ARE WE HAVING EQUANIMITY OF THE SOUL YET?
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WELCOME HOME TO THE GHETTO OF THE SPIRIT!
If things look familiar it's because this is where that other 90% of yourself was consigned to by the Authorities long ago, in order that you might be fitted into the age of Science and the Industrial Revolution and all that, without making too much trouble for them.
Now that that's all over with, a lot of people are spending time here, getting reacquainted with themselves, and with each other, in preparation for the coming Spiritual Revolution.
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{ from NONE OF THE ABOVE! newsletter }
By Gina Alvarez
We survivors of the hyper-evolutionary era of the 1960s are of roughly three kinds: those who had so much fun they died, those who had a little less fun and became investment bankers --- and those like me, for whom God's or Whatever's plan was that we must wander whiningly through life sniveling nearly incessantly about social justice or inner peace or, more likely, both, but doing next to nothing about either of the above.
INTIMATIONS OF I TOLD YOU SO
Now as we approach at near warp speed the fabled End of The Second Millennium and our lives, and the beginning of the even more fabled Beginning of The Age of Aquarius (actual existence not verified by any official agency) we of the third kind begin feeling Intimations of --- not quite actual Total Vindication, but of at least I Told You So.
LET ME REPHRASE THAT
As we who were indelibly stamped by the 1960s move rapidly into our own sixties, many of us find ourselves recalling some one particular experience to which we wish we had paid considerably more attention. For me it is a session with the wild and wacky genuine imported Japanese Rinzai Zen master (w&w being practically a job requirement for Rinzai guys) who, when one of the newer students asked all unawares that one most despised of all questions, "How can we achieve inner peace? Every time I close my eyes to meditate all I see is New Years Eve parties" shouted, "Oh, Inner Peace! Equanimity of the soul, huh! So you want the Buddha Mind and you want it RIGHT NOW, huh! Okay, here's how: JUST STOP LETTING PEOPLE BULLSHIT YOU! Now get out of here and leave me alone, all of you!"
Turns out he was right though.
WHO THEN ARE ALL THESE BULLSHITTERS?
Could it be all those "political leaders?" And all those "national leaders" and "community leaders" and "religious leaders" and "labor leaders" (all of the above on the take from the political parties in every state, city, town and village) we incessantly see on the teevee and read about in the newspapers ad nauseam and then some?
And the teevee and the newspapers themselves? (Even, and most often especially, the "alternative" ones?)
And those who are bullshitting themselves and each other that they are not bullshitters really?
And we who bullshit ourselves that we can't be bullshitted?
YES. ALL OF THE ABOVE.
Therefore we are printing these extensive excerpts from LIGHT ON SAINT JOHN (statements not checked for accuracy by any officious person) as a kind of test of the index of internalized bullshit. There is no time limit; we simply want to see whether you are the same person after you've read it as you are now. There is no way to flunk this test; but, even if you did, we would still love you unconditionally. Please be sure to read the important notes below before taking this test. Start reading now. Time is on your side.
IMPORTANT NOTES ON THE TEXT
Please remember that the habitual use of the masculine gender is a characteristic of the language and the culture. Most people by now understand that it is a hangover from the mostly patriarchal cultures of the last few thousand years: that men throughout the millennia have been envious because they aren't able to give birth to babies and we are, and because (with some very few exceptions) we look better in a dress than they do.
Note also that the writer assumes the reader's familiarity with concepts such as karma and reincarnation, but that belief in these is not essential to his broader argument.
Terms such as "the Father" and "the Lord" are also merely traditional, and could as easily be "the Mother" and "the Tao," and "the Oversoul," etc.
Very importantly too, words such as "God" and "Satan" are used only metaphorically, and do not imply a belief in a physically anthropomorphic deity or anti-deity. It is made very clear that such words simply point to a basic coherent power which dwells inside and outside of everything everywhere forever.
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from LIGHT ON SAINT JOHN
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About Maharaj Charan Singh:
In 1951, when he was only thirty-four years of age, Maharaj Charan Singh was called upon to receive the mantle of Mastership from his predecessor, Maharaj Jagat Singh. Throughout the forty years that he was head of the Radha Soami Satsang Beas, he gave light and wisdom to thousands of disciples, who are bound to him by ties of love and devotion.
Men and women from all walks of life have found in the Master's teachings a new hope and the promise of a meaningful spiritual life whose vast potential can be realized even while discharging worldly obligations towards family and society.
His disciples journeyed fom far and near to sit at his feet and receive the divine message, and were initiated into the mysteries of Surat Shabd Yoga, the Word, the science of the Audible Life Stream.
The Master traveled widely, teaching pure spirituality: the essence of Truth that underlies the seeming diversity of the various religions. It is only by understanding this underlying oneness and by realizing the Truth within, that peace can reign in the minds of men, in this intolerant and strife-torn world.
Maharaj Charan Singh's other books, LIGHT ON SANT MAT, SPIRITUAL DISCOURSES, QUEST FOR LIGHT, THE MASTER ANSWERS, THUS SAITH THE MASTER, LIGHT ON SAINT MATTHEW, DIE TO LIVE, and SPIRITUAL HERITAGE, have been read with keen interest by spiritual seekers all over the world. His lucid explanations and practical approach to spirituality continue to draw a large number of people to the path of God-realization.
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from the book:
INTRODUCTION
Since most of you have a Christian background, I shall try to explain the teachings of all the Saints in the light of the Bible, for their teachings exactly coincide with those contained in the Bible, if rightly understood. Rulers, priests, and politicians always try to suppress the truth. So it was in the time of Christ, and even more so in that of the Old Testament. The truth had to be spoken in veiled language so that it could be understood only by the real seekers.
Every word spoken by Christ has a deep mystic meaning. While I am no authority on the Bible, when I first read it I was amazed to find that even the little that has been handed down to us as the teachings of Jesus substantially tallies with the teachings of all true Saints, regardless of their color, religion, country, or time. The truth is always the same, but after the departure of the spiritual teacher his message is forgotten and is given the shape of organized religion with rites, ceremonies, and dogmas. Eventually all emphasis is placed on these rites and ceremonies, and the real truth is lost.
As you all know, Christ had very little time to share his teachings with the masses; he lived for only a very short period. And then, he could not stay in one place --- he moved from one place to another. He was hunted by the priests of the organized religions, who are always frightened of the popularity of the Mystics, because that generally affects their income. Unfortunately for posterity, the Bible was not written by Christ himself, nor were notes taken at the time that he spoke so that we could have his teachings verbatim. They were passed on by word of mouth, and that portion which was remembered was recorded many years after his crucifixion.
Yesterday Professor Bhatnagar read to you from Kabir --- and in this modern age you are all intellectual people --- with your best effort, if you try to reproduce today what you heard from him only twenty-four hours ago, the result will hardly be 15 percent of what he said, and that will not be in the exact words of Professor Bhatnagar --- it will be the gist of what he told you. Then, if you go and tell your friend, who has never heard Professor Bhatnagar, that this is what he said yesterday, and your friend tries to reproduce that on paper after just twenty-four hours, how much of what the professor said will by left? And if what is left is translated from one language to another language and then to a third language, perhaps only 5 percent of what Professor Bhahtnagar said will be left. This is what happens after only twenty-four hours, and the Bible was written many years after the crucifixion. And then, Christ was addressing very simple people --- some were fishermen, some farmers, some were carpenters, and so on. They were not intellectuals, men of letters. Accordingly, the precise words and statements of Christ are not with us today, though the writers of the Gospels did capture much of his meaning.
The Gospels themselves are "according" to Saint John, "according" to Saint Matthew. They were not even written by people who knew Christ personally. Moreover, the Bible has gone through many translations and through the hands of many people who wanted to suppress whatever did not suit their own selfish ends. It is a wonder that we still have so much of the mystical truth left. By translation from one language to another, many spiritual and mystical truths have been lost to the Bible, because the scholars themselves had no EXPERIENCE of what they were trying to translate. They intellectually tried to translate the teachings of Christ, but as they had no experience of their own, they did not understand many things; and in "straightening" the language in the modern versions of the Bible, much of the depth and meaning has been lost. I would say that many things which they could not understand have been eliminated.
For example, I was reading THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO THOMAS, a manuscript found in Egypt. The translator has given the original Coptic language on one page and his own translation on the opposite page, so that scholars can see whether or not he has done justice to the original. At one place is mentioned five trees which are eternal: "For you have five trees in Paradise which are unmoved in summer or in winter, and their leaves do not fall. Whoever knows them will not taste death." It must be referring to the five Sounds and five regions frequently mentioned by Mystics; at least I could not find any other meaning. It is clearly written, but nowhere found in the Bible, which suggests that much is missing from the Bible.
I have also compared parts of the King James version of the Bible with modern English versions, and there is a lot of difference. At many places the word FOOD occurs in the King James version. Now, modern editors have replaced it with the word MEAT. First it was clearly written, "Thou shalt not kill." Now they have replaced it with, "You must not murder." MURDER refers to human beings only. [Editors' note: substituting the word MURDER also allows the execution of persons condemned by the Church or the State, warfare, etc.] A thousand years from now people will probably think Moses had said this --- that is how adulteration starts. The scholars have "straightened" the English, but they have misinterpreted his teachings and misguided the people.
Fortunately, Jesus spoke in such simple language that his parables, which contained deep, hidden meanings, seemed meaningless to his contemporaries. As a result, they were not tampered with, and we still have these beautiful jewels in the Bible from which we can glean the mystical gist of his teachings and corroborate them with the teachings of Saints of ancient and of modern times. But one cannot read the bible like a novel, nor can one read it like a legal document, interpreting every sentence, every period and comma, because many links are missing. It has to be studied with concentrated attention if we want to understand its true meaning.
Saints may come into this world at any time and in any country, yet their teachings are bound to be the same. The teachings of different Saints cannot themselves be different....
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