Note from Guru Kurt: A man went to a doctor to get a prescription for a heart malady. Taking the pills he was given, he extended his life and improved his life’s quality as well. Ramakrishna, who was the embodiment of Brahman, was the same being who appeared as Buddha the Supreme Physician, Jesus the Savior, Mohammed the Prophet, and Patanjali the Sage. Reading the words of the Avatar are good for man’s heart, for He is the one Physician we may all trust to improve our spiritual condition and concomitantly, our joy and exuberance for life. Each one of these aphorisms is like a little pill that, when read and considered deeply, will awaken spiritual consciousness and enliven the heart center, drawing consciousness upwards from the lower centers where it normally dwells in materialistic darkness and ignorance. When the heart center is reached, then it is that man’s spirituality begins to flower. For such a one, there will be no falling back, but only a progressively higher, or deeper (depending upon the chosen metaphor) awareness of the Atman, or Lord of Love who dwells within the hearts of all. May you take these sugar-coated pills and achieve a degree of awareness of your Self by yourself; even a momentary glimpse can transform a life of loneliness and purposelessness into one of holiness and hot pursuit of the divine in man. Who am I to comment upon the words of the real Avatar? I am like a painter who continually throws gallons of (biodegradable) paint into the ocean; when will that ocean ever take on the colors I throw into it? It never will, yet I continue to throw them in! These sayings from Ramakrishna are collected at http://www.sriramakrishna.org/rksay.htm. I choose to comment upon them, and if anyone should choose to read my comments, I would not be displeased.
Ramakrishna:
You see many stars in the sky at night, but not when the sun rises. Can you therefore say that there are no stars in the heavens during the day? O man, because you cannot find God in the days of your ignorance, say not there is no God.
Guru Kurt:
Ramakrishna was not aware of galaxies or the vast size of our universe, at least on the surface level although He was aware of all these things in the depths of His being. The Avatar’s consciousness is but a fragment of a much larger divine being, the One who is responsible for earth’s gravity, igniting the sun at the start of a solar cycle, maintaining the planets’ orbits, and initiating life on them as well. I know that physicists will disagree with me here, asserting that gravity is a lifeless force, but I am forced to state the truth that I know: gravity is one of God’s divine powers. Ramakrishna was the embodiment of the very One who formed our solar system, coalescing the planets from the more or less undifferentiated mass of newly-created matter which was the “dust cloud” that gave it birth. The work of other Avatars is readily visible in the Hubble Space Telescope images of solar system formation that are so familiar to all. The question whether these Avatars are the same as the Father, Brahman Himself, is the question that has confounded the Christian church for two millennia. The answer is not simple, and in truth they have it right: the Avatars are both separate and the same as the Father, when considered from different points of view. On some worlds, it is possible for two Avatars to meet, and what happens at this moment I will leave as a mystery for the world to ponder, although I have resolved it for myself satisfactorily. Suffice it to say that the joy is overwhelming, and the Father is well-pleased at the same time that He is heavily involved with such a meeting in the capacity of Supreme Advisor and Dynamic Intervener. Who can say what occurs at this juncture save the Avatars themselves? The Father does not take embodiment and so will be left mute, although by no means speechless!
The Avatar does not maintain full awareness of all His activities within His mortal frame, for the simple reason that He does not take embodiment as a position to support these activities as Ruler, but in order to enjoy embodied life; as Ramakrishna was fond of saying, He comes to the garden to “eat mangoes,” not dispute about this or that physical detail. What a real God is cannot be comprehended by man. He is omnipresent, with awareness extending in every direction, yet able to act in parallel at millions of locations in a concerted, coordinated effort guided by Supreme Intelligence. For instance, Ramakrishna’s main organ of thought, maintained far above the earth, in the region of the sun, was in continuous communication with over one million other Avatars! In truth, they watch each other’s activities in order to learn how better to serve their creatures, and how best to manipulate and adjust the vast cloud of spiritual energy that surrounds each Avatar’s embodied form. The “spiritual sky” is not boring or lonely, but filled with an immense, universal web of communication and delight that cannot be seen by the physical eyes or observed by any material instrument. Each star that you see at night is connected to every other star that you see via these “highways of love and grace” by which the Avatars exchange information and data at such a rate that all the world’s communication networks are put to shame. The Avatar never experiences loneliness His whole life, but lives in complete independence for this reason. Now, imagine talking to Ramakrishna and while you are talking to Him He is making fine adjustments to the rings of Saturn and discussing the merits and demerits of crucifixion with a hundred other Avatars simultaneously. This cannot be; all this mental activity cannot be supported by a brain the size of a human head, and so the Avatar is not aware of these things in His body, although should He desire it He can make Himself aware of anything His main thinking region knows.
The Avatar is thus very different from the human being, in that He has no
separate soul. He is run from outside His body, while humans are run from
inside their bodies. The Avatar thinks not one thought by Himself; they
are all supplied from His outside agency. His entire mental world is governed by
His greater part, in a radiant play of spiritual power far beyond the reckoning
of any human being. The Avatar is not independent, but if you realize that His
consciousness is the consciousness of that mighty One that formed Him,
then you will see that He is independent. He is an embodied God, although
the portion of the God within the body is not aware of everything that the full
God knows at all times. Imagine, if you will, a father pushing his son in a
go-cart, up hills and down valleys, sometimes going by dangerous routes, and
sometimes even resulting in his son’s death, and then imagine that the father is
the son, then you will see a little of what the Avatar is like. Thus, the
Avatar’s entire life is guided by a supremely intelligent divine will,
although this will controls carefully what the dweller in the body knows in
accord with dictates that the Father expresses, so that the
Avatar is a real, literal embodiment of Brahman that should be worshipped, followed, and loved as the best
personification of man’s own Atman. If you wish to see the Father with your
physical eyes, look at a picture of Ramakrishna. If you wish to hear the voice
of the Father, read the words of Ramakrishna. The Avatar speaks for the Father
in all things, and is thus the very embodiment of the Creator of the cosmos, the
Almighty in a human form.
No human is able to perceive the spiritual might of the Avatar. Typically He is not worshipped until He has left the body and people slowly begin to realize that His words were immortal, expressing the eternal verities of life in profound and colorful ways. In this particular case, Ramakrishna was speaking against atheism, which is a foolish philosophy that aims to disprove the existence of God. It is foolish and futile too, foolish because if you succeed, you will have guaranteed yourself eternal death, a harsh and eternal descent into non-existence at the time of death. It is futile because no one can prove or disprove that which is outside the physical world, which is the case with spirit, man’s spirit as well as the spirit of Gods like Ramakrishna. Atheists completely misunderstand the thrust of religion, which is not to prove God’s existence, but to open a door for receptive hearts that are beginning to awaken into their own divinity. Ramakrishna’s quotation here is not really addressed to convinced atheists, but to those who are of an inherently spiritual bent that are thinking about atheism, perhaps attracted to it because of its illusory shell of rationality. Ramakrishna calls out to those who want to live forever, who have a yearning to go beyond death. Atheists want to be rational and superior to everyone else, even at the cost of their own souls, and so engage in specious arguments that any child of God, such as the illumined, can quickly debunk. Spiritual aspirants caught in atheism can be called out with sweet language and religious reasoning in poetic forms of speech such as we find here. God is not seen before illumination, Ramakrishna says, but this does not mean He does not exist. It is so simple, but the atheists confound themselves in a deadly moral trap and cannot see this! Those whose spiritual consciousness has been awakened, however, do see this and respond to sweet words like these of the Avatar, Brahman’s embodiment.
Ramakrishna:
He is born in vain, who having attained the human birth, so difficult to get, does not attempt to realize God in this very life. Seekest thou God ? Then seek Him in man ! His Divinity is manifest more in man than in any other object. Man is the greatest manifestation of God.
Guru Kurt:
There are really two aphorisms here, not one. In the first Ramakrishna echoes the cry of the Buddha that it is difficult to attain human birth, and foolish not to use this birth to strive for Self-realization. In the second He asserts the divinity of man. Although Ramakrishna’s sentences are brief, they are to the point and timeless, a sure sign of His Avatarhood. It is the flawless nature of the entire body of Ramakrishna’s work that verily shouts forth, “Here indeed is the Son of God, embodied once again for mankind’s benefit.” No one will ever find a flaw in anything that Ramakrishna said, at any time, although misinterpretations will be rife, as they are of the works of Jesus and the Buddha too. The voice of God speaks for all time, and will not be silenced by any human challenges for it is divine, growing forth from reality itself, the very tree of life. No man will ever fully comprehend the meaning of the Avatar, even the illumined, and even when the Avatar explains Himself at great length, for language itself is not reality, but merely reality’s reflection in this forlorn and haggard world of ours. If you listen to the enthusiastic descriptions of a Himalayan mountain climber, and look at his photographs, you may begin to feel like you know the Himalayas yourself, and that there is no need to go there. If you ask the mountain climber he will tell you, “Friend, my words cannot do justice to the thrill, the exhilaration, the sheer vertigo of an actual climb of Mt. Everest. You will have to go and do this yourself, and then you too will be an expert.” Everyone reads the words of the Avatar and goes away with as much as he or she can carry, completely filled and certain there is nothing more to be seen. Later in their life, they will re-read His words and be startled to find entirely different mental landscapes, brand-new meanings that they can only see with their increased experience of life’s hardships, as well as its triumphs. Even the illumined, however, cannot apprehend all of the Avatar’s meaning, though among mankind they do the best job of interpreting His words, for He speaks with a profundity that is far beyond their grasp.
It is worth emphasizing, in the light of modern scientific knowledge, just how difficult human birth is to attain. We now know the vast size of the earth’s biosphere, from the smallest bacteria to the roundworm or nematode (of which it is said if all other living forms were to disappear, their ghostly outlines would still be visible in trillions of these microscopic animals), to the plants and higher animals. I do not think it would be an exaggeration to say that for every human that lives, there are a trillion life forms that are below the human level, growing, accumulating experience, eager for their chance at illumination too. All souls begin life the same, as tiny parcels of Brahman’s spirit, complete with guiding and intelligent Atman, but only a lucky few have made it to the human stage. Of these few, there is a large proportion that continues to shift back and forth from the animal realm to the human realm again, as they commit sins worthy of punishment and are banished for a time, until they are ready to try to be civilized again, and there is room for them too. There is however a stable “core” of human beings that do not shift back and forth, that are securely on the path that leads to enlightenment or nirvana. They may be recognized by their spiritual longing; they are no longer completely satisfied with the ways of the world, but invite God into their lives in meaningful (not superficial) ways. All those who practice spiritual disciplines such as meditation and repetition of the holy name are included in this group, without any doubt. Many of the so-called “devout” of the major religious traditions are also included in this group, but it is really only when a person begins to take his or her spiritual destiny into their own hands that God admits them into His permanent “family” of humankind, which is why Ramakrishna spoke as He did here.
In the second aphorism, Ramakrishna bespeaks the divinity of man. In the core of every human being resides the divine Self or Atman, which is a god in every meaningful sense of the word, although the gap between the Avatar, who is a true God, and the Atman of man is immeasurably huge. The Atman is capable of freeing a man completely from all bondage to the world of cause and effect, of continuous change, that the Hindus call maya. It is capable of immersing him in limitless bliss, although this bliss increases with time. It can endow him with immense wisdom, capable of seeing into the very heart of life and providing real, proximate aid to all lower seekers after reality than the position where it finds itself, though it must still bow to those that are greater. One manner in which this Atman can be realized is to learn to see God within all the people around you, so Ramakrishna here gives man a spiritual discipline to practice. As it is virtually impossible to meet the Avatar face-to-face, Ramakrishna states the truth that is practical for 99% of mankind: “Man is the greatest manifestation of God.” This is literally true for everyone who has not met the Avatar, but as anyone you meet will attest, people do not act like God! They often act like selfish, brutal, animalistic beings bent on conquest of the world and all its people too! Yet, a true spiritual aspirant can see God even in the heart of a murderer or rapist, though it is well-hidden. One would think there is nothing good about such a person, and society is absolutely correct to restrain and punish them to prevent the further injury of innocents, yet the Atman is there, at a very deep level, knowing it has committed a sin, knowing it will be punished, but also knowing it is immortal, deathless spirit playing the game that Brahman has bid it play.
Ramakrishna did not explain the idea of good vs. evil very clearly; it seems to be my unfortunate lot to accomplish this task, which is not simple or easy. The first thing to remember is that all the behaviors we regard as evil among humans are inconsequential in the animal world, although our rational faculty introduces sadistic twists that are missing there. People sometimes erroneously state that animals are higher in some ways than man, and more innocent, but this is not the case. Take the most friendly dog and put him in a human body, and you will have a being in far, far over his head, with rational machinery he does not know how to use and so will misuse, at the expense of the happiness of all around him. The selfishness and foolishness of dogs can be seen in some of their more disgusting behaviors, such as sniffing the crotches of other animals and eating dead animals that have been rotting for days. No, the lowest human is higher than the highest dog, provided, of course, that the dog is not on his second, third, or even fourth time around the circle of life that lies at humanity’s lower end. What is acceptable behavior in the animal world is not acceptable once human life is attained. The lion may kill with impunity, but not the man. The former behavior is not evil, but the latter is evil. What, then, is evil? A new requirement is laid at the door of man, a new burden is placed on his shoulders by the Creator, once he acquires intelligence, and that is to begin to understand what has taken place in creation, what Brahman’s purpose may have been, and in general to live like a god, a high, divine being, and not like an animal any more. Those who do not meet the stringent requirements of the Creator for human life are branded evil and punished, both by the law of karma and by being forced back into lower bodies. If you act like an animal, Brahman takes this as a sign that you prefer animal existence to human existence, and grants your desire by letting you stay in the cradle a little while longer. If you act like a civilized being, avoiding all crime and living in harmony with those around you, He takes this as a sign that you are tired of the cradle and wish to stand on your own two feet, taking your place as one of His blessed children, one of the “chosen few,” the spiritually elite on earth.
Well, then, how do we learn to see God in those around us, even those who are evil, and what is more, how does this help us on our own paths toward Self-realization? As I indicated above, the very evil are to be treated as a menace to society, and the law of Moses is appropriately used against them, “an eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth.” While we do not take the words of Moses literally, nor should in this advanced day and age, in general society makes the punishment fit the crime. The ideal of the United States is a very good one, that punishment should not be “cruel or unusual.” Innocents must be protected, and those who protect them, such as police officers and detectives, are following the law of Brahman. Ramakrishna’s advice was meant for less extreme circumstances, such as the everyday give-and-take of life. Here, in particular for family members, husband, wife and children, it is best to remember that each person, at his or her core, is good, and is in fact divine. Most actions proceed from good intentions, and not evil intentions, so it is well to always think the best of people, instead of assuming the worst about them. When you have faith that all those surrounding you are essentially good, suddenly your life can become very pleasant indeed, for you will live in a world of harmony and happiness. You will see that all strive to be happy, in their own ways, and you will let them go about their strivings even as you also strive, in your ways. You will not want to interfere with or manipulate others, but try to learn from their behaviors, both good and bad, what the best way for you to act may be to maximize your own happiness. Angry words directed at you will not longer alarm you, for hasn’t the person normally expressed satisfaction? Evil or questionable behavior, when seen as a mere aberration from essential goodness, will not be so upsetting to you, and you will attain a peace of mind that few possess, mental equilibrium, and tranquility in all of life’s vicissitudes. Living in this way, you will cease to cause others sorrow, at the same time that you learn to enjoy your life in an optimal manner. Such a one travels very swiftly on the path to God indeed.
Ramakrishna:
Jiva is Shiva (all living beings are God). Who then dare talk of showing mercy to them ? Not mercy, but service, service. For man must be regarded as God.
Guru Kurt:
The jiva is the individual soul, composed of Atman, higher mind, lower mind, senses and dwelling in a body. The higher mind is composed of discriminating intellect, the abilities to think rationally and discursively, and the abilities to recall the past and plan for the future. The lower mind is in control of the body and performs its functions mostly in the background, subconsciously and unconsciously, though it comes to the fore as lust and greed. The lower mind perverts the upper mind and prohibits its proper use. Spiritual training consists in purification of all levels of the mind, and the mind, once pure, ascends to God-realization in nirvikalpa samadhi. The purified mind is completely unattached to the world and lives in spiritual freedom, which is why it may be said that the illumined act upon the world from outside the world, not from within it, where the unillumined dwell in attachment, ignorance, and delusion. True creative genius does not appear until after illumination, though artists in general are spiritually-aware people. One has only to read the words of Eknath Easwaran, Da Free John, Osho or Andrew Cohen to get a glimpse of the creative heights that all of us may and will achieve one distant day, after we too have discovered that we are none other than the very Lord of Love, who dwells within our hearts. After illumination, all ignorance has been removed, but there is no end to the store of divine knowledge and wisdom which one may gain, and these mighty spiritual creatures begin “leaning upon the infinite,” from life to life seeking deeper awareness, greater bliss, and higher perfection. For a time, the illumined are bound to embodiment for the lower portions of their minds are not yet sufficiently purified for everlasting disembodiment. Once this occurs, they ascend to the astral realms, which are behind the concept of heaven introduced in religions both East and West, where they lead lives of eternal perfection, striving for the liberation of all living beings from a position of pure spiritual existence.
There are two ways in which the phrase “all are God” may be thought of as being true. First, Brahman has brought the entire cosmos, all matter and all spiritual beings too, out from Himself. Therefore, all are Brahman. He has granted all of us, however, fundamental and indestructible individuality, so that the statement “all are Brahman” is meaningful in an ultimate sense only, for none but Brahman or His embodiment, the Avatar, is able to witness this directly. To see this, one must know that each atom is non-material, but spiritual in nature. One must be able to see the roots connecting each living entity to the Father, to Brahman. Nevertheless, the human being is capable of perceiving the entire world as arising out of God, which is what occurs when the cosmic sound is heard. When the mind has been sufficiently purified, one becomes capable of detecting the unique vibrations of different types of atoms. For instance, when looking at a brass cymbal one will hear the “music” of both copper and zinc atoms, in a specific proportion. When looking at steel, one will “hear” iron and carbon atoms, a distinctly different sound. In meditation, one will perceive the vibrations of all the atoms surrounding the body, which is the delicious and sweet perception of “Om” or “Aum,” the cosmic sound, which is very similar from one place to the next. At this point, the human being is truly qualified to announce, “I perceive that the entire world arises out of God,” though this perception is not so profound as the Avatar’s, who could if He wished it pull on the cords which connect you to Brahman in the way that a puppeteer pulls the strings to move the arms and legs of a puppet.
The second way in which “all are God” is that the divine Atman is the Ruler of every person’s life. If all were Self-realized, this world would be a veritable palace of joy, with harmony everywhere and disharmony nowhere. There would be no wars or violence of any kind, not even the smallest argument or squabble. Earth is not the final reality for anyone, but a training ground for better things. The Atman is commissioned by Brahman to brings its awareness of divinity out slowly, gradually, first turning all attention outwards, into the world, and then gradually withdrawing it at the appropriate time. The Atman is responsible for your ignorance, as it is responsible for slowly lifting the veil of ignorance from your eyes and revealing the self-luminous, ever-blissful real nature of your true Self. What is the result of this? You become a mature being, a real child of God, knowing good from evil and understanding the misery and sorrow of others. You experience evil, commit some of it, and suffer the consequences. You experience good, learn to do it, and enjoy the beneficial, sweet fruits. In the end, when you become illumined, you are not a wet-behind-the-ears kid, but a seasoned adult, familiar with all the problems of the world and ready to offer your unique and effective solutions. Life is a process of education, and this is the game-plan of Almighty Brahman. If all were already illumined, there would be no interesting project, nothing to work on, and we would all sit around as in the typical Christian’s idea of heaven, blissful but inactive. The world is made for work, and the higher you ascend on the ladder of spiritual awareness, the more profound your work becomes, until you become like Swami Vivekananda, Ramakrishna’s foremost disciple, a member of the “ever-free,” living in the astral realms and visiting earth by choice when dharma (the good law) demands action by spiritual beings to help in the ascension of earth’s spiritual consciousness.
One may think of all the beings around one as being God from either point of view. The former is wholly accurate, although difficult to perceive. The latter is more practical and closer to our everyday realities. Either of these modes of thought will help one to break free from the cage of the ego in which we are all caught at present. The ego is the false idea of who we are that we have all developed over the long course of evolution. It is based solely on sense experience, and thus is very deceptive. It is not who we really are, but an idea of who we really are. Since we cannot satisfy an idea, all of us are on an endless treadmill of dissatisfaction, trying to do the impossible. All of our real satisfactions, indeed, come from the ascension of consciousness into full possession of the rational faculty, although we do not perceive this and falsely think that the outside world really is our source of joy. “I did this and it made me happy,” we think, so we believe that by doing this thing again we will again be made happy, when in reality our happiness came from deep within us as a part of our spiritual growth. We are the source of our own joy and misery; who knows this at last sees life with clear eyes. Only after we have come into full possession of the rational faculty, in the latter stages of what the Bhagavad Gita calls “rajasic” thinking, do we begin to turn inwards and contemplate taking the spiritual journey and finding the real source of happiness, our own Atman, hidden so deeply within us that we have forgotten all about it. Spiritual people, then, would be outrageous successes in the material world, but the material world has lost all attraction for them because their spiritual growth in the world is at an end; they alone are ready for the inner world of spiritual adventure that awaits us all.
One of the biggest obstacles that the ego presents to an aspirant is the
notion that it alone is best, it alone is great, it alone is worthy of respect
and adoration. Egoic people look down, when they should be learning to look
upwards. The ego is the world-conqueror, that is, the conqueror of the external
world. Here, the ticket to success is indeed to “believe in oneself” and
to have utter self-reliance in the face of all human opposition. Egoic people
live in a “me-vs.-you” mentality, and in groups they think as
“us-vs.-them.” This attitude is not based on reality, and will ultimately
fail to produce joy. Although it appears to work in the short term, as I have
said its effect is secondary and only works on primitive individuals who have
not yet gained full control of their rational faculty, that precious distinction
that makes us human as opposed to animal. Brahman intended for all to
live together in happiness and harmony, and no other attitude will open
the doors for you to lasting joy, enduring peace of mind, and trenchant wisdom.
Any system based on competition instead of friendly cooperation will never
satisfy man, who in the last analysis is a god and should live like a god, that
is, with a heart full of love and compassion, a mind that is steady, lucid, and
powerful, and a discriminating intellect that enjoys that which is really
beneficial to the soul, as opposed
to that which is based on ignorance and will cause pain in the end. Ramakrishna
here gives man a standard that will crush anyone’s ego who chooses to apply
it: when you help others, do it as service unto God, thinking of their divinity
in either of the two ways I have mentioned. It will crush the ego, and increase
the joy of the Self for you will be basing
your life on reality. You believe
in your Self, the divinity within you and others, and not the self, the tiny ego
that must fight and claw its way to the top. You are fully independent and
Self-reliant, letting the ego ride along like a vagabond on top of the
high-speed commuter train of your life until you pass under a low bridge, in
samadhi, and he is forced off! It is a profound attitude, and it really works.
The greatest exemplar of this attitude in the modern world is Mother Teresa of
Calcutta, who was certainly illumined, although she interpreted her experiences
within the Western paradigm, and not that of the East.
Ramakrishna:
There is one whom you may call your own, and that is God.
Guru Kurt:
I prefer to say the opposite of this, that we belong to God, and this illustrates one of the important truths of spiritual discourse, that literal interpretation is not called for, but enlightened interpretation, that is to say one must have some degree of spiritual experience before one is qualified to comment upon the words of mystics or as in this case, the Avatar Himself. Here are two opposing sentiments, that God belongs to us and that we belong to Him, that may yet be fully harmonized at least to my satisfaction, although perhaps to no one else’s on earth. My goal is not to impress the world, but to lay the truth as I see it before the world, and let each person judge of the veracity of my words. Some there are that will hear me, and some there are who would engage in endless debate. Spiritual truths are not like scientific truths in some ways, but they are like scientific truths in others. They can be tested and verified, but only within the crucible of one’s own personal life, nowhere else. When a spiritual teacher talks, or when one such as myself writes (who do not know what I am), it is a revelation, not an argument. At the last, spiritual teachers cannot prove what they know to be true, just as those in the world cannot prove them wrong. They do not speak to those who would argue, but for those who, as Jesus was wont to say, have “ears to hear.” Those whose ears are yet stopped up by the world, who will use any pretext to remain amidst their worldly pleasures and enjoyments, will laugh at those of a spiritual bent, to their own cost. When at last they travel down that road which every man must one day travel, the way to enlightenment, they will bear the laughter of the world, but at the same time the inward truth will be pulling at their hearts, tugging on their shirtsleeves: “This is the right way. Follow this person; heed his advice. Thus will you get more of that real joy which you seek, and thus alone.”
There are an infinite number of ways of considering one’s relationship both to the Almighty and to the Atman within. God may be seen as the Rescuer, the Helper, the Punisher, the Creator or the Destroyer, the fond Friend, the glorious Source of all, the wonderful Counselor, the righteous Judge, the Benefactor, the Well-wisher, the Confidante, the Companion, the Teacher, even the Lover in some instances. In my own particular case, I prefer to think of the Father as my divine Coach, helping me to live my life optimally through superior wisdom and experience, and loving concern with a view to continuous improvement in performance. I like this attitude better than that of “Friend” because it acknowledges His eternal superiority in a nice way that is still friendly, but under which I may grow spiritually at a maximum rate. It is fully valid to think of God outside or god inside in any of these ways. For all practical purposes these two are in agreement, for the Atman contains a microcosm of Brahman’s wisdom to which it refers once illumination is attained. Illumined teachers live in fullest accord with the will of Brahman, and He smiles on them from without, even as their Atman strives to deepen their spirituality from within. For all practical purposes, one may appeal to either one, for the Atman recognizes a call to the Avatar or Father as a call to itself, just as the Father recognizes a call to the Atman as a call to Himself. Both these divine forces will respond to a call to either one! This is the way it is.
There are some ways in which it is very bad to think of God, and these are as an inferior to oneself. One must never think of God as one’s servant or one’s student, and I would say even those who think of God as their child are running a dangerous risk, unless they recognize the superiority of the child to themselves, as Yasoda did with baby Krishna. Christians think of God as their servant when they pray, as though He is always at their beck and call, and while this attitude has been allowed up until now the time has come to show its foolishness and arrogance. Meditation is far superior to prayer, for in meditation one seeks to transform oneself into the divine being that Brahman intended for us to become; one makes an actual effort to become good in spirit, and because of this one receives all the benefit one would receive praying to God, and more than this – as Jesus would have said, Shaken, pressed down, and running over. For this reason I would not recommend people think of God as being “their own” unless it is in the special qualified sense of truest Friend and best Well-wisher, who is inherently superior to us but still retains interest in us for some reason we cannot comprehend, perhaps out of His infinite compassion, love and mercy. There is something else, which makes Ramakrishna’s advice very good indeed. We cannot conceive of what God is, nor can we imagine, try as we may, what our proper attitude towards Him should be. Ramakrishna suggests we go to Him guilelessly, innocently, thinking of Him as belonging to us, yet, I would add, ready for intense personal transformation. One approaching God in this manner will find His powers arrayed around oneself to transform an naïve, immature attitude into a ripe, mature one. In this sense, God really is our own, for He responds out of infinite love to all those who approach Him, by whatever path and with whatever preconceptions and expectations. But I warn you, be ready, for He will seek to transform you into the perfect being that you were meant to become, and you will have to leave your old, selfish ego far behind!
It is all right, then, to think of God as one’s very own provided that you understand He is a loving Friend who will never abandon you, yet who is the source of your life, and will seek to transform you into something more perfect than you are at present. If you think of Him as being your very own servant, this is a very poor attitude that will not bring you the spiritual results – increased joy and wisdom – that you crave. Thus, you see, it is possible to make the statement: “It is both proper and improper to think of God as being one’s very own, depending upon our precise understanding of the language.” This is the nature of religious discourse, which can only be interpreted by qualified individuals. God does not wish us to treat Him as our servant, so we should never ask Him for material things, but if we must pray we should ask for things of the spirit, which matter in eternity. You will not bring your house or your horse with you into the next life, but you will bring your spiritual effort – all of it, which shall be restored to you fresh and new as you begin another life’s struggle towards the goal, a struggle which is refreshing and invigorating because it is the struggle to learn how to live in optimum joy, radiant health, and increasing wisdom. Ask God for wisdom, and He will be pleased to grant it. Ask Him for riches, and He may give them to you out of spite to watch you stumble around with what will become obstacles to the spiritual life at the same time as you are drawn closer to Himself, whom you regard as the source of those riches. The highest prayer, as Ramakrishna used to say, is to ask God for more devotion and love for Himself, a prayer which He always grants and which is your free ticket to the halls of spiritual wisdom and immortal joy.
Ramakrishna:
I tell you the truth : there is nothing wrong in your being in the world. But you must direct your mind towards God.
Guru Kurt:
There are two classes of people who live “outside” the world, the wandering sadhus and the monastics. The sadhus sometimes move about singly, and sometimes in small groups. Monastics generally engage in some form of daily work to support their communities, but wandering sadhus live off the alms of the populace directly, their only work prayer and meditation. Both are very high ways to live, and one can debate endlessly over which is higher. People who choose these modes of life are the dearest to me of any on planet earth, for their spirits are elevated and I feel a resonance in my heart when I consider their selfless lifestyles. I am giving the world a new mode of monasticism that will allow the monks (or nuns) to also taste of the wandering life of sadhus. This new mode was not possible in the early days of human civilization, but now that a certain degree of public safety exists I have revealed the mode of life that the Gods use on the spiritual planets located in the galaxy’s globular star clusters. The monastics will be able to combine meditation, prayer, work, sports and other play to lead the optimal spiritual life. The key to this new mode of monasticism is the total absence of personal property and space, which leads to the highest level of mental renunciation, and the quickest apprehension of underlying spiritual realities. It is the Gods’ chosen mode of existence, for they are a gregarious bunch, and do not enjoy solitude as a rule, except under certain circumstances. I envision large (1000 or more monks) monasteries located in different parts of each country. Monks that wish to do so will be able to walk or ride from monastery to monastery in a planned, systematic fashion so that all may also enjoy the wandering life of the sadhu, knowing that food, warmth and shelter await them at the end of their journey. While the Gods follow the Father’s will directly and hence are able to form loose and ever-shifting conglomerates of individuals, the monastery as I envision it will still embody many of the deep truths which they revere and hallow, slowed down and made more orderly and stately for human beings.
The wandering holy man or woman should be respected and revered by the general population. Indeed, he or she should be feared as the potential igniter of bad karma that one has accumulated. If a sadhu approaches your household and asks for food or shelter from the cold and rain, and is refused, he or she will look deep into your heart, right at your Atman, and try to discern if this type of behavior is endemic with you, or you are merely having a bad day, or you are yourself struggling to survive in life. If it is seen that you are inherently ungenerous and disrespectful of holy persons, the sadhu may utter a curse upon your house. Learning of this curse, your Atman in delight will bring to fruition the negative karma that is your due, and thus the curse will bear evil fruit in your life. This is the experience of householders in India, who revere holy persons and provide for their needs out of generosity, goodwill, and fear of God. On the other hand, should you treat the sadhu with respect and consideration, sharing with him or her your material resources, however meager, a blessing will be uttered and your good karma will similarly be quickened. Only a fool disrespects a holy person, for in doing so one fails to respect one’s own highest calling, that of Self-realization. This is the very purpose of life, the reason why we have all been created. You cannot defy your purpose for being alive without grave negative consequences, although many do so, and many are brought to dire emotional and physical straits thereby. It is up to the population of “householders,” those who have not renounced the world, to support in generosity and love the very small proportion that the Lord selects and draws outward into the difficult, strenuous and sometimes perilous life of the wandering monk or nun. If they fail to do this, both the Father, Brahman Himself, and their own Atman, the Lord within, are displeased and even angered, with sometimes precipitous and calamitous consequences.
My spiritual teacher, Eknath Easwaran, used to refer to all of his students as sadhus, although they remained in the world, many with families and careers. It is very good to adopt this attitude, that you are a sadhu or sannyasin, a person of intense mental renunciation, even though you may be living in the world, mixing daily with materialistic persons. When Ramakrishna says “there is nothing wrong in your being in the world” He means that every person should start leading the spiritual life where they are, now, and not worry about whether they should join a monastery or become a wandering sadhu unless they feel an intense desire to do so. Now that the second coming of Jesus is upon us, the “end-times” prophesied in the Bible and in other religious traditions as well, I may tell you that the key thing is not to get thrown out of the human race. The only “wrong” that there really is, is sin so bad that God will decide that you do not belong in the race of men, but are better suited as an animal for perhaps tens of billions of additional years. People laugh at the idea of being turned into a tortoise or tree sloth, like it is a joke, but these are the very people who are in most danger. You see, there is no mental barrier in them that prevents it! Spiritual people will experience fear, even terror when such threats are made, which are not idle boasts but actual, literal truths, and thus they keep their status as human beings and are allowed to continue on the path to enlightenment while many others are not so allowed. The Father does not expect or want everyone to renounce worldly life. This is reserved for a small pool of intense, eager individuals bent on making maximum progress towards Self-realization.
If you wish to remain in the world, it is good to do so. While you are there, however, follow Ramakrishna’s advice and direct your mind towards God. Renunciation of the world is meant to happen naturally, sweetly, and joyfully. You should not push yourself into renunciation, but let renunciation happen to you when your time at last ripens. It is only when one begins to experience the ecstatic joy of the Self that renunciation becomes easy. Indeed, to such people remaining in the world actually becomes painful and difficult, for they do not relate well to the selfish people all around them, but crave the company of the elite, selfless and intensely religious few who, like them, are beginning to experience the blissful light that comes from within. If you value your life as a human, though, you should engage in some form of spiritual discipline, which may be an easy and light practice such as repeating the name of God with devotion in your mind from time to time, or meditating earnestly and regularly, with a fixed purpose. The Father has assured me over and over again that whosoever meditates, by any method of his or her choice, a half hour every day, will not be exiled from humanity under any circumstances. He will never interfere with the sincere spiritual efforts of any person. Banishment is reserved for those who scorn God and laugh at His holy men and women, the renunciants, who are totally convinced that they are mere physical beings, who think sex is the highest good of human life, and who busy themselves with acquiring more and more material possessions, which do not benefit the spirit but weigh it down with care and needless worry. Directing your mind towards God through spiritual practice, you shall remain safe and secure, enjoy your life to its fullest, making your slow, leisurely way along the path to Self-realization at your own pace, and rest assured at the hour of your death that you go to a better place, a new opportunity to continue your journey, in a fresh, new body, right here on our shared home, planet earth.
Ramakrishna:
If you say, 'I am a sinner', eternally, you will remain a sinner to all eternity. You ought rather to repeat, 'I am not bound, I am not bound. Who can bind me ? I am the son of God, the king of kings.'
Guru Kurt:
Jesus was the same divine Person as Ramakrishna, and here we find Him giving mankind contradictory aphorisms. Jesus called mankind a “brood of vipers,” and said nothing to countermand the Judaic tradition of the “fall of man,” but Ramakrishna here advises a man to assert that he is divine. It is this seemingly contradictory approach of the Avatar during different lifetimes that confuses man and makes each think that he alone has found the true path, while others are on false paths. The Avatar has done this purposefully, for in thinking he alone is right, a man clings more faithfully to his chosen way. This was true in the olden days, but it is no longer true, for science and education are more universal and man is ready for a comprehensive explanation of what has occurred in religion, what the full truth is about man’s nature, and what must be done to live a life pleasing to God and thus joyful, exuberant, and full of the real hope of eternal life. The Avatar speaks in different ways to different people, at different times, but always with the same goal in mind: man must grow spiritually and learn in the end to take his personal spiritual evolution into his own hands. There is something in man that responds to the caustic remark that appears disparaging on the surface but in reality strengthens people to stand against all that is evil within them. Jesus called you a brood of vipers; I call you a crowd of animals! There is something in man that also responds to thinking that he is inherently divine, inherently good. Ramakrishna, the Son of God, said that men should believe they are sons of God. I say that the illumined are sons of God, His real children, and that every man is a potential son of God, a son of God in the making. Man is not a simple being, but very complex, and all men are not united in their thinking, nor should they attempt to become so. Man is like a diamond, with many facets. Jesus smote one side of the diamond, the one facing backwards towards our primitive past. Ramakrishna cut the other side of the diamond, the one facing forwards towards our divine destination.
In truth, people are not bothered by Jesus’ words because Jesus said them. They know in their heart of hearts that He was the Avatar, and so words that in any other being’s mouth would be loathsome are taken as the word of God when they come from Jesus, which indeed they are. The words come into the mind along with an awareness of the divinity of the Messenger who spoke them, and so they heal the divisions in the heart instead of worsening them. Now, Jesus did not say that man should dwell upon the idea that he is a sinner, but this is in effect what many Christians do. Jesus said people should hear His words and do His commandments, which to my mind are summarized as loving God with all one’s heart, and doing unto one’s neighbor as one would have one’s neighbor do to oneself. Ramakrishna here speaks against Christians, not against Christ, maintaining full continuity with His former divine births! Let us slow down, however, and discuss the Judeo-Christian tradition of the “fall of man,” for the Avatar also appeared as Moses and was responsible for introducing it. Oh yes, my friends, the ten commandments could only have their source in the Son of God, and what is more in the Passover, where the Israelites were freed from their Egyptian captors, the same divine powers were utilized to kill the firstborn sons of the Egyptians which will now be used during the “second coming” of Jesus Christ, which is now upon us. The Father, using His divine powers in the form known to Christians as the “Holy Spirit,” will descend upon man and remove the souls from the bodies of those who are not destined to remain upon the earth. They will be cast back into animal bodies, there to remain until the next solar cycle. The terribleness of this event is precisely the reason why Jesus said that His very generation would see His second coming. What is two thousand years in the space of the five to ten billion years we yet have remaining on this planet? Oh yes, and the “end of the world” was prophesied to get your attention. Would anyone have listened had Isaiah and John of Patmos forecast “the end of civilization as we know it?” Certainly not, so far stronger language was used.
The doctrine of the “fall of man” was introduced as a second and compatible explanation of the truth of reincarnation. All of us drag a tremendous burden around with us, a dark and troublesome load from those days when we followed no law but the law of the jungle. All humans sometimes have desires to kill, to steal, and to commit all sorts of atrocious acts. One group of people was told the truth, that this was the result of an animalistic past. Another group of people was told a colorful, poetic half-truth, that they were angelic beings that had fallen into sin. The former group longed to ascend to divinity, and the latter group longed for the divinity that had been theirs, and would be theirs again through the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ. These are two approaches to the same problem, as I said above, of getting man to act well, kindly, compassionately and with probity, in other words to grow in his spirit. In a similar vein, the East was told of a “golden age” long ago, which archeology has shown to be manifestly false, yet it was peoples’ longing for this lost “golden age” which made them act better in the present age. The Avatar, standing in the Father’s place, is a Supreme Psychologist, applying treatments for the disease of man that are effective for the moment, although He must continually revisit the earth to keep up with the changing times. Modern science and technology force us to drop those aspects of religion which were introduced as poetic truth, and discover the real truth which is there, and that is glorious beyond man’s imagining. The Hubble deep field images have made poetic tales such as the Creation myth of Genesis and the “golden age” preceding the current “age of Kali” unnecessary. Can anyone truly look at these photographs and not feel the awesome power of God in creating such a vast universe? Some there are indeed who can, but such people would not be reading my humble writings! So many galaxies, in an area of space the size of the head of a pin held at arm’s length projected unto the sky! My heart palpitates to think of it, but it may be I am alone in feeling this way. So be it.
It is not good to dwell upon your “sinful” nature, or to think about your past mistakes overmuch. If you feel great grief over things you may have done, please take this as a good sign that the Atman is very active in you, supporting you in righteousness. How else will you learn not to commit such mistakes again? Remember, the Atman acts with more than one life in mind. The sufferings you bear and the regrets you carry are the righteous fires with which the Atman purifies you so that in your next life you do not commit those mistakes again. Young people are especially vulnerable to making grievous mistakes whose consequences they cannot measure, and they need extreme protection from their Atman in order to make it through childhood and to adult prudence and judgment safely. The regrets you bear as you grow older is the wisdom you will carry as a young person in your next life. This is really how it works. If you remember these words of mine, you will not drown in your regrets, but learn to repent gracefully of the things you have done. One of the best ways to overcome regrets is to perform “penance,” not in the cold, prescribed manner of the old Catholic church, but in a personal manner that is deeply meaningful to you. For instance, a person who in a drunken stupor has accidentally killed a child would find a balm for his heart and a cure for his regrets by helping fatherless or motherless children in his community to grow up decently and safely, with many interesting activities, avoiding drugs and gangs in the process. If you were unfaithful to your wife, whose trusting nature you have grievously wounded, you can make up for it by becoming faithful, and by finding new ways to fall in love with her more deeply day by day.
Do not assume that because your mind is filled with sinful thoughts that you are inherently evil; always remember that you are essentially good, but that the burden of evolution is great. We must go beyond sin, the tendency to sin, and even the very thought of sinning, and this we must do through our own efforts alone although others may show us the way and help us through their shining example. This is the essential meaning of Ramakrishna’s words here. It is not good, however, to assert that one is God, while it is acceptable to think of oneself as God’s child. You will find that the more evolved you become spiritually, the more humble you are, for you begin to perceive that the spiritual sky is filled with beings of much greater brilliance than yourself, and the best way to become great like them is to sit at their feet and learn of their ways. Humility is not a matter of grinding oneself into the ground, but of filling the mind and the heart continually with the glories of God, the wonder and spiritual radiance of everything and everyone around you. You feel small, but you are truly great, for you are the beholder of mighty wonders, the likes of which make you want to fall down on your face again and again, so fortunate are you to see them! The Bhagavad Gita describes the glory of the Self as being like the splendor of a thousand suns rising at the same time in the sky! It is like that. An illumined teacher does not see disconnected, argumentative, thoughtless and arrogant people around him; he sees the blissful Self, pretending to be disconnected, argumentative, thoughtless and arrogant! He beholds the glorious divine core of everyone around him, and so he is continually filled with bliss, and when he helps these people overcome their problems he is filled with even more bliss. He humbly serves the Self in all around Him, and serving God is himself made very great in both the eyes of the world and in the eyes of the Father too, of whom he has at last become a true son, not Christ Himself, but Christ-like in every meaningful permutation of that phrase.
Ramakrishna:
It is said that truthfulness alone constitutes the spiritual discipline of the Kaliyuga (i.e. modern age). If a man clings tenaciously to truth he ultimately realizes God.
Guru Kurt:
Like me, Ramakrishna was quick to point out the clear pathway to God for those who are immersed in the world. How difficult it is to lead the life of a householder, but also to seek God-realization! The spiritual elite, who feel a restlessness for God, will not be satisfied with mere truthfulness, but will also apply ahimsa or nonviolence, cultivate universal love or bhakti, engage in selfless work (karma yoga), use their discriminative faculty to make wise choices (jnana yoga), and meditate (raja yoga). Ramakrishna’s advice here is intended for men and women totally lost in the forest of the world. He says, If you want to reach the northern end of the forest, where the city of God is located, don’t head south at any time! Where I currently reside, in eastern Wisconsin, in the autumn we are privileged to see the geese flying by on their way to warmer climates, heading south, but I have noticed there is sometimes a flock or two heading the opposite direction, as if lost! No goose who is paying attention would fly from a warmer climate to a colder climate, at least for an extended period of days. Similarly, no human being should fly against God by lying to others, engaging in deceptive business practices, or lying to themselves, saying that they do not care what happens when they die! I do not hold up high ideals with the intention that everyone will follow them; I expect people to do what they can, within the framework of their lives, not straining themselves but not falling into indolence either. A life of intense renunciation is meant for “the few, the proud and the brave,” few in numbers, proud of God and religion, and bravely basing their lives upon spiritual truths. For householders, I would suggest meditating for half an hour every morning. It is so refreshing! It releases new energies within you, gives your day a peaceful, relaxed framework, and opens your spiritual eyes to behold the wonders of life. If you cannot do this, then repeat the name of God with love and devotion in your heart from time to time. If you cannot do this, then cling to ahimsa, refraining from all emotional and physical injury of other living beings. If you cannot do even this, then follow Ramakrishna’s wise adage here, and at least do not lie! Thus will you avoid all negative karma and proceed at your fastest possible rate to the supreme goal of life, Self-realization.
Ramakrishna:
All religions are true. God can be reached by different religions. Many rivers flow by many ways but they fall into the sea. There all are one.
Guru Kurt:
The Avatar has Himself started all the major religions. Ramakrishna did not allow Himself to say this, for the time was not yet ripe. The minor religions, such as the Baha’i faith, were not started by the Avatar but by pretenders. They are not in general harmful, promoting peace, tolerance and brotherhood among mankind. There is something in people that responds to other people, and there is something in them that responds only to God. For this reason, illumined persons seldom have trouble gathering an immediate following whereas the Avatar may go by a way that looks difficult to man, but is fun and interesting to the divine intellect. Man does not know the power of God. The Avatar knows, and so remains aloof for quite some time before “splashing down” into the human public scene. Ramakrishna, for instance, spent a long time in training for His public duties. What occurs during this time interval only the Avatar will be able to say. The Father shows Him His hand upon the life of mankind, His implacable and irresistible will in shaping society as He sees fit. The two also engage in divine sport, which no human will ever be able to comprehend, for the highest truth man can see is but a mote of dust in the universe of truth where the Avatar lives, moves, and has His being.
For example, mankind believes that self-sacrifice, even unto death, to be a very good thing, and for this reason Jesus was worshipped as the Savior. The Avatar laughs at this kind of thinking and asks why the human race is so stupid it cannot form a society where no such deaths are required! He laughs at your hatred, which is an emotion He never, under any circumstances, experiences. He laughs at your quarrels, at your petty fusillades, at your wars and at what you consider virtue. The entire human scene is very humorous to Him and the Father too, and the Father shows the Son the irony He has embedded in society for His own amusement, though with no harm to any human. I will give you just one example of this. Mankind worships money, but what has the Father inspired people to put on the back of the one dollar bill? It is nothing other than a brilliant representation of the spiritual situation on planet earth. There is a huge pyramid, and at the apex of the pyramid a shining eye, separated from the pyramid by a short distance. The pyramid represents the human population of earth. At its base, which is most numerous, are those who have recently arisen from animals. As you go higher and higher, as spiritual consciousness ascends, there are fewer people until at last you reach the jumping-off point, just before samadhi. The illumined are the shining, radiant eye of wisdom, separated from humanity and merged in the divine. Others will naturally have different explanations for the symbols used here, but if they did not, where would be the ironic twist? To see the Maker’s hand upon His creatures is the sole province of the Avatar, and to know how deeply it extends would alarm most, frighten some, and terrify still others. Truth is a two-edged sword, and only the Avatar sees both edges; it is only given to man to see the edge wielded against him.
Given that the Avatar has started all religions, what is the position of a man who wants to realize God? First and foremost, he should be tolerant of all other religious beliefs. While debate, even heated and controversial, is to be encouraged and allowed to flourish, the time for persecution of races and religious persons should become a thing of the past. The Hindus set the best example of this type of tolerance, which I would like to see become the standard of the world. Although Christians also express tolerance, they possess a certain type of narrow-minded and shallow conservatism that I find alarming and distracting from the main objective of human life, the quest for God-realization. They think that Jesus will come back to “save” them, but in reality when Jesus returns He will finally explain that the whole of Hinduism was carefully hidden behind His teachings during His first visit. For instance, Jesus gave men the path of bhakti or love when He told them to love God with all their heart, and their neighbors as themselves. He gave them the path of karma or selfless work when He said that whatever kindness was done to the least among mankind was done unto Him. He gave them the path of jnana or knowledge when He told people to take up their cross daily and follow Him, for in making our decisions in the way we believe Christ would make them, we utilize our discriminating intellect. He gave man the path of concentration, raja yoga, when He told people to pray to the Father in secret. Earnest Christians set their foot firmly on the path to God-realization, although the end was never made clear. What Christian can tell you what heaven really is? I can tell you what heaven is: it was called nirvana by the Buddha and illumination by Krishna. It is the supreme state attainable by an embodied man, and we have brilliant, shining examples of this state in Eknath Easwaran, Andrew Cohen, Da Free John and even Osho. If you want to see a man living in heaven, buy one of the videos of my teacher, Easwaran, and watch him speak. He lived in unending bliss, unfailing wisdom, limitless personal freedom, and unshakeable security.
All of us will one day attain this state. How long it takes is totally up to us. Those who believed in Jesus have gone far along the path, for loving the Avatar is the best way to make spiritual progress, the message of the Bhagavad Gita as well. He is rightly called the Savior because those who have earnestly believed in Him will be saved from the dark fate of sinners that is very shortly to be meted out by the Father, and that is to be cast back into the animal realm for countless eons. Jesus spoke as He did, making religion a formulaic, simple and easy affair, as a desperate and loving attempt to save the lost, and many have indeed been saved from the terrible judgment that is now upon all mankind. He even gave them self-sacrifice to draw their attention upwards to God, which none but a primitive thinker could imagine would be something the Father desired except for psychological reasons, to appeal to the lowest among mankind. Why would the Creator wish us to sacrifice even animals? Did He not make the animals too? This is like attempting to please Michelangelo on his deathbed by walking up with the Mona Lisa and slashing it before his eyes! You are likely to give him a heart attack. There is no way the Father could be pleased by sacrifice, animal or human, except in the face of cruel persecution such as the Christian martyrs endured. He never has been pleased, and never will be pleased by animal sacrifice. It is insulting to Him. Indeed, it is one of the greatest insults. He has only allowed it because of the raging bloodlust of mankind. It is better to kill a lower creature than it is to kill a man, and the ages of sacrifice that Judaism represents have helped to prevent murder and war by propitiating the evil demon each person carries around inside of him or her, the false ego, represented and externalized in the Judaic and Christian traditions as Satan or Lucifer, the king of lies.
It is easy to become a Christian, but it is not easy to follow Jesus’ teachings with an earnest heart. Those who do so find themselves moving quite rapidly forward on the path to enlightenment. Jesus told man that the kingdom of heaven was within him; I think His meaning is patently obvious, though no doubt Christians will disagree, as they disagree with nearly everything spoken or written in today’s world. For this reason, like Ramakrishna, I would assert that people should feel comfortable and secure within whichever religious tradition appeals to their personality and religious needs. This is indeed why there are surface differences between the religions! Those who do not like to hear about God the Father or the soul may choose Buddhism, which cleverly and subtly denies both these concepts, although the Buddha was the Avatar and fully aware of the actual truth. They will still go forward. Christians can go on thinking that Jesus is going to do all their spiritual work for them. So long as they make an earnest attempt to follow His teachings, for instance always doing unto others as they would have others do unto them, they will go forward. Hindus may worship Kali or Shiva not as artistic, beautiful and meaningful representations of the One Power behind the cosmos, but as separate, unique entities. They will still go forward. The religions of man have but one purpose, and that is man’s spiritual advancement. Go forward, people! You are all like men who have set forth to cross a vast ocean, the ocean of samsara, change and decay, with varying descriptions of what the other shore is like. The Christians have no description at all! The Mohammedans have colorful descriptions to draw their attention and set them to dreaming of better things. The Hindus have living examples amongst them to show the way, the illumined teachers. How can anyone tell you what bliss, what utter rapture and delight, awaits you once you are free from avidya, spiritual ignorance, from selfish ties to material objects and other persons, from the desire for wealth and fame? Many descriptions of the opposite shore have been given; it is up to you to go there.
Ramakrishna:
A truly religious man should think that other religions also are paths leading to truth. We should always maintain an attitude of respect towards other religions.
Guru Kurt:
Where is the person who can accept the idea that there is only one God, and that He is responsible for all the religions? This is the best attitude, for it is the real, actual, literal truth. Man’s nature is divisive, and hence he thinks that his way alone is right, while in fact God made all the creatures on earth, sustains them, and has provided religious instruction for all according to their capacity to receive it. The path to illumination is part of the design of Creation. It is the goal of life, the purpose for which we have been made. All are moving forward towards this goal, whether positively and with enthusiastic effort, or negatively, fighting, kicking, and squealing like little babies. There is no one who does not go forward, but pity the man who commits grave sin and is cast back into the animal realm! Jesus was thinking of such people when He said they would be better off with mill stones tied around their necks and drowned. At least then they would merely return to earth as human beings to try again. Vile sinners go forward through bitter experience, learning the solemn consequences of evil as God, who is the Redresser of wrongs and the Protector of the innocent, seeks His awful vengeance! Many there are who will laugh at these statements of mine, but there is plenty of room in the animal kingdom for all those who do not take God and His majesty seriously. Yes, joke around about it! You cannot harm the good, who are secure in their position here, and avoid all evil in fear of the consequences, if not through awakened compassion in their hearts. You can only harm yourselves. All is done as I have said it is done, whatever the opinion of the world may be. The Father acts, and although until now He has waited until after a person’s natural death to seek vengeance, this is no longer the case, as the world shall soon see for itself.
Ramakrishna:
Women whether naturally good or not, whether chaste or unchaste, should always be regarded as images of the Blissful Divine Mother.
Guru Kurt:
Before this time it was not revealed that the Atman of the man and the women are different but complementary. My teacher, Eknath Easwaran, used to say that the Self has no sex, but this is true only from a physical standpoint. There is much more to the woman than mere physical differences from the man. Her total outlook on life is different, sweeter in some ways, more refined in others. Men are more aggressive, and are able to extend their consciousness out into the world more effectively than women, which is why they are more adept at building things, such as houses, bridges and cities. Women are more sensitive, more emotionally attuned to those around them. Their province is the relationship, for they are the support of the family and home life. These differences are not merely on the surface as the modern world believes, but extend throughout the whole being, for this is how man and woman have been created by Brahman. Each is meant to enliven and refresh the spirit of the other by their differences, expressed harmoniously, with tolerance and affection. Now, some women do men’s jobs, and do them well, but I assert that they do these jobs in a womanly fashion. Men sometimes do women’s work, the so-called “Mr. Moms,” but I assert that they do this work in a manly, masculine fashion. Whole books may be written, and have been written, about the differences between male and female. Now that in most places of the world it is accepted that women and men should have equal political and social rights, it is time the world can bear the new information that I bring, that the very souls of men and women are different. This is not a bad or evil thing, but a simple, profound property of creation itself. Brahman has made the man and the woman differently so they are mutually attractive, and this attractive interaction remains even after illumination, when all interest in physical sex is generally dropped. Easwaran and his wife Christine, and Andrew Cohen and his wife, are two examples of this in practice.
In the past, there has always been the danger that women would be discriminated against by men, who are physically stronger and able to do so. In many parts of the world, discrimination against women still exists, although it is getting much better in most places. I want to make myself absolutely plain and clear: I stand with Ramakrishna in asserting that universal respect and admiration are due to the woman, and that women should not be discriminated against in any way, shape or form, including both the work and family spheres. It is the case that many women are drawn to home life, to caring for young, but there are also many women who wish to pursue a career, and they should be allowed to do so. I merely reflect the modern attitude here, but this attitude is itself a result of the work of Brahman upon our planet for millennia. It was not always this way. There is more than just physical evolution occurring on earth. There is also spiritual evolution, and social evolution as well. Social evolution has occurred much more rapidly than physical and spiritual evolution, which are slower, more gradual processes, but the result of social evolution is that we can now assert openly, receiving the support of our neighbors, the idea that all human beings, regardless of race, sex, or religion should be allowed equal freedom to pursue happiness. Pockets of resistance still remain, and not everyone feels this in their hearts although they will tolerate others and not interfere with them in practice, but overall Brahman has been successful in educating mankind, in bringing him nearer to the principle of universal toleration, a bastion of modern society and an ideal which will continue to grow stronger as the centuries roll by.
With this said, there are some practical problems faced by advanced spiritual aspirants that should be addressed here. Sex is not an evil thing. It is the purpose of the Creator that men and women should have sex together for the purpose of fostering genetic diversity in the population. Therefore, it is possible to combine the life of a householder with the life of spiritual aspiration successfully, as many have done. Ramakrishna, for instance, used to refer to king Janaka of Mithila, the “royal sage.” I would humbly point to my own teacher, who lived the life of a householder in his early days as an English professor, and fathered children, some of whom visited him in his new role as guru. Yet, sex falls away from earnest spiritual aspirants as a ripe fruit falls to the ground, or as a withered autumn leaf flutters slowly down to the forest floor. The joy of the Self is so intense that it makes the joy of sex look like a small portion of sugar mixed with a large amount of sand – you have to hunt and hunt to find even one tiny crystal, and then you need to spit out all the sand afterwards. Sex is a purely physical act, and engaging in it (unless after illumination like Osho) binds one to the material world, which can cause severe agony and grief in the minds and hearts of the spiritually aware. Thus, a noble class of renunciants arises, out of every country, in every religious tradition, who are just not interested in sex because they have found the fountain of true joy welling up from within. They are drunk with the love of God, inebriated with the ecstatic bliss of Self-awareness. Will you be able to sell some stale, mostly rotten apples to a man who himself owns an apple orchard? Can you sell a candy bar that’s been in your pocket over a year to a man who owns a chocolate factory? You never will. You will only make him laugh, and if he is kind-hearted and generous he will give you a bushel of apples, or a box of chocolates, out of his largesse.
People think that monastics are prudes, who dislike sex because they are “against the natural way of things,” but this is far from the truth. Monastics are the true royalty on earth, God’s dearest friends. Should that happy day ever arrive when there is danger of the human race not continuing for lack of children, the monastics would gladly do their part to restore the balance, for they do not lack in wisdom. This day will never come on planet earth, however; of this be assured! Monastic people will always find their niche, leading lives of celibacy and essential purity, shining examples to the rest of the world of total dedication to God and the spiritual life. Now, there is a complete continuum between the householder and the highest monastic, the most advanced spiritual aspirant. There is no discontinuity in human spiritual evolution except between the unillumined and the illumined, the former being human and the latter being living, divine children of God. Thus, a large proportion of those in monasteries still continue to struggle with ideas of sex, and to address this need Ramakrishna gave the advice of thinking of every woman as an embodiment of divinity, of the divine Mother, Kali or perhaps Lakshmi.
One analogy for what occurs is rising slowly from the ocean depths to the glorious, sun-soaked surface. In the profound abyss of the oceans live creatures horrible of appearance, ghastly and ghostly, terrifying to behold. As you go higher, you will see less and less of these creatures, for they require tremendous pressure to maintain their bodies. At certain levels, you may go for days without seeing one of these monsters, but then all of a sudden one will appear! Sex desire is like this for spiritual aspirants, coming and going with unpredictability. They taste a little of the bliss of the Self, but then the spigot seems to be turned off somehow and they wonder if they have made the right choice in joining the monastery after all. These errant thoughts may be conquered by adopting this attitude of Ramakrishna, of taking every woman as an embodiment of the divine Mother. The divine Mother wants her children to grow spiritually above all else, for this is no ordinary mother, but the very Creator in a mode of femininity. William Blake said that “everything that lives is holy.” If you can take this attitude, in particular towards women, you won’t see them as sex objects, who perhaps crave for sex with you as well, but as blissful, divine beings, devis, female goddesses, then the “sex monster” will deflate like a pufferfish and you will come once again to your true path of joyous celibacy. This mode of thinking is very effective, because it is based on reality. The Atman of each woman is verily a divine being, and each woman is destined one day to realize she is one with this Atman, and is a real devi, not a slave to sex but its master, just as you also seek to do. In her depths, she really wants you to attain to Self-realization, although on the surface she may not recognize this. This is shown by the many women who also lead the monastic life, and what I and Ramakrishna have said for men goes for women too, in reverse. They can learn to see men as embodiments of Shiva or Rama, for instance, and obtain the same two-fold relief from the agonies incipient sex desire causes God’s lovers from time to time, certain that men want them to succeed in their spiritual struggles and seeing men as divine beings, not craven animals bent on sexual conquest alone.
Ramakrishna:
Money can fetch you bread alone. Do not consider it as your sole end and aim.
Guru Kurt:
The Avatar is always baffled by man’s love for money. The entire system of exchanging currency for goods makes no sense at all to him. He will say, “Why don’t you get together as a society, set up your priorities and assign people to work on important tasks? The total amount of work will be greatly reduced, everyone shall have the necessities of life, and Brahman will be pleased to see you working together.” This is the way it is done on the planets of the Gods, located in the galaxy’s globular clusters, where the Avatar goes to take a vacation from us every thousand solar cycles or so. The older people there serve as administrators, the younger work, and the whole gets along quite merrily, singing and dancing to the Father’s bright and charming melodies. When asked to comment about money, the Avatar is rather put out. He does not enjoy talking about it, for He does not really understand it. He will say, “So, you mean if someone does not have food, and you have a whole silo full of corn, you will deny him this food if he does not have a particular kind of green paper?” He will say this with a dumbfounded expression on his face, as though you are quite daft. Of course, He is also dumbfounded at the human dislike for work, which is after all very satisfying activity, especially when it brings happiness to the world. No human wants to work, and they will only do so for a “reward.” Jesus laughs at you and says, “Yes, you have your reward: a pile of cash to take with you only until you die. My friends also have their reward, assurance of eternal life and a much better lifetime next time around. What morons you are!” The Avatar holds human society in the greatest contempt, for it is naught but a pile of morons, grubbing and grasping after material things which have no lasting value. He regards the whole human race as a squad of idiots, neglecting their souls and wasting time counting dollars and cents which could be spent repeating the name of God and thus forwarding their real purpose for being created, and that is to become Christ-like, instead of money- or matter-grubbers. That’s it! You look like swine to him, thrusting your faces deep into the smelly mud in search of a few rotten potato peels or orange rinds, when right across the field the farmer has set up a nice table with fine linen and the most tasty dishes. No one wants to eat with the farmer! Pigs view all higher beings with suspicion, distrust, envy and jealousy. When they get a chance, they nail the farmer to the cross, or do even worse things! Will Jesus need to dine forever alone on His single-sun planets, or will He find someone to join Him at the banquet He has spread out for all comers? I fear the worst; will any prove me wrong?
Ramakrishna:
He is truly a man to whom money is only a servant; but, on the other hand, those who do not know how to make a proper use of it, hardly deserve to be called men.
Guru Kurt:
There is nothing to be done about amending the human system of currency exchange. If the truth were told the Father, who knows you, is responsible for setting it up. He knows you will only work for a reward. He knows you like to have “more” than other people. He knows you even like to have a certain class, not on your doorstep but within the bounds of your knowledge, who are starving to death. If this class does not exist somewhere on the planet, great waves of uneasiness spread through the whole human population and wars are started, for man is a violent creature, only happy himself when someone else, somewhere else, is suffering grievously. If the truth were told, all the mores and values of human society, which have not come through the Avatar, are polar opposites to those of the Gods. You wish to have more than others. The Gods are not happy until all have as much as they. You wish to isolate yourself into family units. The Gods are gregarious and hate the isolation of family units, getting to know as many as they can in their lives, in many capacities. You hate work; the Gods love work. You cannot look up to higher beings; the Gods cannot do anything but look up to Brahman. You love pride; the Gods love humility. You wish to be happy, by yourself. The Gods wish for all to be happy, in which their happiness is included. You wish to do your own will; the Gods wish to do the Father’s will, which they know is better than their own ever could be. Your love is irrational and tied to single persons. The Gods’ love is rational, and tied to the universe. You complain when there is a problem; the Gods act to solve problems. You do not value your immortality; the Gods value this above all else. You put yourselves first; the Gods put themselves last, always living by Jesus’ saying “the last shall be first,” for they know it to be the actual case. You want your own way with a planet; the Gods want Brahman’s glory to be revealed in every aspect of their lives, maintaining close population control and monitoring all resource use. The Gods, living together, do not even have words for war, murder, robbery or any other crime. They have no word to connote “money,” nor do they ever make use of it. They would be insulted if you even offered to barter with them. If you are hungry, and they have food, why can’t you eat? This is really how they think! You love personal property; the Gods share everything and hate personal property. They do not even have a word for “mine!” The Gods begin on a moral plateau that is so high no human being will ever come close to comprehending it, for – you are not Gods.
The Gods live for spiritual delight alone. The needs of their bodies are met, but life is lived on the spiritual planets (called the Vaikunthas in the Bhagavatam) for the sake of ecstasy. The residents form loose agglomerations of persons that shift constantly in accordance with the Father’s desires. They roam the planet freely, planting many fruit trees in the wilderness so that travelers may fill their stomachs. The language which they use has approximately five times the numbers of words found in the English language, and there are also approximately five times the number of different sounds used in their speech. There are no fences on those planets, and you are always welcome wherever you may go. The residents excel in polite debate, the sciences, industry with a divine face instead of the twisted human visage, agriculture and music, poetry, and painting. Their bodies are about twice as tall as ours, with about five times the strength. Some of them sprout wings and gain the ability to fly, retaining their hands too although the chest muscles are greatly strengthened. Their bodies are all optimized for spiritual ecstasy, for the energy flowing through them is tremendous and would melt a human body instantaneously, or at least cause it to convulse in agony. They engage in good-natured athletic contests every day, one of their favorite sports being Ultimate Frisbee, a game invented by the Father and brought to earth for the onset of the post-modern age which is to come. In continuous contact with the Father, they do His bidding, and thus their spiritual joy is always at an optimal level. The Father, indeed, takes pride in them, while He looks with disdain upon humanity, for they are the fruit of His intense labor, ever-guiding, ever-shaping them into the awe-inspiring divine creatures He wants them to become.
The preceding two paragraphs are my mind’s response to this quotation from Ramakrishna, for I am disgusted by money. If we have it, we are secure. If we lack it, we are insecure. Did not the same God make us all? Why then are we so selfish that our society cannot be set up so all are secure? Why do we want to live and see others die? Why not live and help others also live? I am baffled by this, and tormented by human stupidity at not seeing this obvious point. You each want to make yourselves happy, alone and at the expense of everyone else, but if you would just loosen up a little and work with the happiness of all in your hearts, you would work less, play more, and still enjoy all the comforts you now possess. What fools these mortals be! Yet, I must “bite the bullet” here and bring my mind back down from the spiritual plane to deal with your ugly system of currency, which is to me like shoveling smelly manure into the living room of your house would be to you. Since money is a necessity upon this planet, even for the spiritually inclined, as Ramakrishna says here is should be one’s servant. My personal attitude is that it is green paper that superstitious people will accept so that I may eat. I give them their paper, and eat my fill! What do I want with riches? The very soil of this earth is riches enough for me, for without it, where would I stand? People are so amazed, for instance, that Jesus would not take the devil’s offer of all the wealth in the world, when in reality this would be a poor joke indeed! Imagine, the very Son of God, being interested in human wealth! It really is a riotous joke!
Those who are fortunate enough to attain wealth should follow the shining example of Andrew Carnegie, who is the best illustration I know of a spiritual man who was also very wealthy. At the age of 33, when he had an annual income of $50,000, Carnegie said, “Beyond this never earn, make no effort to increase fortune, but spend the surplus each year for benevolent purposes.” What a big stamp this man had upon the whole world, donating over $350 million to various educational and cultural institutions, which in those days was much more than it would be in today’s currency! The world remembers him fondly, but not so the Gettys, the Morgans and the Hearsts. Carnegie lived in harmony with the fundamental law of Brahman that all were meant to live in happiness. Leading a happy life himself, he considered it an honor to see to the happiness of others as well through his benevolence and moral kindness. Brahman was well-pleased with him, and he experienced spiritual joy through his good actions, though he probably would not have called himself a spiritual man. Why cannot all rich persons act in this way? It is because they have not learned yet that the greatest source of personal joy is that others should also be happy through one’s efforts. The reason why life works in this manner is that it is based on our real situation, which is as one soul among many. The Atman of man upholds reality; we must act in recognition of reality before real joy may come to us. We must learn to live in harmony with all around us, never causing emotional or physical pain to others, not making others happy at our own expense, but along with our own happiness as well, as Carnegie did do with his magnificent largesse. If you horde your wealth, you deny the reality of your spiritual situation, seeking to cut yourself off from all others, who may be starving at your door, dying on your threshold. Your Atman frowns on this and cuts off your access to real joy, sending feelings of emptiness, lack of purpose, frustration, angst and depression. Be a Carnegie or be a Scrooge – it is your choice, but only Carnegie’s soul expands into infinity, while Scrooge’s soul contracts into nothingness.
Ramakrishna:
To become great one must be humble. The tree laden with fruit always bends low. So if you wish to be great, be lowly and meek.
Guru Kurt:
Humility is one of the least-understood among the virtues, yet it is one of the most important. Ramakrishna’s analogy is a good one, but let me give you a few more. Only a great valley can accept the Ocean. Only a wide telescope can peer deeply into the universe. Only empty space can accept Creation. Only one who admits he does not know can be a great student, and then one day himself teach others well. Humility is not about beating yourself down, into the ground, but about opening yourself to vast experience. It is not about harming yourself, but about learning from the universe how best to grow. It is not about thinking yourself nothing, but about forgetting all about yourself in the object of your contemplation. A man bought a small telescope and used to turn it every night upon the skies on the hill behind his house. Becoming fascinated with galaxies, he turned it one night upon Andromeda, our sister (and slightly larger) galaxy. Slowly, gradually, he became absorbed in the vision before his eyes, so much so that he forgot he was seated at a telescope, forgot all about time, and sat enraptured until morning. Getting up, he staggered a bit, having forgotten who he was completely! Walking down the trail to his house, he came across one of his neighbors, who appeared before his sight. Becoming angry, he uttered, “Say, what manner of creature is this? Last night I had the whole of Andromeda galaxy swirling round inside my chest. What gives you the right to interrupt my ecstatic vision?” When you lose yourself in contemplation of God’s glory, or in this case in the glory of one of the objects of His Creation, then alone do you burst into full flower, becoming the beholder of something magnificent, and hence magnificent yourself! God’s lovers always lose themselves in this way, and thus stagger around in ecstatic vision all the time. If they farm, they become lost in the glory of growing wheat, waving beautifully and rhythmically in the gentle breeze. If they walk through a forest, they become lost in the beautiful flowers all around, in the buzzing of the honey bees and sweet chirping of the songbirds. If they talk with another person, they get lost in that person’s eyes, which as the poet correctly states are the windows to the soul. They are effective and rational people, but they are forever in bliss, for they acknowledge the reality of life: they are small and meek, while God and His universe are big and glorious. Who would not want to get lost in it, and getting lost, take a portion of that glory inside themselves, becoming truly great, with hearts and minds wide open to the wondrous world of spirit that surrounds us all?
Ramakrishna:
Rain water never stands on high ground, but runs down to the lowest level. So also the mercy of God remains in the hearts of the lowly, but drains off from those of the vain and the proud.
Guru Kurt:
What is pride? I have said that God is proud of His best creations, but how can this be? Human pride and divine pride are not the same. Divine pride is awake and aware, not sleepy and dim-witted. You cannot accomplish great things if you are not glad afterwards that you have accomplished them. God is proud of His universe, proud of His creatures, but… He is not nearly so proud as He will be during the next cycle of our universe, when after a period of rest He brings it all out again, or even (can any human see this?) as proud as He will be tomorrow, for not one day goes by where God does not work effectively upon our planet, upon all of our souls with the exception of the Avatar, who does His own work. Yet, even the Avatar takes all the advice of the Father with an “ear of pain,” so greatly does He yearn for those precious pearls of wisdom that may chance to drop from the Father’s beneficent lips, and so the Father takes on the responsibility of His Son’s spiritual growth as well as that of humanity. Yes, even Jesus grows in spirit, at a much faster rate than us, although He is a different type of being altogether, and despite the tremendous drag humanity places upon Him.
The pride of the Father cannot be touched, for it is not stagnant. It is like a red-hot poker, or a whirling fan blade. It is not a place of rest for Him, but a jumping-off point onto new and better things. Man’s pride is slow, sluggish and grandiloquent. If you could speak to the Father and tell Him, “Say, this is a very nice universe you’ve made here,” you won’t even see His reply! He will be taking off into the spiritual sky like Superman, leaving you in the dust and bewilderment, staggered to watch Him actually moving swiftly forward to more and greater things. If you say to a human, “You sure did a nice job on that business presentation,” he or she will sit down with you and discuss for hours what a nice job it was, in minutest detail, and also discuss many other nice projects that they have completed. Imagine that the Father is Santa Claus, with a sack on His back, filling it full of toys for His children. He can feel the sack getting heavier, so in a sense He does appreciate His own work, yet His mighty and glorious hands never cease from throwing in toys at a faster and faster rate! The human way would be to throw in a toy, heft the sack, run around to show everyone else that there is a toy in the sack, take the toy out and admire it awhile, then at last put it in the sack and begin searching for another toy! The Father sees deep into the heart of reality, and only what is real satisfies Him. He knows the more He can do, the stronger He is and will become, and takes only such righteous consolation as will lead to maximum increase in spiritual strength, never a jot or tittle more than this. Humans forget all about their spiritual growth, and focus only upon their accomplishments, which is the evil that is known as human pride.
Ramakrishna:
The ego that asserts, 'I am the servant of God' is the characteristic of the true devotee. It is the ego of Vidya (Knowledge), and is called the 'ripe' ego.
Guru Kurt:
I have given more details about the “ripe ego” than did Ramakrishna, but much more remains to be revealed to mankind. In samadhi the false ego that has been with us since our very creation as tiny parcels of spirit in unicellular bodies is utterly extinguished, forever. People who attain samadhi are thus said to be “liberated” from all bondage to the world. They see clearly that they are none other than divine spirit, and are allowed to use the full resources of the Atman to drive themselves deeper into Paramatman with each succeeding life. Before this, most of the Atman’s power has been consumed in maintaining the illusion of separateness, the idea that your so-called “needs” are separate from the needs of everyone else. After samadhi, you will have no more emotional needs, for these are all fulfilled in the bliss of the Self; the very “needs” scenario is part of the bondage of the false ego. I laugh at people who think, for instance, that Jesus required the comfort of Mary and Martha! It is really hilarious. They were a burden to Him! He submitted to their awkward gestures in order to contribute to their spiritual growth and that of the whole world, nothing more than this! Now, Jesus was God’s Son and did not possess an Atman, but the same thing will be true of you, too, once you attain illumination. You will not require emotional support of any kind, from anyone, at any time! You become the emotional support of all those around you, who are utterly grounded in Self-awareness. You become, verily, a portal unto the divine for all, who seek comfort at your feet and guidance by your hand. Should you get the opportunity to serve an illumined person, man or woman, know that it is he or she that is serving you, not the other way around. The residents of Ramagiri ashram actually seemed to be aware of this fact, that it was a privilege to cook Easwaran’s meals or see to his clothing and medical needs, to help in the ashram garden, book bindery, or print shop. The illumined are the support of the supportless, and all those poor souls who are not yet illumined need this support for they are like cartoon characters, leading lives of unreality, existing in the world but they know not why, having been born but not knowing when in ages past, and going forward to they know not where at death.
What happens when the ego is extinguished? I like to say that a giant knot in consciousness has been untied, a Gordian knot that bound the Atman hand and foot. The Atman arises with divine force, and – then what? Ramakrishna was somewhat vague about it, saying that a “ripe ego” remains that asserts “I am the servant of God.” I will be somewhat less vague about it, and in future births shall grow yet more specific. The ripe ego is created after samadhi by the Atman, fresh and brand-new. Nothing of the old ego remains, for samadhi is an intense and incredible experience, like jumping into a volcano, or having one’s brain turned to superhot plasma for a time. The old ego required a lot of energy to maintain, for it was a central, huge idea to which all other ideas of necessity were connected. All of our thoughts revolve around our false conception of who we are as being a physical being moving in a physical world in the midst of other physical beings. The Atman is forced to maintain this vast web of thought far from itself, far from home, perched precariously out into the unreal. This is the game of Brahman, to go from darkness into light, from ignorance to knowledge, from incompleteness to completeness, from imperfection to perfection, from error to truth, and from poverty into real spiritual wealth. Imagine, for an instant, that you are the Atman, poised in space above the crown of a person’s head. Here is what you must do. Instead of looking at an object, you must travel through channels: “Here I am, a physical being in a physical world, looking at an object.” If you are in a relationship, you cannot think, “Aha, another blissful spiritual being.” You must think, “Here I am, a physical creature. There is another physical creature! How attracted I am physically. I wonder if she likes what I like, and dislikes what I dislike?” The whole thing becomes very complicated and burdensome, which is why when the burden is removed your mental power is increased a thousandfold or more.
Let me give you a physical analogy or picture of the situation, which may help you visualize the trap of the ego as I see it. Poised above a person’s head, with spiritual energy you (as the Atman) maintain a disc one meter in diameter centered around the person’s stomach. This disc is like an “atomizer” on certain types of industrial equipment, such as spray dryers: there is a central hole through which air can pass, and around the circumference of the disc many smaller holes that disperse the entering air column and divide it into much smaller columns. There are millions of tiny holes in the disc of the false ego, and you are not allowed to simply think thoughts on your own, before your energy gets to the disc: all thoughts must relate to the disc and emerge from the disc. From you, then, passes a single beam of spiritual energy that makes the disc, spins it, passes through it in increasingly complicated channels, and emerges from the disc greatly weakened, enervated and disparate. Do you see how our thoughts, although emerging in the beginning from the Atman, are broken up and made into a tangled confusion by the necessity to maintain this false idea of who we are? What we experience in our daily lives bears almost no resemblance to the real glory of our true being, because human personality is essentially a weakening and dispersal of the Atman’s immense powers. Now, imagine that you could throw away this disc, which means in practice dissolving the spiritual form that you are maintaining and recovering all that spirit into its native state, undifferentiated, whole and free. Imagine the feeling of relief! This is nirvikalpa samadhi. In order to use the machinery of the mind and body, however, a self-conception is still required, and so a new one is put in place by the all-wise Atman which is not a big, unwieldy disc, but like the image of a face, the divine face. The “ripe ego” is completely transparent to the divine purpose and is no burden, but contributes to the Atman’s glory and continuing spiritual growth. The Atman thinks, and then communicates its ideas clearly with shocking speed, precision, and inherent glory. There is no more “poor me, my needs are not being met,” but a true servant of God, one of His new sons or daughters, helping to alleviate the suffering of mankind by showing everyone the way unto enlightenment.
Ramakrishna:
Wherein is the strength of a devotee? He is a child of God, and his devotional tears are his mightiest weapon.
Guru Kurt:
God the Father is immensely strong, incredibly powerful. Human beings really have no idea of His spiritual strength. Truly, nothing good ever occurs on earth but it is the Father’s will causing it, directly or indirectly. Now, there is a very large circle of people on earth who receive the Father’s protection, although they are not aware of it. They lead “charmed” lives, finding jobs when they need them, bearing healthy children, avoiding all accidents, surrounded by good friends and family, and finding themselves generally happy. How does one obtain entry into this “inner circle?” One does not get in by asking entry, as the Christians foolishly assert, but by living the kind of life of which Brahman approves. Brahman protects His devotees, who seek to emulate the Avatar in their personal, daily choices, repeat His name now and again, and refrain from all emotional and physical harm of others, observing strict ahimsa throughout their lives. Now, Brahman does allow suffering to touch even those closest to Him, as is made obvious by the lives of Jesus, Socrates and Ramakrishna too. The reason He does this is that it is a real world, not an imaginary one, and one cannot become His son or daughter without becoming acquainted, from time to time, with life’s evils – crime, sickness and death. He does not want Pollyannas, but realists, such as Himself. The response of a true devotee of God under trying circumstances is not to abandon his attempts to lead a noble, virtuous, spiritual life in accord with God’s wishes, but to meet God as Ramakrishna says here, with devotional tears in his or her eyes. Such a one beholds the evil which has befallen him or her, and tries to accept it as God’s will, bitter though the potion be. When they do so, they find the strength necessary to meet the circumstance within themselves, and they will also find many comforts, intellectual and spiritual, arising from the people around them as their Atmans respond to the suffering of another by providing solace and relief. The final comfort is offered by the Avatar, for He drank from the cup of woe unto death so that you may know that where you must go, the Lord Himself has also gone.
Ramakrishna:
Look at the anvil of a blacksmith-how it is hammered and beaten; yet it moves not from its place. Let men learn patience and endurance from it.
Guru Kurt:
The word “patience” is really inadequate here. There are many different “flavors” or specific definitions covered by this one term. For instance, there is the type of patience that says, “Well, I shall just sit here and wait, and wait, and all shall occur in the end.” Sarada, Ramakrishna’s wife, made an idiot statement that used the word “patience” in this way. There is another type of “patience” which says, “I will work like a demon today on selfless projects, repeat God’s name also like a demon, and meditate like the very hound of hell, but I am still a realist and know that I may need to wait many lives before samadhi will at last be mine.” This is the type of patience which Ramakrishna counsels here, which is clear from the masculine, tough nature of the analogy. Just imagine yourself as the anvil, being beat upon, hard, bearing red-hot metal on your head. Go forward with this kind of tough, recondite, implacable and committed attitude; what then will stand in your way? Make no mistake about it, Ramakrishna was a champion of progress. He wanted nothing more than to give man mental tools and ideas which would help him go forward towards the shining goal of Self-realization. This is but one example; let those who may make us of it, make use of it.
Ramakrishna:
Visit not miracle-mongers and those who exhibit occult powers. These men are stragglers from the path of Truth.
Guru Kurt:
People expect too much from illumined persons and even advanced spiritual aspirants, bearing as they do an inadequate conception of God and His power. God is omnipotent, meaning that He has all existing powers, but He does not have those powers which do not exist. If you ask a worldly person what God can do, he will respond, “What can He not do?” I will give you a short list. First, He cannot create multicellular creatures de novo, for making this much matter upon a planet full of living creatures would be violent enough to kill most of them! Second, He cannot take a bacterial soul and put it in a human body. Were He to do so, the body would just lay there like a slug for a bacterial soul has developed none of the spiritual organs necessary to move about or use any of the senses. Third, He cannot create embodied creatures without the need for sleep or food. Fourth, He cannot make creatures who can place their own souls at conception into their new bodies, but must do so Himself. Fifth, He cannot maintain the universe forever, but must on occasion draw it back into Himself for refreshment and refurbishing. Are you getting the idea? Do not look for miracles from your spiritual teacher. To do so shows a shocking lack of appreciation for what constitutes real divinity. The best test of a bona fide guru is his unique and radiant discourse, for illumined persons plow a brand new furrow in the intellectual life of man, breaking ground which none have ever broken before. If you find a person who can answer all your spiritual questions without hesitation in ways that you find satisfying, who never seems at a loss and in whom you cannot find fault at any time, it is likely that his or her illumination is real and not a sham. Do not demand miracles. Instead, find someone who can help you attain the real fruits of spiritual living, which are ecstatic joy, increasing wisdom, and great freedom of the soul. Find someone who knows the inner workings of the mind and can guide you unfailingly forward towards the shining goal. Find someone whose eyes shine with the light of the Self, whose heart radiates the warmth of the Self, and whom you can learn to love as your own Self, which is the best way to go forward. There are certain occult powers which come to advanced aspirants, but teachers who use these powers are apt to draw the wrong kind of people to their side, those whose eyes are big but whose hearts and spiritual aspirations are small. If your teacher performs no miracles, know him to be among the highest, wanting only the best, most serious and dedicated of spiritual aspirants. As Ramakrishna says, seek the inward Truth, seek God-realization for yourself, and disregard the rest as a distraction. What do you really want but ecstatic love of God? Taste of this, and you will think occult powers of small worth indeed.
Ramakrishna:
Don't find fault with anyone, not even with an insect. As you pray to God for devotion, so also pray that you may not find fault with anyone.
Guru Kurt:
The Avatar is the quintessential example of a person who does not find fault with others. Even though, like Jesus, He sometimes speaks sharply to mankind in general, to specific individuals He is almost always kind and gentle. However, the Avatar is the only suitable judge of mankind, and thus He sometimes passes judgment on the humans which surround Him, and woe to the person He chooses so to deride! The Avatar is the highest embodied being that exists anywhere in the universe. There are none more spiritual, none more perfect, none more blameless before the eyes of the Father, and when dread circumstance compels a judgment, in truth it is not the Avatar who judges, but the Father Himself. The Avatar merely makes plain before man by introducing into speech or writing the eternal judgment of the Father. For the Avatar, humans are a lot like those tiny dogs that chase you and bark like little devils, threatening to bite you at any moment. Sometimes a dog gets his teeth in your leg, and what do you do? You kick until he lets go. This is the nature of the Avatar’s judgment, for in truth He does not attempt to hold man up to His standards, but blends in with swine to the best of His abilities, in various disguises, who is not a swine but verily the Son of God, Supreme Brahman embodied. To the Avatar, humanity appears like a fenced-in mob each of whom possesses a knife in their hand. They raise these knives again and again, driving them into each other and even into themselves, so unaware are they of the laws of Brahman for joyful, harmonious living. A whole world of back-stabbers, and when the Avatar says back-stabbing is not the best, lo! Mankind stabs Him in the back! What do you suppose creatures look like to their Creator? This is verily the attitude of the Avatar towards mankind. He sees them like little insects, or like barely-aware plant life. He sees matter, and He sees animated matter, the creatures. Humanity is more interesting to Brahman than the rocks and stones you see around, but only just. It may truly be said that the Avatar is the only living, conscious, self-aware being on the planet, aware also of the Father and doing His will in all things. The rest just dawdle around in their stupefied somnambulance, dead to reality, lost in their dreary dreams of finding satisfaction in material success and fame among their own kind. He cannot even talk to you without the Father’s power being used, so sluggish of mind, hard of heart, and idiotic of mien are you! Can a whole planet of God’s creatures be wrong? No, you think, but I say “Yes, if their Creator does not agree with them,” and that is the sorry state of the planet at this moment.
Ramakrishna certainly saw the faults of all those around Him, yet He did not find fault, and I will tell you the manner of His thinking. He would think, “That person is clearly out of line with the Father’s wishes, but he is just a human. What can you expect?” The Avatar frees His mind from fault-finding by lowering His expectations down to ground level, where the humans, insects and other creatures dwell. If He would ever meet another of His kind, then He would still not find fault for there would be no fault to find. For those who are ever in close contact and communication with the Father, as the Avatar most certainly is, the Father has merely to raise an eyebrow, and that thing He wishes to be done is done, like that. When the Father speaks to the Avatar, the Avatar hears not only His voice but also the intonation of His voice, and like a dog who will lick a plate handed to him from the dinner table to clean it of all its tasty juices, the Avatar follows the Father’s meaning and intent to the full capacity of what He is able to apprehend. The Avatar has never experienced not only any serious faults, but any faults of any kind, for the Father has always been right there, assuring He would make right choices, think right thoughts, and do right deeds. For Him there are only different degrees of perfection, and His lowest degree of perfection is a standard that no human will ever meet, illumined or not, in the astral realm or not, for eternity. This is the way it is. I am very sorry, but there is nothing I can do about it.
Yet Ramakrishna’s advice here is not meant for Himself in future lives, but for mankind. There are two reasons why finding fault with others is a bad idea. First, you will lose your peace of mind. Second, it is not based on reality, for the goal is not to change others, but ourselves. Those who find fault with others live on two planes of delusion, then, and suffer greatly for what they suppose is to be helpful for the world! Now, was Martin Luther King wrong to fault the white folk of America who opposed black integration? He was correct in faulting them, so fault-finding does have its place in society especially when applied to groups of people who seem far from a harmonious mode of living. The type of fault-finding which is injurious to both fault-finder and fault-findee is found most frequently in interpersonal relationships, at home and at work too. People are all enmeshed and entangled with one another, presuming falsely that their happiness depends on the behavior of those around them, thus endlessly correcting one another, talking behind peoples’ backs, and even back-stabbing. “If only this person would not behave in such-and-such a way,” we think, “then at last I could sleep at night.” A serious spiritual aspirant steps back from this drama, this “storm in a teacup,” and asks himself some hard questions: “At most, all these people will last for another century. When they are gone, what will remain of all my complaint? I, and they, will be wholly forgotten by the world, like sand that blows across the desert and is glimpsed for only a little while by some nomads and camels. What do I really gain even if I should succeed in ‘fixing’ someone else’s life more to my liking? There is nothing permanent to be gotten here, for it is all gone at death. It will be a Pyrrhic victory, tantamount to defeat.” The world is what it is, nor will it change for all your meddling. Even should you succeeding in changing one or two chaps, you are not likely to see them again in the next life and will have to begin all over again fixing some other fellows. Why not take the attitude of the Lord Himself? Why should you be bothered should all the people around you choose to act like idiots? Are you, too, an idiot or something greater than this, a noble person attempting to attain Self-realization? It is not really finding fault with others which causes you mental turmoil, but finding fault along with the associated idea that they really must change their ways or you are going to be very unhappy. If you see faults, let them pass by you; see to your own faults, and let the others go their way. Some day they must amend themselves, too, as you are learning, slowly, to do in your own life. In the meantime, are they not most amusing, living in delusion, ignoring their spirits and scrambling after matter which will turn to dust in their hands at the hour of their doom? Detached in this way from others, you can see to your own spiritual growth, and have your entertainment besides!
Ramakrishna:
Purify the spectacles of your mind and you will see that the world is God.
Guru Kurt:
The process of spiritual growth is rightly called a type of mental purification. Ramakrishna used to say that God may be seen with a pure mind, never with an impure one. The soul, which began its journey through life as a parcel of Brahman’s spirit with its awareness cast out into the world, becomes trapped in that world and can no longer detach itself. The crowd of past memories, false beliefs, erroneous suppositions, impure desires and unreal thinking of all types prevents us from finding our way easily to the Self, the divine Atman within. Most of these things did appear to work for us a long time ago, bringing us joy from the world and enabling us to be a “success” there, even as we failed to achieve that which everyone desires, lasting happiness. We are persuaded that our body is physical and so are we, and that we must maintain all the thinking we have used in the past to relate to and conquer the other bodies around us in the violent rugby match of so-called civilized, societal life. Our clinging to this type of thinking arises from a place within us that is deep and unconscious, so that we are not even aware that we cling. We must become conscious of everything that is in us, although until samadhi the ego must remain in place. The first step in this process is to identify that our thinking is wrong and impure, and the second step is to apply spiritual disciplines to correct this wrong thinking. Discovering that our thinking is often wrong is what I would call the awakening of spiritual consciousness. Those who see error and sin within themselves are alone fit and ready to make a spiritual effort. Up until this time, we are totally convinced that our position is always right, and that the rest of the world is wrong. Wrong thinking leads to suffering through karmic consequences, or no one would ever try for Self-realization. This suffering is caused because wrong thoughts and actions violate fundamental tenets of our being, put in place by our dear Creator. One who beholds the sin within himself as sin at last begins to yearn for a state beyond sin. He longs to see, as Ramakrishna states here, that the world is spiritual, that every person is divine in their core, and that Brahman has verily become all that we see or experience. Applying spiritual disciplines, for instance swinging the name of God through his mind like a mental sword, an aspirant slays his sin and ascends unto divinity himself. The Christians like to think their sin is permanent, and like pigs sit around in their putrid slop. The Hindus assert themselves like heroes in meditation and find for themselves that sin had a beginning, and has an end as well. The illumined are freed from all tendencies to sin, and even from the very thought of sinning, which never even arises in their minds. They are Brahman’s sons and daughters upon the earth, angels within bodies, minor deities no longer human but something much higher and grander. Osho, Easwaran, Cohen, and Da Free John: learn to adore and venerate men like this, and you too will attain to their elevated state, pleasing your own Atman. Learn also to worship the Avatar, as their true King, and you will please Brahman, the Father, as well.
Ramakrishna:
As the dawn heralds the rising sun, so sincerity, unselfishness, purity, and righteousness precede the advent of the Lord.
Guru Kurt:
Ramakrishna here refers to the Lord of Love, who is seated in everyone’s heart. This is the internal Lord; Ramakrishna was the external Lord. Certain illumined teachers have made the claim that the external Lord was the first human being to attain enlightenment. This would perhaps be true if Brahman did not incarnate Himself in the Avatar. However, He does do this. This Avatar rises so high above humanity that it is not possible for even the illumined among mankind to recognize Him, much less the average person. He comes alone and in great power, the power of the Creator to make Himself be heard by His creatures. The illumined scream that Brahman is impersonal, and so He must forever remain for humanity, but Brahman makes Himself personal in His Incarnations. Brahman, the Father, and Allah are three different names for this same Absolute Being. Only the Avatar is right to call Him Father, for only to the Avatar is the glorious Creator intelligible. Only the Avatar witnesses the Father’s power on earth, among other things, enforcing the worship of His Son in the various religions. The illumined are not suitable for worship, though they are suitable for adoration. Though He may not be apprehended, understood or bested, the Avatar is still the best model for man to carry around in his heart at all times and in all places, for by so doing maximum spiritual growth is achieved. This is the purpose of the practice of japam, repetition of the holy name, which sanctifies and purifies the person who repeats it frequently and silently, in the depths of consciousness. Illumined teachers too learn to repeat the name of the Avatar, which carries weight for them even in the Paramatman. Easwaran’s Atman engaged in ajapajapam, ceaseless repetition of the name of Krishna, to obtain more spiritual power on a moment-by-moment basis. The Atmans of Osho, Da Free John, and Cohen have not yet reached this superlative state, but they will get there soon. All must bow to the external Lord, for His power reigns supreme. Everyone else here is just a guest in the house which He has built for them. Everyone else is a dependent, whereas the Avatar is a true God with divine duties in maintaining life on our planet. The Avatar is generally seen to be the Lord after His passing; none can imagine that the Supreme Lord of the Cosmos could actually take on a body and speak with them. Out of jealousy and spite they play down His position, which they will not admit even to themselves. When He dies, then alone are they able to accept His Lordship, for it is easy to serve and love a Lord of the imagination; the real, living being is another story altogether. The Lord knows that this is so, and is not perturbed. His creatures are nothing to Him, for they are lost and He is not lost, who is the very fount of bliss, awareness, and wisdom. The real question is, Is He something to His creatures? If He is, then they go forward rapidly.
Ramakrishna:
Every man should follow his own religion. A Christian should follow Christianity, and a Mohammedan Mohammedanism. For the Hindu, the ancient path, the path of the Aryan Rishis, is the best.
Guru Kurt:
I have founded a new religion, Neo-Christianity, which accepts these other major religions under the banner of the never-before-revealed truth that the Son of God has started all of them in various disguises. The Hindus have come close to recognizing this truth, and indeed this new religion is most like Hinduism in its tenets, beliefs, practices and tolerance of other religions. I write against the Christians at times, but I protest that this is not intolerance but an attempt to wake up some people who seem to have drifted off to sleep, lost in a world of their own, a safe but illusory world for which I seem to bear at least partial responsibility. Neo-Christianity accepts Christ, but rejects the Christian church for it is based on the writings of Paul, a murderer who became converted to Christianity and for some strange reason was allowed to mold an entire church according to his twisted and warped mental picture of reality. The life of Jesus Christ is really a study in masterly subterfuge, for time and time again He almost told about reincarnation and enlightenment, but stopped short. He gave a partial revelation to mankind, and then swore He would return, like General Douglas MacArthur at Corregidor, to finish what He had started. How will He give this to a church established in His name but paying little heed to the secret spiritual nature of His teachings, lost in the false belief that they go to heaven after one birth, certain they can sin with impunity if they will only ask for forgiveness later, and bearing in their minds a simple, formulaic doctrine that, while based on truth is not really very close to the actual situation as it exists in reality? Will He coddle up to them, or will He give them a bracing slap in the face? Only a moron is satisfied with this glib and silly idea that he goes to “heaven” when he dies, for who the hell knows what heaven is? They trust in Jesus, but this is merely the Jesus of their imaginations, not the real, living Christ who is rational and able to explain these things in clear detail. Heaven is illumination; what else could it be? Jesus said that “the whole body shall be full of light.” He said that the kingdom of heaven was within. He said that we must be perfect, even as His Father is perfect. All this, however, falls on the deaf ears of the “heaven-bound,” those who, like Hindus, Buddhists and all other people on earth, are not going anywhere when they die but right back into human bodies, if they are not sinful during this life. For me, this is like watching a man dressed in a swimsuit step off a cliff with a 10,000 foot drop below, looking in my direction and asserting glibly, “I’m going to take a jump in the pool, now.” He then jumps off into space, and is never seen or heard from again!
Christianity is safe, for love of the Avatar, even in the person of Jesus Christ, is the very best way to go forward. How long, Christians, will you remain in this infancy? Why not learn also to love Krishna, Ramakrishna, Chaitanya, the Buddha, Mohammed and Zoroaster, who were also God’s Son in different disguises? I speak against Christianity because the time for proselytizing has come to an end. The end-times prophesied by Christ are upon us as I write this, and there will be no more need for seeking to convert others, for as was written long ago, these things will be made plain to all. The Son of Man has returned, and will establish His reign over earth as He said He would do. He comes in glory, as He said, giving man a more brilliant revelation of religion than He has ever given before, a more complete description of the soul and its journey to enlightenment, and a perfect Way for man to travel towards his eventual destiny as a true son or daughter of God. He will appear “as if on a cloud,” being seen on worldwide television. He brings judgment to mankind, and He brings salvation too, for those who trusted in Him as Christians as well as those of all other faiths who have a real religious feeling in their hearts, who are true practitioners and not those who merely perform lip service. This the Christians hate, but this new Jesus will ram it down their throats without a second’s hesitation, for the new law for man is tolerance of all. People gravitate towards the Incarnation that appeals to them most, and as Jesus promised, all those who believe in Him shall have eternal life, meaning secretly that they would be allowed to remain human or something higher for all eternity. Those who do not believe in one or another of the Incarnations will find their human status revoked. They still have eternal life, but must accept a portion of their eternal life in an animal body, thrown there by the Father on Judgment Day.
All those who show up on my doorstep I shall not turn away. I found a new religion, but time grows very short. All that was prophesied by Isaiah, Zechariah, Jeremiah, John of Patmos and Jesus Himself must come to pass before I leave this body. Beware, mankind! These are the end-times, and it has already started. My Father has given me a talisman for all who should hear my voice: as Moses bade the ancient Israelites to paint a sign with goat’s blood upon their door during Passover, so you may protect yourself and your family from the Father’s dreadful wrath by meditating a half hour every day, without fail. Each adult must meditate, although the children in a family where even one parent meditates shall be spared. This will show the Father that you are sincere in wanting to work in the new world order, which shall be based upon religion, for He has verily come to establish the rule of God over the entire globe. He shall put His Son in power, and whatever the Son says to mankind shall become law. In fear and trembling all shall bow before Him, for those who do not will surely perish. All those who meditate, in any of the world’s religious traditions, are to be spared God’s wrath, for meditation is most pleasing to Him of all spiritual disciplines. He would never interrupt the earnest sadhana of a true devotee. He comes for the unrepentant sinner, for the scoffer and the knave. He comes for the murderers, rapists and thieves. He comes for all those who would spit upon His Son while He is in a body. He comes to establish order where there is chaos, justice where there is injustice, peace where there is war, cooperation where there is disunity, and worship where there is disbelief. He comes to reap a grim harvest, and lo! The harvest has begun!
Ramakrishna:
Dispute not. As you rest firmly in your own faith and opinion, allow others also equal liberty to stand by their own faith and opinion.
Guru Kurt:
I would loosen up this restriction somewhat, for I believe that friendly debate is the stuff of an interesting life. One of my treasured ideals is to see illumined teachers, or even advanced religious leaders, meet for the purpose of seeking truth. It does not matter that either should sway the other, or that any of the audience should be swayed either, but that clever, rational, well-reasoned thought is encouraged in the mind of man. Today, there is a kind of clinging tenaciousness that causes the members of various religious to hate one another, for they each believe they alone have the right road. Now that I reveal again that all these roads lead to the same goal, nirvikalpa samadhi, perhaps a dialog will open up among the world’s religious people. You will find that each person is unique, and the more spiritually advanced one becomes, the more unique one also is, so that two advanced followers of the same religion could have quite different views about the details of, for instance, the proper way to meditate or repeat the name of God. The key is to increase the speed by which people are able to travel along the path, and all are not suited to the same menu. There is a different dish served by religion to the householder from the dish served to common monastics, and the extreme monastics will desire even rarer fare. As society changes and grows, so also should man’s religion, adapting to the current cultural climate with flexibility and dexterity. Illumined people have gone beyond the need for scriptures; they plow their own furrow onto reality, pulling their students along behind them like children in a sleigh. Why should they live in exclusivity? Why cannot these spiritual giants meet and debate? Andrew Cohen has shown remarkable foresight in this regard, having discussions with various illumined persons of whom he is aware. Use Ramakrishna’s advice here as a basis for mutual understanding and tolerance, the bare minimum, ground level of a lively debate. When all is said and done, who has been harmed if the truth has been brought out a little more in the minds and hearts of the listeners? Where one illumined teacher exists, there is bliss. Where two or more meet together, it is bliss compounded! It will be good for their students to see how two established in the wisdom of the Self are able to argue and disagree without rancor, without any ill-will, and with a fundamental harmony underlying all dialogue. Are we ready to take this step out of our religious, superstitious and insecure shells into a noble discussion of truth for truth’s sake alone? I hope so, for it will mean a fun time for all concerned!
Ramakrishna:
Let me be condemned to be born over and over again, even in the form of a dog, if so I can be of help to a single soul.
Guru Kurt:
Let me tell you something: It’s fun to be a dog! Ramakrishna, the Avatar, has been born alongside humanity throughout evolution, and unlike the rest of us, He remembers every birth. Also, during every birth He was aware of His divinity. Ramakrishna in the form of a dog would wander about on the basis of divine intelligence – no ordinary dog, He! This is the origin of the Hindu tradition that the Avatar has come as a fish, a tortoise, and a boar. Well, and what of this idea of being “condemned?” Ramakrishna still spoke to the old view that being born on earth is not fun, which I say that it is! His true view on the subject was actually revealed when He told His disciples that He came to the garden to eat mangoes. The Avatar takes embodiment on purpose, to help man but also because He enjoys embodied life. Humanity does at last attain a disembodied state, after illumination is reached and sufficient service is performed for the unillumined so that their lower mind, which is connected to and controls the body, is purified sufficiently for them to ascend to the astral realms. The Avatar, however, takes on a body by choice. It is His delight to dwell in a body, for He is ever-ecstatic, ever-blissful, and always aware of His divinity. An acquaintance of mine once startled me by asserting that Jesus must have been surprised when at His baptism at the hands of John He learned of His divinity and mission. Oh, no! The Avatar knows all these things from childhood. He hides Himself among mankind, gathering seeds for His discourse, until the time is right to reveal His position to the world, a time which has not yet come for the Avatar’s current birth as I write this.
Ramakrishna:
I will give up twenty thousand such bodies to help one man. It is glorious to help even one man.
Guru Kurt:
And He will, too. The Avatar is aware of the vast sweeps of time which constitute solar cycles. As Ramakrishna uttered these words, He was well aware that in every future solar cycle He will have to suffer a needless death as Socrates, a cruel death as Jesus, and a death by disease as Ramakrishna. Since we have already been through over 700,000 cycles, Ramakrishna has already endured at least 2,100,000 such deaths for the sake of mankind! (Ever-humble, His estimate was two orders of magnitude low here.) Now, the Father is not unkind, and does not wish to see His Son suffer. These deaths are always done when man is in his most primitive stage, just at the dawn of civilization. Now, the sacrifice of Jesus is no longer taken seriously by the world, who produce such works of “art” as “The Last Temptation of Christ,” or show a crucifix in a bottle of urine. People say, in all seriousness, that He was suicidal! Again, if I say to man that Socrates was the Avatar too, it will be met with peals of laughter instead of sympathy and righteous inquiry! Since the suffering of God is no longer meaningful to man, since the heart of man no longer responds to such symbolism of a caring Avatar, no further such sacrifices shall be made, until the end of the solar cycle! The Avatar will similarly not be bound to humanity and made to pretend He is one of them. He will never again marry or even have any girlfriends. He will not grow up in a human family, but in orphanages, with the public as His family. He will not be allowed to be harmed by humanity in any way in His future births, for the Father values His contributions to the world scene and will not have them interrupted or disrupted ever again. The Avatar in His current birth has endured ignominy, humiliation, degradation and disregard which easily eclipses the sufferings of Jesus, Socrates and Ramakrishna combined. Through this suffering, which as He determined is meaningless to humanity, but which is meaningful to the Father, He has at last won His freedom from humanity in all future births, as religious teacher, poet or anything else, which He could have taken as His immediate birthright but which He did not from pity. The Avatar knows that He will again suffer in the next solar cycle, but He now asserts His right to live on a planet which He made and which He sustains through multiple divine powers, in peace, freedom, dignity and at the full command of His Father’s happy will without the interfering cloud of the human miasma. Humanity has received all the help that they ever will, this cycle, through the Avatar’s self-sacrifice. From now on, it must accept His more positive efforts of a living being on fire with love for the Father, for in the end self-sacrifice is only a helpful example for the bloodthirsty, conniving, and arrogant fools who do not understand that mighty Gods create worlds to be lived on and enjoyed, not abused by wars, violence, cruelty, intolerance, and brutality of all sorts, the one common denominator of all humanity.