Brother Martin answers questions:

THESE ARE BROTHER MARTIN'S THOUGHTS WHICH HE HAS SHARED ON HIS FACEBOOK PAGE:- https://web.facebook.com/johnmartinsahajananda.kuvarapu

ANY COMMENTS MAY BE MADE THROUGH HIS FACEBOOK PAGE.


Are Jesus Christ and Prophet Mohamed predicted in the Vedas?


The question was: there are some Christians who are saying that the arrival of Christ had been predicted in the Vedas (Upanishads are part of the Vedas), the sacred scriptures of Hinduism. Nowadays there are some Muslims who are claiming that the Vedas predicted the arrival of Prophet Mohamed. What is your opinion on that?

I am not an expert on the scriptures but I can only say my heart feelings about it. According to me the Upanishads, the concluding portion of Vedas, reveal a highest realisation of our spiritual evolution. 500 years before Christ they had realised that the ground of human consciousness, Atman, is one with the ground of the universe, Brahman. Ayatman brahma, Atman is Brahman, the sages declared. This does not mean a human soul is Brahman or God. It is the ground of the human soul that is one with Brahman. No human consciousness can go beyond that realisation. When Christ said, I and the Father are one, it is very similar to the Upanishad statement. So Christ was not telling anything new which was not in the human consciousness at that time but it was new to the Jewish tradition. But he integrated that experience in the context of his specific religion and specific conditions. Any prediction of the future should be higher than the present possibilities. According to my opinion any predictions of the earlier parts of the Vedas may refer to the later parts of the Vedas which fulfil the earlier parts. Each Veda has four parts: samhithas, poetry, Brahmanas, rituals, aranyakas, meditations in the forests, and the Upanishads, where the final realisations are described. The Brahmanas fulfil the samhithas, the Aranyakas fulfil the Brahmanas and the Upanishads fulfil the Aranyakas. The Upanishads are called Vedanta, the end of the Veda, the end of the search. There is nothing beyond to go. It is similar in the Bible. God gave The First Covenant or Old Covenant, where God gave external commandments to the people of Israel. God told people what they should do and should not do. Later the prophets predicted that God would make the New Covenant, in which God writes the law in the hearts of the people. Jesus Christ fulfils the First Covenant and inaugurates this New Covenant.

Any new prediction should give a higher possibility. What was the higher possibility that Jesus Christ gave which was not there in the Upanishads, 500 years before him? In his relationship with God there was nothing. In fact he only elevated his spiritual tradition equal to the Upanishadic experience of God. In the relationship with God he had nothing more to tell the Upanishad sages. His originality consisted in integrating the highest realisation of God with the highest relationship in the love of neighbour. The love of God and the love of neighbour were the two pillars of Jewish tradition. But they were dualistic love of God and dualistic love of neighbour. Jesus Christ elevated the love of God from dualistic love to non-dualistic love. He expanded the love of neighbour from the dualistic love of neighbour to the non-dualistic love of neighbour. To say 'I and the Father are one, manifests the one hundred percent love of God, it is the non-dualistic love of God. To say ‘whatever you do to the least of my brothers and sisters that you do unto me’ manifests the one hundred percent love of neighbour, it is the non-dualistic love of neighbour. For Jesus Christ, the whole of creation is his neighbour, not just human beings. He told his disciples to proclaim the good news to the whole of creation. The Vedic vision was a non-dualistic vision, which was discovered 500 years before Christ. Christianity, unfortunately, limited this non-dualistic vision only to Christ and closed it to Christians. Christians still live in the dualistic relationship with God (of course many Christian mystics transcended this dualistic relationship). It is my opinion that Jesus Christ opened the possibility of non-dualistic realationship with God to all human beings. Whereas the Vedic vision, at least non- dualistic system, opens this possibility to every human being.

 When some Muslim brothers claim that the prophet Mohamed is predicted in the Vedas and Indian scriptures, the question is : whether prophet Mohamed gave a higher possibility of divine-human relationship than given by the Vedas? The vision of Prophet Mohamed is that God is the creator and every human being is a creature of God. There will be a gulf between God and creatures even after our death. The will of God is revealed in the Quran and people have to obey the Quran.

The Vedic vision says that God is not a creator but God manifests this creation. This creation is the manifestation of Brahman, Sarvam khalvidam brahma, All of this is brahman. Human beings are not creatures but manifestations of God. Human beings have the potential to realise that they are ultimately one with God. It does not mean a human being becomes another God, since there is only one God. The Vedas affirmed this truth: ekam sat viprabahuthi vadanthi, there is only one infinite being, or God, but sages call it by many names. Creation and human beings are like a ray of light that comes from the Sun and has the possibility to return to the Sun. The possibility that the vision of prophet Mohamed gives is lower than the possibility that the Vedic tradition gives. (Of course the Sufi tradition goes higher than creator - creature relationship.) Any prediction should give a higher possibility. So how can Vedas predict a possibility that is lower than their realisation? It does not make sense. A sage who has realised that the ground of his consciousness, Atman, is one with the ground of the universe, Brahman, cannot say that there will appear someone in the future who will say, 'God is our creator and we are only creatures of God'. It is my opinion, I may be wrong, that whatever is predicted in the early part of the Vedas is fulfilled in the Upanishads, the concluding portion of the Vedas. They do not refer to Jesus Christ or Prophet Mohamed.

I feel that it is not very charitable on the part of some Christians and some Muslims brothers to read their expansionistic and truimphalistic intentions in the Vedic tradition. The Vedic sages were universal spirits. They do not belong to any particular religion. They are like stars that illumine all people and all times. They have no ambition to expand their boundaries and increase their numbers because their truth embraces all people and for all times. They see the whole of creation as one family. Their truth has no boundaries. It is only relative truth or fragmented truth that seeks to expand its boundaries and increase its numbers. The earth is one but human beings make artificial boundaries on it. Boundaries are man-made. People want to die for it and kill for it. This does not make sense. Only those who live within their boundaries and think that only their boundary has the truth want to expand their boundaries and increase their numbers. Those who see the earth as one unit, do not have this ambition and do not need this ambition. They live in vasudaiva Kutumbakam, (the world is one family). and live for the welfare of the whole of humanity and creation: Loka Samastha sukhino bhavanthu, may all beings in the world be happy.

I have to say with all humility that I am very grateful to the Upanishads because they have helped me to understand Christ in a higher way than presented in my Christian tradition.



QUESTION:

If there is One God, why many religions?


The question was if God is one, why are there many religions? Religions belong to the historical manifestations of the infinite Truth of God. God or truth is one. This God had two aspects: eternal and historical. When Moses asked God his name: first God said, I am what I am. It was difficult for Moses to understand, so God tells him, I am the God of Abraham , Isaac and Jacob. The first one refers to the eternal aspect of God. The second one belongs to the historical aspects of God. This God of Abraham is not limited to one particular religion but belongs to all religions manifested in the human history. Each religion is unique because it is an answer to a particular situation and particular question in the human history. The important question of Vedic sages had been: who am I? What is my eternal self? They discovered I am Brahman. Brahman is my eternal self. What is the relationship between wisdom and action? The Bhagavad Gita reveals that wisdom and action should be brought together in Love. Krishna represents wisdom, Arjuna represents action. They are united in Love. Arjuna loves Krishna and Krishna loves Arjuna. They are in the same chariot. Love is wisdom manifesting in action.

The Buddha's question was: what is the cause of suffering? He discovered that desire was the cause of suffering. He taught the eight fold path to free oneself from desire and free from suffering. This state of freedom is called Nirvana. To achieve Nirvana is the ultimate goal of our life.

Moses brought people from the slavery of Egypt. They never thought for themselves. He needed to organise people to live together in a new land. He received the Ten commandments as a model for a new community. The Torah is the divine voice for their community.

Jesus Christ was confronted with many questions. His people were under Roman occupation looking for a liberator. The society was divided righteous people and unrighteous people. There were economic inequities, rich and poor, there was religious and social oppression, there were also personal questions like, who am I? What is the cause of suffering? What is salvation? The answer he found was the Kingdom of God. He realised that in the ground of his being he was one with God. The Father and I are one, he said. Come to me all those who are suffering I give you rest, freedom. He said that God loves both the righteous and the unrighteous and wants everyone to be saved. Salvation is not after death but in this life realising our human dignity, you are the light of the world, he declared. He said that everyone is the unique manifestation of God and we need to see God in every person and help the poor and the needy. Real liberation is not external but internal. The kingdom of God is the fullness of the love of God manifesting in the fullness of love of neighbour. Love is wisdom manifesting in action. Love is the realisation of our unity with God and with the whole of creation and living our life in relationships from that wisdom.

The prophet Mohammed faced different social conditions. There were many tribes. Each tribe having it's own god. Tribes fighting with each other. The consequence was the death of many men and existing of many widows. The girl children were not wanted. Female infanticide was prevalent. Other groups like Christians and Jews had their prophets and scriptures but these people had no prophet and scripture. His concerns received an answer: he was called to be a prophet. He was given a scripture. He was called to proclaim one God which can unite all the tribes. He integrated the Jewish and Christian scriptures and giving his own original interpretation and rejecting some beliefs like Trinity, Jesus as the Son of God, and the death of Christ on the cross. He presents himself as the last prophet recognising all the prophets that went before him and presenting Quran as the last word of God. After that there are also many religions like Sikhism, Baha'i, which are a response to different social circumstances.

In this sense each religion is conditioned in its encounter with God. But the God of eternity transcends historical situations. We need to encounter God with our own specific questions that arise in our present situations. I am not sure if we can ever say that we have a last word on God or Truth in its historical manifestation. Of course there is a last word in realising the unity with the eternal truth. The Upanishads sages realised it 500 years before Christ, they said, aham Brahma asmi , I am Brahman. It is the experience of unity with God and with the whole of creation and loving creation as the manifestation of God. After 500 years Christ had this experience in his own unique way in the Jewish tradition. After him many had this experience of unity in their own unique ways. Great Hindu sages, Sufi mystics in Islam, Kabbalists in Judaism, Christian mystics, Guru Nanak and many holy persons of Sikhism had this experience of unity. But the historical manifestations of this eternal truth are somewhat conditioned .We need to listen to the questions that arise today and go with them to the source of living waters and reform our social, political and religious beliefs and structures. If we absolutize our social, political and religious structures we contribute for divisions and violence in the world. Historical manifestations of truth are like a pot of water that we receive from the river of eternal truth. We should not be satisfied with it. It should point us always to the ever flowing river of eternal truth. Then we will not fight in the name of religions or God, we will not convert people from one religion to another religion but will direct people always to the living river of eternal truth.


QUESTION:

Who is the real saviour: Krishna or Christ?


The question was: recently there was a debate going on in Andhra Pradesh on the question: who is the real saviour, Krishna or Christ? It was a kind of public debate between a Protestant Christian and a Hindu. The Christian was trying to prove that Krishna cannot be the saviour. The Hindu was trying to prove that Christ cannot be the saviour. Both used their scriptures and other’s scriptures.. What is your opinion?

First thing is to understand what we mean by salvation? In Hinduism salvation means moksha or liberation. Negatively it is freedom from birth, death and reincarnation. The cycle of birth, death and reincarnation is called samsara. Moksha means freedom from samsara. All Hindus desire Moksha, freedom from samsara. They do not wish to be born again. Positively it is union of the human soul with God. Hindus believe that human birth is the product of previous karma and people will continue to reincarnate until they realise their union with God. The final state of union with God depends on what type of philosophical system in Hinduism one believes. Hinduism is not one religion but it is a congregation of many religions or belief systems. There are many belief systems within Hinduism like: Advaita-non-duality, (Sri Shankara) Visista advaita- qualified non-duality (Sri Ramanuja), dvaita- duality (Sri Madhva), dvaita-Advaita (Sri Nimbarka), bedha-abedha- Difference and non difference (Sri Caithanya) and Sakthism, those who believe that Sakthi is the supreme Goddess. All these systems are different views on the nature of God, creation and human soul. In advaita understanding, salvation means realising that we are one with Brahman or God. Aham Brahma asmi, I am Brahman, tat vam asi, you are Brahman. According to Visista Advaita, it is to be in union with God, not to be one with God. It is an experience in which we can only say ‘I am in God and God is in me’, but we cannot say’ I and God are one’. In dvaita, duality, we are in the presence of God but we are not so close to God, we maintain certain distance from God. According to Advaita the way to salvation is Jnana, wisdom. It is called Jnana marga, the path of wisdom. According to Visista Advaita, the way to salvation is self- surrender, prapathi, bhakthi is understood as self-surrender. So it is the path of Bhakti, bhakthi marga. According to dvaita system, the way to salvation is both karma and bhakthi. Good actions and devotion purify one’s ego to enter into the presence of God. In the Bhagavad Gita Krishna gives various paths or ways for salvation. Each chapter is one way to salvation. In the last chapter he says, if a person is not able to follow any path, then he tells to Arjuna, renouncing all dharmas (paths) surrender to him completely. Arjuna finally says, thy will be done. In this sense Krishna is not a saviour but someone who shows different ways to salvation. If he is the saviour then there is no need to propose any path. Suppose someone falls into a pit. Another person jumps into the pit and brings that person out of the pit. We can say that person is the saviour of this person. But suppose that person comes near the pit and suggests different ways to the person who is in the pit to come out of the pit, we cannot say that this person is the saviour but someone who gave the ways to come out of the pit. In this sense Krishna is not a saviour but someone who shows different ways for salvation. The Bhagavad Gita bears witness to it. If Krishna is the saviour, then we do not need the Bhagavad Gita.

Christianity is also not one religion but congregation of many religions. There are many belief systems within the label of Christianity. Actually there are hundreds of Christian denominations. Each one claiming to be true Christianity. What is salvation according to Christianity? Salvation is generally understood as Justification. Justification means to be in the presence of God and not to feel guilty. It is a state of harmony with God. We are born as sinners. It is a little bit like karma or samsara in Hinduism. We need to free ourselves from this sinful state. What is the way to salvation? Many Christians believe, based on the letters of St.Paul, that Jesus Christ died for the sins of humanity. If we take the analogy of someone falling into a pit. Jesus Christ jumps into the pit and brings that person out of it. The person in the pit has nothing to do but to hold on to Christ. Faith in Jesus Christ is fundamental in Christianity. There are different opinions on the means of salvation in Christianity. Some believe in faith and good works. It is not sufficient to have faith but faith should follow good works. It also supports renunciation, penance and various methods of purification. Some believe that if one believes and accepts Jesus Christ as the saviour then that person has nothing to do. No moral life is expected because Jesus died for our past sins present sins and future sins. In this belief there is no place for renunciation or asceticism or methods of purification. So in Christianity, faith in Christ is the important means of salvation. If Jesus insists on faith in him as a means of salvation, can we call him a saviour or someone who proposes a path to salvation?

Let us now ask the question, what is salvation according to Jesus Christ? Jesus described the state of salvation as the kingdom of God. The kingdom of God is the transformation of our life into God’ life, our actions into God’s actions and our children into God’s children. So the purpose of life is not justification but transformation. What is the means to achieve this transformation.  Jesus proposed the way of repentance. What is repentance? Repentance is a process through which we transcend our identity that comes from time and space and discover our eternal identity which is beyond time and space and then transform our identity of time and space into God’s vehicle. In simple words it means transcending our ego and transforming it. Jesus used many words to describe this process: repent, rebirth, becoming like little children, losing oneself to find, dying to be fruitful, and growing from individual identity to the divine identity. Jesus invited everyone to search for the kingdom of God and find it or discover it. In this understanding salvation is not something new but discovering what is already there. He said that the kingdom of God is like a man who found treasure in the field, he went home, sold everything to buy the field. The kingdom of God is like a man in search of pearls, when he found a pearl of great value he went home sold everything and bought that pearl. So our eternal identity is like the treasure in the field, like a pearl of great value. It is within us. We need to discover it. The kingdom of God is within you, said Jesus Christ. So the question is: is Jesus Christ a saviour who jumped into the pit and brought us out, or is he someone who showed us the way to come out of the pit? It seems to me that he belongs to the second category. If he belongs to the first category, then he does not need to give any teaching or any scripture. There is no need of the New Testament.

The same thing applies to Krishna: is Krishan a saviour who jumped into the pit and brought us out of samsara or is he someone who showed us the way to come out of the pit? It seems to me that he belongs to the second category. If he belongs to the first category then there is no need of the Bhagavad Gita. It is an irony that even though Krishna, the God, is in front of Arjuna, Arjuna is asking many questions how to reach God. It is important that even though God is before us we cannot recognise this truth until we are purified. So we need a path of purification. Just believing or having faith is not sufficient. They are only starting points. We need to make effort to purify ourselves so that we discover the salvation as the free gift of God. Nobody can save us because our eternal identity is already in a state of salvation. This is the grace of God. It is a matter of realising this truth or discovering this truth.

So both Krishna and Christ invited people to come out of sin and samsara and enter into the realm of freedom, Moksha, liberation and the kingdom of God and transform our lives into God’s life.

There is only one way to God it is the purification of our ego and transforming it into God’s vehicle: thy kingdom come, thy will be done,

If following Christ creates a Christian ego then Christ is an obstacle.

If following Krishna creates a Hindu ego then Krishna is an obstacle.

If Krishna and Christ show us the way to freedom, why should we worship them? Build them temples? What is its significance?

When a Christian worships Christ he or she worships Christ as his or her own true self, as the ultimate goal of his or her spiritual journey. A Christian needs to enter into the consciousness of Christ, which is within him or within her. The consciousness of Christ is the harmony between the infinite and the finite. The finite becomes the vehicle of the infinite. Christ said, ' the works which I do are not my own but the Father who dwells in me does his works'.

When a Hindu worships Krishna he or she worships as his or her own true self, as the ultimate goal of his or her spiritual journey. A Hindu needs to enter into the consciousness of Krishna, which is within Himself or herself? Krishna consciousness is harmony between the infinite, Krishna, and the finite, Arjuna. Arjuna is the vehicle of Krishna. They are always together in the same chariot. Arjuna does what Kishna tells him to do.

Every temple built outside is the blue print of the destiny everyone has to reach within. Since it is difficult to make this inner journey, sages proposed to build temples outside so that we can make the journey outside as the symbol of an inner journey until the external temple becomes an internal temple.

We should not worry too much about the historical details and personal details of Christ or Krishna. There will be always differences and limitations. It is a waste of time. What is important is ‘ the way’ they have shown us, the purification of our ego and becoming God’s vehicle. Christ said to his disciples to pray: thy kingdom come, thy will be done.

Arjuna told Krishna, thy will be done.

If God is working in us then we are all the vehicles of God, sons and daughters of one God. We have no reason to fight with one another. As vehicles of God we live as one universal family (vasudaiva kutumbakam) and live for the welfare of the whole of creation: Loka samastha sukino bhavanthu.


QUESTION:


If God is Good, from where evil comes?


Giles asked me to write something on evil. If God is omnipotent, omnipresence, omniscience how can we explain the nature of evil.

My understanding is that God or Absolute Truth is absolute Good. That means there is no absolute evil. Absolute good has no opposite called absolute evil. If it has, then we fall into dualism and we will be in a helpless situation because there are equal independent realities Good and Evil. Good God and Evil God. In Christianity it is a little bit like Satan (even though it is not equal to God) , where there is constant fight between Good and Evil.

God is absolute Good. There is evil in the world, the selfishness, the violence etc. What is the source of this evil? I call this relative evil. Relative evil is connected to the relative good, relative truth.

1. Relative evil belongs to the process of our spiritual evolution. Our spiritual evolution can be described as a journey from the unconscious unity to the conscious unity. When we are born we are in a state of unconscious unity. We long for the conscious unity. We have the unconscious desire to become conscious of what is unconscious. This desire creates consciousness which creates a separate identity. This creates time, distance. In the Bible it is the desire to become like God. This separation creates relative evil. We cannot completely avoid this.

2. Relative evil is connected to the relative truth. When a relative truth thinks that it is the absolute truth then it creates divisions and violence in the world. For example national identities are man -made. National boundaries are man-made. If people think they are absolute truths to be protected it becomes the source of violence. The earth is one but people make boundaries and fragment the earth. People kill others and people die to protect the man-made boundaries. Religious truths are relative. They create religious boundaries. When people think that their relative truth is absolute truth then it becomes the source of violence. The absolute truth has no boundaries. So this relative truth thought to be absolute is the source of evil, violence and religious wars.

3. Relative evil comes from not experiencing unconditional love. We all long for unconditional love. But in childhood we are wounded not only in the family but also in the society because we receive conditional love. This wound produces negativity in us. For example, a child may feel that his or her parents love his or her siblings more. This feeling causes a deep wound which can produce a sense of rejection, inferiority, envy, jealousy etc. These become the source of relative evil in the world.

4. We not only receive wounds of conditional love but we also can receive the wounds of abuse, physical, sexual, emotional and psychological. These abuses also become the source of relative evil. The abuses that Hitler received became the source of the worst ever manifestation of evil in the world.


The tree of life and the tree of good and evil


In the garden of Eden there were two trees. The tree of life and the tree of good and evil.

A tree has leaves, branches, trunk and the roots. The leaves represent individual truth, the branches represent collective truth, the trunk represents the universal and roots represent infinite truth. In the tree of life there is harmony between the leaves, branches, trunk and the roots. There is only one tree, one life, one way and one truth. In this one way there is only absolute good and the manifestation of absolute good. There is no evil.

The tree of good and evil. In the tree of good and evil there is disharmony. The leaves do not obey the branches, the branches do not obey the trunk and the trunk does not obey the roots. Leaves represent individual truth, where there is individual evil and individual good, the branches represent collective truth, where there is collective evil and collective good, the trunk represents universal truth where there can be subtle evil when one universal manifestation becomes absolute truth. The roots represent the eternal truth where there is no evil but absolute good.

1. Hence Truth or God is absolute Good.

2. There are relative good and relative evil.

3. Relative good and relative evil belong to the evolutionary process of our spiritual journey.

4. Personals wounds produce relative evil .

5. Abused consciousness produces relative evil.

If the destiny of our life, which is to become the tree of life, is clear, then relative evil can be controlled.

Absolute truth is like the Sun.

Relative good and evil are like clouds. Clouds have a beginning and an end. The Sun is above the clouds and is untouched by the clouds. It will be always victorious.


QUESTION:

Does God want people to worship him?

To worship God is the need of the people. It is not God's need. Our worship does not add anything to God. It is like rivers flowing into the ocean. They cannot rise the level of the ocean. So also our worship. God does not forbid people to worship him whatever way people want to worship him. Some worship with images and some worship without images. For God it is OK. There is no one way to worship God. What is the essence of all our worship? It is to surrender our ego to God. Hindus take flowers and fruits, camphor and coconuts to God. They are all symbols of our ego. Camphor is a beautiful symbol of our ego that is completely burnt in the fire of God. Our ego is dissolved. Coconut is another beautiful symbol of our ego, the hard covering is broken, so that we discover the tender sweetness of our true nature. Fruits are also symbol of our ego that are transformed into Prasad, holy food to share. The flowers are the symbol of ego that becomes garland of God, the ornament of God. Muslims offer their ego through, Nawaz, prayer. Christians offer their ego through prayer: Thy kingdom come, thy will be done. The essence of all our worship is to surrender our ego to God, and transform our ego as God's vehicle, so that God can do what he or she wants in and through us. Worship and prayer should not be means to create our ego, including religious ego. Then they produce counter effect. The real worship that God wants from his or her creatures is not external prayers but to become his or her vehicle. Suppose a person buys a car. What does the owner expect from the car? To take the owner where ever the owner wants to go. Suppose the car starts to worship the owner three times a day and does not take the owner where the owner wants to go, will the owner be happy? God is the source of all creation.

The purpose of all creatures is to be a vehicle of God. In Hinduism it is represented by animals and birds. Vishnu's vehicle is eagle. Brahma's vehicle is swan, Shiva's vehicle is young bull, Nandi. Each God and Goddess has his or her own vehicle. These vehicles are symbols of the whole of creation and individually our ego. Their vocation is to manifest God, to do the will of God. What does it mean to manifest God or to do the will God? The whole of creation belongs to God. So it is to see the whole of creation as one family and live for the welfare of the whole of creation: vasudaiva kutumbakam(the whole creation as one family), lokha samasta sukhino bhavanthu, may all beings in the world be happy. It is to work for the welfare of all creation not just human beings. Our worship and prayers should not create egos, either individual or collective. Our prayers and worship should not create divisions but unity. If our prayers and worship are meant to make God our vehicle and we want God to take us where we want to go then we are committing sin. St. John the Baptist looked at Jesus and said : Behold the lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. What was the sin of the world ? it is to make God our vehicle. The Lamb is the symbol of humble servant of God or vehicle of God. Jesus Christ removed this sin and became a vehicle of God. He said, ' the works that I do are not my own but the Father who dwells in me does his works. It was his worship, his prayer, 24 hours of the day. He invited everyone to become a vehicle of God with the word 'repent'. Repentance is to surrender our individual and collective will to the divine will which is universal. In the Bhagavad Gita Krishna tells Arjuna to surrender his will to him. Arjuna says: Thy will be done. Arjuna became a vehicle of Krishna acting according to his advice. Islam means (one meaning) submission of human will to the divine will. It brings peace in a person. Submission of individual will creates universal brotherhood, the whole of creation as one family.

Submission of our will to the divine will should not create divisions in the world but unite us all, for there is only one God, one creation and one humanity. To do the will of God is to live for the welfare of all creation. This is the worship that God expects from his or her creatures.

QUESTION:

Can any human being say he or she is God? 

The question was: can any human being say he or she is God?

First thing is we must describe what we mean by God?. We can say that God is infinite and God has no beginning and an end.

With this description we can say every phenomenon that has a beginning and an end is not God.

A human being has a beginning and an end. So a human being with a physical body cannot say that he or she is God.

What does it mean when people say that they are God? For example the Upanishad sages have said : aham brahma asmi, I am Brahman. Christ also said, 'the Father and I are one.'

The 'I' which they refer to is not our finite 'I' identified with our body and mind but Infinite 'I'. We have to read : My infinite 'I' is God. According to Upanishads, we have finite I and infinite I. In the finite again there are three levels: individual, collective and universal. The fourth one is infinite I. So when a sage says aham brahma asmi, I am Brahman, it means my infinite I is Brahman or God. It does not refer to the body and mind of that person, which are finite. They have a beginning and an end.

So also when Jesus said, the Father(God) and I are one, this I does not refer to his body and mind. Jesus had different 'I' s. individual, identified with body, collective identified with his religion as a Jew, universal, as the Son of God and infinite, which is God. So when Jesus said, the Father(God) and I are one, this 'I' does not correspond to his finite 'I's, but infinite 'I'.

It means my infinite 'I' is God. We should not identify this with his body and mind that have a beginning and an end. It means both the Upanishad sages and Jesus Christ give the possibility to every human to realise this truth. They do not expect people to worship them. Imagine there were many foxes in a forest but they were not aware that they were foxes. One fox realised that it was a fox. It invited all the foxes to realise this truth. But they built an altar, placed the realised fox on the altar and started to worship it. The realised fox ran away from them. The Upanishad sages said: aham brahma asmi, tatvam asi. I am Brahman and you are Brahman. My infinite I is God and your infinite I is also the same God. Realise that truth.

Christ said: I am the light of the world, you are the light of world. My infinite I (God) is the light of the world so also your infinite I (God)is the light of the world. Realise this truth.




QUESTION:

Does God exist?


Today's question was: Does God exist?

God is. God does not exist. The meaning of the word, exist means, to step out, to emerge, to manifest. Existence belongs to creatures. Existence has a beginning and an end. God has no beginning and no end. So we can only say God is.

Only God is. This God has two aspects: infinite and finite. Creation is the finite aspect of God.

Scientists have discovered that matter and energy are one. What we call matter is the solidification of the energy in different vibrations. There are no two: matter and energy. In essence they are one, but in appearance they are two. But it has taken thousands of years of external research to discover this truth. Sages have done the inner research and discovered that the ground of their being and God are one. Christ also said: the father and I are one. He had to do tremendous inner research and journey to discover this truth.

In the same way God and the subtle energy from which the creation comes are one. Creation as we see is the manifestation of that subtle energy, it goes through the process of evolution. But we need to make inner research, the purification of inner self to discover this truth that only God is and the creation is the manifestation of God, the finite aspect of the infinite.


There are two things

The first is: only God is: infinite and finite

The second is: the ignorance of this truth.











































































 

Make a free website with Yola