are some beings that are almost free from the dust of worldliness.
If they hear not the doctrine preached, they will be lost.
But if they hear it, they will believe and be saved." [11]

The Blessed One, full of compassion,
looked with the eye of a Buddha upon all sentient creatures,
and he saw among them beings whose minds were but scarcely covered by the dust of worldliness,
who were of good disposition and easy to instruct.
He saw some who were conscious of the dangers of lust and wrong doing. [12]

And the Blessed One said to Brahma Sahampati:
"Wide open be the door of immortality to all who have ears to hear.
May they receive the Dharma with faith." [13]

And the Blessed One turned to Mara, saying:
"I shall not pass into the final Nirvana, O Evil One,
until there be not only brethren and sisters of an Order,
but also lay-disciples of both sexes,
who shall have become true hearers, wise, well-trained, ready and learned,
versed in the scriptures, fulfilling all the greater and lesser duties,
correct in life, walking according to the precepts -
until they, having thus themselves learned the doctrine,
shall be able to give information to others concerning it,
preach it, make it known, establish it,
open it, minutely explain it, and make it clear -
until they, when others start vain doctrines,
shall be able to vanquish and refute them,
and so to spread the wonder-working truth abroad.
I shall not die until the pure religion of truth shall have become successful,
prosperous, wide-spread and popular in all its full extent -
until, in a word, it shall have been well proclaimed among men!" [14]

Then Brahma Sahampati understood that the Blessed One had granted his request
and would preach the doctrine. [15]

Jesus in Jerusalem. Drives the merchants out of the temple. The priests resent, and he defends himself from the standpoint of a loyal Jew.

THE Jewish paschal feast time came and Jesus left his mother in Capernaum and journeyed to Jerusalem. 2 And he abode with one a Sadducee, whose name was Jude. 3 And when he reached the temple courts the multitudes were there to see the prophet whom the people thought had come to break the yoke of Rome, restore the kingdom of the Jews, and rule on David's throne. 4 And when the people saw him come they said, All hail! behold the king! 5 But Jesus answered not; he saw the money changers in the house of God, and he was grieved. 6 The courts had been converted into marts of trade, and men were selling lambs and doves for offerings in sacrifice. 7 And Jesus called the priests and said, Behold, for paltry gain you have sold out the temple of the Lord. 8 This house ordained for prayer is now a den of thieves. Can good and evil dwell together in the courts of God? I tell you, no. 9 And then he made a scourge of cords and drove the merchants out; he overturned their boards, and threw their money on the floor. 10 He opened up the cages of the captive birds, and cut the cords that bound the lambs, and set them free. 11 The priests and scribes rushed out, and would have done him harm, but they were driven back; the common people stood in his defence. 12 And then the rulers said, Who is this Jesus you call king? 13 The people said, He is the Christ of whom our prophets wrote; he is the king who will deliver Israel. 14 The rulers said to Jesus, Man, if you be king, or Christ, then show us signs. Who gave you right to drive these merchants out? 15 And Jesus said, There is no loyal Jew who would not give his life to save this temple from disgrace; in this I acted simply as a loyal Jew, and you yourselves will bear me witness to this truth. 16 The signs of my messiahship will follow me in words and deeds. 17 And you may tear the temple down (and you will tear it down) and in three days it will be built again more glorious than before. 18 Now Jesus meant that they might take his life; tear down his body, temple of the Holy Breath, and he would rise again. 19 The Jews knew not the meaning of his words; they laughed his claims to scorn. They said, 20 A multitude of men were forty and six years in building up this house, and this young stranger claims that he will build it up in three score hours; his words were idle, and his claims are naught. 21 And then they took the scourge with which he drove the merchants out, and would have driven him away; but Philo, who had come from Egypt to attend the feast, stood forth and said, 22 You men of Israel, hear! This man is more than man; take heed to what you do. I have, myself, heard Jesus speak, and all the winds were still. 23 And I have seen him touch the sick, and they were healed. He stands a sage above the sages of the world; 24 And you will see his star arise, and it will grow until it is full-orbed Sun of Righteousness. 25 Do not be hasty, men; just wait and you will have the proofs of his messiahship. 26 And then the priests laid down the scourge, and Jesus said, 27 Prepare, O Israel, prepare to meet your king! But you can never see the king while you press sin as such a precious idol to your hearts. 28 The king is God; the pure in heart alone can see the face of God and live. 29 And then the priests cried out, This fellow claims to be the God. Is not this sacrilege! away with him! 30 But Jesus said, No man has ever heard me say, I am a king. Our Father-God is king. With every loyal Jew I worship God. 31 I am the candle of the Lord aflame to light the way; and while you have the light walk in the light...............from "The Aquarian Gospel of Jesus the Christ"

Unaware People by Vernon Howard...

"The whole problem is to get an unaware person to see that he is
unaware, which is not easy. How can he see what he will not see?
But there are ways, and one of them is to listen to the lesson of
suffering. But even this lesson is resisted, for people love their
pains in preference to reality. This is because they have not as
yet tasted freedom. An animal accustomed to the confining comforts
of his cage will fear the open spaces, and will snap at whoever
tries to force him out."

The ESSENE GOSPEL OF PEACE ....

And then many sick and maimed came to Jesus, asking him. "if you know all things, tell us, why do we suffer with these grievous plagues? Why are we not whole like other men? Master, heal us, that we too may be made strong, and need abide no longer in our misery. We know that you have it in your power to heal all manner of disease. Free us from Satan and from all his great afflictions. Master, have compassion on us."

And Jesus answered- "Happy are you that you hunger for the truth, for I will satisfy you with the bread of wisdom. Happy are you, that you knock, for I will open to you the door of life. Happy are you, that you would cast off the power of Satan, for I will lead you into the kincdom of our Mother's angels, where the power of Satan cannot enter."

And they asked him in amazement: "Who is our Mother and which her angels? And where is her kingdom?"

"Your Mother is in you, and you in her. She bore you she gives you life. it was she who gave to you your body, and to her shall you one day give it back again. Happy are you when you come to know her and her kingdom; if you receive your Mother's angels and if you do her laws. I tell you truly, he who does these things shall never see disease. For the power of our Mother is above all. And it destroys Satan and his kingdom, and has rule over all your bodies and all living things.

"The blood which runs in us is born of the blood of our Earthly Mother. Her blood falls from the clouds; leaps from the womb of the earth; babbles in the brooks of the mountains; flows wide in the rivers of the plains; sleeps in the lakes; rages mightily in tempestuous seas.

"The air which we breathe is born of the breath of our Earthly Mother. Her breath is azure in the heights of t heavens; soughs in the tops of the mountains; whispers the leaves of the forest; billows over the cornfields; slumbers in the deep valleys, burns hot in the desert.

"The hardness of our bones is born of the bones of our Earthly Mother, of the rocks and of the stones. They stand naked to the heavens on the tops of mountains; are as giants that lie sleeping on the sides of the mountains, as idols set in the desert, and are hidden in the deepness of the earth.

"The tenderness of our flesh is born of the flesh of our Earthly Mother; whose flesh waxes yellow and red in the fruits of the trees, and nurtures us in the furrows of the fields.

"Our bowels are born of the bowels of our Earthly Mother, and are hid from our eyes, like the invisible depths of the earth.

"The light of our eyes, the hearing of our ears, both are born of the colors and the sounds of our Earthly Mother; which enclose us about, as the waves of the sea a fish, as the eddying air a bird.

"I tell you in very truth, Man is the Son of the Earthly Mother, and from her did the Son of Man receive his whole body, even as the body of the newborn babe is born of the womb of his mother. I tell you truly, you are one with the Earthly Mother; she is in you, and you in her. Of her were you born, in her do you live, and to her shall you return again. Keep, therefore, her laws, for none can live long, neither be happy, but he who honors his Earthly Mother and does her laws. For your breath is her breath; your blood her blood; your bone her bone; your flesh her flesh; your bowels her bowels; your eyes and your ears are her eyes and her ears.

"I tell you truly, should you fail to keep but one only of all these laws, should you harm but one only of all your body's members, you shall be utterly lost in your grievous sickness, and there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth. I tell you, unless you follow the laws of your Mother, you can in no wise escape death. And he who clings to the laws of his Mother, to him shall his Mother cling also. She shall heal all his plagues, and he shall never become sick. She gives him long life, and protects him from all afflictions; from fire, from water, from the bite of venomous serpents. For your Mother bore you, keeps life within you. She has given you her body, and none but she heals you. Happy is he who loves his Mother and lies quietly in her bosom. For your Mother loves you, even when you turn away from her. And how much more shall she love you, if you turn to her again? I tell you truly, very great is her love, greater than the greatest of mountains, deeper than the deepest seas. And those who love their Mother, she never deserts them. As the hen protects her chickens, as the lioness her cubs, as the mother her newborn babe, so does the Earthly Mother protect the Son of Man from all danger and from all evils.

Essenes

The Essenes were a third religious sect during the time of Christ that lived away from the towns. Instead they lived in simple communities. The Essenes practiced the seventh day sabbath, believed in reincarnation, non-violence to all living creatures and the sharing of all material possesions. They were uninvolved in the politics of the Sadducees and Pharisees and shunned publicity. Because of the discovery of dead sea scroll material, this ancient sect and their teachings are back alive. The dead sea scrolls were hidden by this ancient people long ago in the caves of Qumram. Josephus writing around 80 A.D. said that the Essenes were Jews by birth but seemed to have a greater affection for one another than they did for the Pharisees and Sadducees. Their piety toward God was extraordinary. They wore chitw garments. They used no profanity. They were ministers of peace and they spent a great deal of time studying the writings of the ancients.
The Dead Sea Scrolls were found in 1945, yet it took 50 years for the information to leak out about thes extraordinary people. What was so shocking to the scholars who examined the ancient documents was that there was a community of people practicing Christianity, or something very close to it, for at least 200 years before the time of Christ. Both the practice of baptism and of the sharing of the wine are recorded as part of their practices long before Jesus and John the Baptist popularized them.

The Dead Sea Scrolls Deception is a book that details the explosive contents of the Dead Sea Scrolls and how the Church conspired to suppress them. Another startling fact was that the type of society that the Essenes had practiced for 200 years was very similiar to early Christianity recorded in the book of Acts. This important scriptural document shows that the early christian sect lived in communities and encouraged its members to hold all of its possesions in common, just like the Essenes did for the previous two centuries!

Another amazing discovery was made in 1923. Edmond Bordeaux Szekely was able to discover Essene documents in the secret archives of the Vatican. In his book The Discovery of the Essene Gospel of Peace, he tells the story of how two chess players helped him meet the renowned Msgr. Angelo Mercati, Prefect of the Vatican Archives. He told the Prefect of his desire to learn all he could of the Saint called Francis. He was allowed to research the vast 25 miles of bookshelves containing scrolls, parchments, paper manuscripts and codices. Within the labarinth he found an aramaic translation of The Essene Gospel of Peace as well as the The Essene Book of Revelation. His research led him to seek out the Benedictine monastary of Monte Cassino. He was allowed, because of a letter of Msgr. had written granting access to the large vitrines in the Scriptorium. There he found the original Hebrew codices of The Essene Gospel of Peace, the source for the Aramaic version found at the secret Vatican Archives.

The Dialogue of the Savior Translated by Stephen Emmel

The Savior said to his disciples, "Already the time has come, brothers, for us to abandon our labor and stand at rest. For whoever stands at rest will rest forever. And I say to you, be always above [...] time [...] you [...] be afraid of [...] you [...] anger is fearful [...] arouse anger [...] but since you have [...] they accepted these words concerning it with fear and trembling, and it set them up with governors, for from it nothing was forthcoming. But when I came, I opened the path, and I taught them about the passage which they will traverse, the elect and solitary, who have known the Father, having believed the truth and all the praises while you offered praise.

"So when you offer praise, do so like this: Hear us, Father, just as you heard your only-begotten son, and received him, and gave him rest from any [...] You are the one whose power [...] your armor [...] is [...] light [...] living [...] touch [...] the word [...] repentance [...] life [...] you. You are the thinking and the entire serenity of the solitary. Again: Hear us just as you heard your elect. Through your sacrifice, these will enter; through their good works, these have saved their souls from these blind limbs, so that they might exist eternally. Amen.

"I will teach you. When the time of dissolution arrives, the first power of darkness will come upon you. Do not be afraid and say "Behold! The time has come!" But when you see a single staff ... (3 lines indecipherable) ... understand [...] the work [...] and the governors [...] come upon you [...]. Truly, fear is the power [...]. So if you are going to be afraid of what is about to come upon you, it will engulf you. For there is not one among them who will spare you or show you mercy. But in this way, look at the [...] in it, since you have mastered every word on earth. It [...] take you up to the [...] place where there is no rule [...] tyrant. When you [...] you will see those who [...] and also [...] tell you [...] the reasoning power [...] reasoning power [...] place of truth [...] but [...]. But you [...] truth, this [...] living [...] and your joy [...]. So [...] in order that [...] your souls [...] lest it [...] the word [...] raise... (3 lines indecipherable) ... For the crossing place is fearful before you. But you, with a single mind, pass it by! For its depth is great; its height is enormous [...] single mind [...] and the fire [...] [...] all the powers [...] you, they [...] and the powers [...] they [...][...] soul [...] [...] in everyone [...] you are the [...] and [...] forget [...] son [...] and you [...][...]."

Matthew said, "How [...][...]?"
The Savior said "[...] the things inside you [...] will remain, you [...]."
Judas said, "Lord [...] the works [...] these souls, these [...], these little ones, when [...] where will they be? [...] the spirit [...]?"
The Lord said, "[...] receive them. These do not die, [...] they are not destroyed, for they have known their consorts and him who would receive them. For the truth seeks out the wise and the righteous."

The Savior said, "The lamp of the body is the mind. As long as the things inside you are set in order, that is, [...], your bodies are luminous. As long as your hearts are dark, the luminosity you anticipate [...] I have [...] I will go [...] my word [...] I send [...]."
His disciples said, "Lord, who is it who seeks, and [...] reveals?"
The Lord said to them, "He who seeks [...] reveals [...]."
Matthew said, "Lord, when I [...] and when I speak, who is it who [...] and who listens?"
The Lord said, "It is the one who speaks who also listens, and it is the one who can see who also reveals."

Mary said, "Lord, behold! Whence do I bear the body while I weep, and whence while I [laugh]?"
The Lord said, "[...] weeps on account of its works [...] remain and the mind laughs [...][...] spirit. If one does not [...] darkness, he will be able to see [...]. So I tell you [...] light is the darkness [...] stand in [...] not see the light [...] the lie [...] they brought them from [...]. You will give [...] and [...] exist forever. [...][...] ever. Then all the powers which are above, as well as those below, will [...] you. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth over the end of all these things."

Judas said, "Tell us, Lord, what was [...] before the heaven and the earth existed."
The Lord said, "There was darkness and water, and spirit upon water. And I say to you [...] what you seek after [...] inquire after [...] within you [...] the power and the mystery [...] spirit, for from [...] wickedness [...] come [...] mind [...] behold [...][...]."
[...] said, "Lord, tell us where the [...] is established, and where the true mind exists."
The Lord said, "The fire of the spirit came into existence [...] both. On this account, the [...] came into existence, and the true mind came into existence within them [...]. If someone sets his soul up high, then he will be exalted."
And Matthew asked him, "[...] took [...], it is he who [...]."
The Lord said, "[...] stronger than [...] you [...] to follow you and all the works [...] your hearts. For just as your hearts [...], so [...] the means to overcome the powers above, as well as those below [...]. I say to you, let him who possesses power renounce it and repent. And let him who [...] seek and find and rejoice."

Judas said, "Behold! I see that all things exist [...] like signs upon [...]. On this account did they happen thus."
The Lord said, "When the Father established the cosmos, he [...] water from it, and his Word came forth from it, and it inhabited many [...]. It was higher than the path [...] surrounds the entire earth [...] the collected water [...] existing outside them. [...] the water, a great fire encircling them like a wall. [...] time once many things had become separated from what was inside. When the [...] was established, he looked [...], and said to it, 'Go, and [...] from yourself, in order that [...] be in want from generation to generation, and from age to age.' Then it cast forth from itself fountains of milk and fountains of honey, and oil and wine and good fruits, and sweet flavor and good roots, in order that it might not be deficient from generation to generation, and from age to age. And it is above [...] standing [...] its beauty [...] and outside there was a great light, powerful [...] resemble it, for it [...] rules over all the aeons above and below. [...] was taken from the fire [...] it was scattered in the [...] above and below. All the works which depend on them, it is they [...] over the heaven above and over the earth below. On them depend all the works."
And when Judas heard these things, he bowed down, and he [...], and he offered praise to the Lord.

The Dialogue of the Saviour...

c. 150 C.E.
The single surviving copy of the Dialogue of the Savior was discovered within the Coptic library at Nag Hammadi in 1945. Despite its badly damaged state, it represents an important stage of development in the Sayings Gospel tradition. The "dialogue" is an expansion of the pure sayings collections like the Gospel of Thomas or Q; the teachings of Jesus are narrated in response to questions from his disciples. This trend continued its development in the extended discourses of the Gospel of John. Although the sayings have parallels in all four canonical gospels as well as Thomas, it is unlikely that the Dialogue is directly dependent upon any of them; the sayings source may have been composed as early as the mid-first century.

In addition to the sayings, the author seems to have used at least three other sources: a creation myth, a catalog of cosmological wisdom, and an apocalyptic revelation. The combination of these, as well as an introductory Gnostic prayer, forms a complete lesson in eschatology, despite its lack of smooth transitory elements. The term "Savior" is probably a late addition by the final redactor.

The teachings in the Dialogue were probably intended for Christian initiates preparing for baptism. We are told how to attain the knowledge necessary for our souls to make the heavenly journey, of which the saved may know but cannot "see" while still possessing a body of flesh. Like most Gnostic teachings, the text was kept secret and was never accepted by the developing orthodox Church.

The Bhagavad-Gita Translated by Dr. Ramananda Prasad

The Gita is a doctrine of universal truth. Its message is universal, sublime, and non-sectarian although it is a part of the scriptural trinity of Sanaatana Dharma, commonly known as Hinduism. The Gita is very easy to understand in any language for a mature mind. A repeated reading with faith will reveal all the sublime ideas contained in it. A few abstruse statements are interspersed here and there but they have no direct bearing on practical issues or the central theme of Gita. The Gita deals with the most sacred metaphysical science. It imparts the knowledge of the Self and answers two universal questions: Who am I, and how can I lead a happy and peaceful life in this world of dualities. It is a book of yoga, the moral and spiritual growth, for mankind based on the cardinal principles of Hindu religion.

The message of Gita came to humanity because of Arjuna’s unwillingness to do his duty as a warrior, because fighting involved destruction and killing. Nonviolence or Ahimsa is one of the most fundamental tenets of Hinduism. All lives, human or non-human, are sacred. This immortal discourse between the Supreme Lord, Krishna, and His devotee-friend, Arjuna, occurs not in a temple, a secluded forest, or on a mountain top but on a battlefield on the eve of a war and is recorded in the great epic, Mahaabhaarata. In Gita Lord Krishna advises Arjuna to get up and fight. This may create a misunderstanding of the principles of Ahimsa if the background of the war of Mahaabhaarata is not kept in mind. Therefore, a brief historical description is in order.

In ancient times there was a king who had two sons, Dhritaraashtra and Paandu. The former was born blind, therefore, Paandu inherited the kingdom. Paandu had five sons. They were called the Paandavs. Dhritaraashtra had one hundred sons. They were called the Kauravs. Duryodhana was the eldest of the Kauravs.

After the death of king Paandu the Paandavs became the lawful king. Duryodhana was a very jealous person. He also wanted the kingdom. The kingdom was divided into two halves between the Paandavs and the Kauravs . Duryodhana was not satisfied with his share of the kingdom. He wanted the entire kingdom for himself. He unsuccessfully planned several foul plays to kill the Paandavs and take away their kingdom. He unlawfully took possession of the entire kingdom of the Paandavs and refused to give back even an acre of land without a war. All mediation by Lord Krishna and others failed. The big war of Mahaabhaarata was thus inevitable. The Paandavs were unwilling participants. They had only two choices: Fight for their right as a matter of duty or run away from war and accept defeat in the name of peace and nonviolence. Arjuna, one of the five Paandava brothers, faced the dilemma in the battlefield whether to fight or run away from war for the sake of peace.

Arjuna’s dilemma is, in reality, the universal dilemma. Every human being faces dilemmas, big and small, in their everyday life when performing their duties. Arjuna’s dilemma was the biggest of all. He had to make a choice between fighting the war and killing his most revered guru, very dear friends, close relatives, and many innocent warriors or running away from the battlefield for the sake of preserving the peace and nonviolence. The entire seven hundred verses of the Gita is a discourse between Lord Krishna and the confused Arjuna on the battlefield of Kurukshetra near New Delhi, India, in about 3,100 years BCE. This discourse was narrated to the blind king, Dhritaraashtr, by his charioteer, Sanjaya, as an eyewitness war report.

The main objective of the Gita is to help people struggling in the darkness of ignorance cross the ocean of transmigration and reach the spiritual shore of liberation while living and working in the society. The central teaching of the Gita is the attainment of freedom or happiness from the bondage of life by doing one’s duty. Always remember the glory and greatness of the creator and do your duty efficiently without being attached to or affected by the results even if that duty may at times demand unavoidable violence. Some people neglect or give up their duty in life for the sake of a spiritual life while others excuse themselves from spiritual practices because they believe that they have no time. The Lord’s message is to sanctify the entire living process itself. Whatever a person does or thinks ought to be done for the glory and satisfaction of the Maker. No effort or cost is necessary for this process. Do your duty as a service to the Lord and humanity and see God alone in everything in a spiritual frame of mind. In order to gain such a spiritual frame of mind, personal discipline, austerity, penance, good conduct, selfless service, yogic practices, meditation, worship, prayer, rituals, and study of scriptures, as well as the company of holy persons, pilgrimage, chanting of the holy names of God, and Self-inquiry are needed to purify the body, mind, and intellect. One must learn to give up lust, anger, greed, and establish mastery over the six senses (hearing, touch, sight, taste, smell, and mind) by the purified intellect. One should always remember that all works are done by the energy of nature and that he or she is not the doer but only an instrument. One must strive for excellence in all undertakings but maintain equanimity in success and failure, gain and loss, and pain and pleasure.

Luther Burbank -- A Saint Amidst the Roses by Paramahansa Yogananda

"The secret of improved plant breeding, apart from scientific knowledge, is love." Luther Burbank uttered this wisdom as I walked beside him in his Santa Rosa garden. We halted near a bed of edible cacti.

"While I was conducting experiments to make 'spineless' cacti," he continued, "I often talked to the plants to create a vibration of love. 'You have nothing to fear,' I would tell them. 'You don't need your defensive thorns. I will protect you.' Gradually the useful plant of the desert emerged in a thornless variety."

I was charmed at this miracle. "Please, dear Luther, give me a few cacti leaves to plant in my garden at Mount Washington."

A workman standing near-by started to strip off some leaves; Burbank prevented him.

"I myself will pluck them for the swami." He handed me three leaves, which later I planted, rejoicing as they grew to huge estate.

The great horticulturist told me that his first notable triumph was the large potato, now known by his name. With the indefatigability of genius, he went on to present the world with hundreds of crossed improvements on nature—his new Burbank varieties of tomato, corn, squash, cherries, plums, nectarines, berries, poppies, lilies, roses.

I focused my camera as Luther led me before the famous walnut tree by which he had proved that natural evolution can be telescopically hastened.

"In only sixteen years," he said, "this walnut tree reached a state of abundant nut production to which an unaided nature would have brought the tree in twice that time."

Burbank's little adopted daughter came romping with her dog into the garden.

"She is my human plant." Luther waved to her affectionately. "I see humanity now as one vast plant, needing for its highest fulfillments only love, the natural blessings of the great outdoors, and intelligent crossing and selection. In the span of my own lifetime I have observed such wondrous progress in plant evolution that I look forward optimistically to a healthy, happy world as soon as its children are taught the principles of simple and rational living. We must return to nature and nature's God."

"Luther, you would delight in my Ranchi school, with its outdoor classes, and atmosphere of joy and simplicity."

My words touched the chord closest to Burbank's heart—child education. He plied me with questions, interest gleaming from his deep, serene eyes.

"Swamiji," he said finally, "schools like yours are the only hope of a future millennium. I am in revolt against the educational systems of our time, severed from nature and stifling of all individuality. I am with you heart and soul in your practical ideals of education."

As I was taking leave of the gentle sage, he autographed a small volume and presented it to me.1

"Here is my book on The Training of the Human Plant,"2 he said. "New types of training are needed—fearless experiments. At times the most daring trials have succeeded in bringing out the best in fruits and flowers. Educational innovations for children should likewise become more numerous, more courageous."

I read his little book that night with intense interest. His eye envisioning a glorious future for the race, he wrote: "The most stubborn living thing in this world, the most difficult to swerve, is a plant once fixed in certain habits. . . . Remember that this plant has preserved its individuality all through the ages; perhaps it is one which can be traced backward through eons of time in the very rocks themselves, never having varied to any great extent in all these vast periods. Do you suppose, after all these ages of repetition, the plant does not become possessed of a will, if you so choose to call it, of unparalleled tenacity? Indeed, there are plants, like certain of the palms, so persistent that no human power has yet been able to change them. The human will is a weak thing beside the will of a plant. But see how this whole plant's lifelong stubbornness is broken simply by blending a new life with it, making, by crossing, a complete and powerful change in its life. Then when the break comes, fix it by these generations of patient supervision and selection, and the new plant sets out upon its new way never again to return to the old, its tenacious will broken and changed at last.

"When it comes to so sensitive and pliable a thing as the nature of a child, the problem becomes vastly easier."

The Anti-Christ

To achieve the level of Christhood, you must defeat your Ego and
then become the opposite of Ego , which is Love.... the Supreme
Intelligence is composed of Love...... Therefore, the Anti-Christ has
always been with us, It is the selfish ego that most of us still
worship everyday.............namaste, thomas