THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT YOURSELF

 

To understand the following facts and Truth, you will need to realize and acknowledge that in your essence you are Spirit…. A Soul experiencing life in a body whilst in the physical world. People tend to identify with the body which they believe has a Soul. Once you accept the reverse, that you are actually a Soul with a body your whole perspective and understanding of life will change.

 

                                                       I AM THAT I AM

 

 

WHO AM I ?? — I AM the very essence of Divinity. I AM God Itself, because nothing exists outside of God´s creation. God is all that exists. Not everyone is aware of this fact in their human consciousness, but one´s Soul knows this Truth. God, creation and mankind are One.

 

WHAT AM I ?? — I AM an aspect or facet of God manifested here on planet Earth. I AM experiencing life and God´s creation in this third dimension, but I AM also experiencing life, at the same time, on many other planes of existence. I AM a multi-dimensional Be-ing.

 

WHERE AM I ?? — I AM Omnipresent, I.e. I AM in everything, everywhere. Know that the Divine Spark of my essence is to be found in every living thing and being. Knowing this Truth should explain to you why we must respect, appreciate and love all of life.

 

WHY AM I ?? — All of creation is under expansion and growth. Souls incarnate on planet Earth and elsewhere to learn and remember their divine roots and Be-ingness. It is God´s intention for humanity to expand its consciousness and awareness so as to manifest the divine qualities and gifts that lay latent within them.

 

Reflect upon the words of the famous philosopher Socrates when he said.... "Mankind, Know Thyself". What do you suppose he meant by that??

 

Namastè

THE SPIRITUAL LEGACY

 

  A person´s Being -- the Self -- and God are ONE!


VARIOUS CONCEPTS

The evolution of spiritual concepts has been very slow. Even now in the world, there are people who adore departed Souls as their gods and guides. Practically, we can say that this concept has been the base of spiritual progress. From this concept the idea of duality came, that mankind is separate from God, the creator. This idea persists in most religions. But Hinduism declares that all people are living Gods, everything is God and there exists nothing except God. Other religions preach dualism and pantheism. They teach that God is a separate Being, sitting somewhere in the heavens and ruling the Universe like a dictator. And yet they define God as all-pervading and Omnipresent.

If God exists, He/She exists equally in all Beings. It is easier to seek God within one´s own Self than elsewhere. Again, some religions preach that human beings are separate from God, having individual Souls. This only highlights the confusion of the logicians. A person´s inner Being -- the Self -- and God are One. If not, a person cannot become divine. Human beings are God, but we must learn to manifest our divinity. It is spiritual cowardice that frightens people from acceptance of this fact and provides them shelter in the comforting thought that they are only ordinary people and as such, are condemned to a life of sin.


UNFORTUNATE DOGMATISM

Hinduism not only boldly asserts the spiritual truth, but it also offers various methods to realize this truth. This made India, from time immemorial, a land of spiritual guides with an ancient and highly developed civilization. India was advanced in every field. The dengeneration of India began when it abandoned spiritualism for materialism and forgot its noble heritage and culture. As a natural corollary, Hinduism also degenerated into dogmatism, fanaticism and rituals. But there are undercurrents in India at present and when they come to the surface, India will once again find its rightful place in the world. The day is not far off.


NO IDOLATRY

The spiritual truths propounded ny Hinduism are not the products of speculation, but are the result of centuries of patient investigation. The date of the origen of Hinduism cannot be fixed. The Ultimate cannot be discovered in a few thousand years. Hinduism has discovered the Ultimate and worships IT through symbols. As such, there is no idolatry in Hinduism. A particular idol simply and only represents a particular aspect of the divine. The idol can be destroyed, but the ideal cannot. These ideals combine the manifold aspects of the Ultimate Truth that can onky be realized through spiritual practice.


SELF REALIZATION

Endeavour for Self-realization is the tradition and speciality of India. From time immemorial, India has been specialized in Soul Culture. It is the land of pilgrimage for all those who seek soul culture and Self-realization through "yoga" (communion with God). Only by the practice of yoga can one attain peace, happiness, bliss and Self-realization. The physical sciences have failed to provide happiness. Material. progress has left a feeling of emptiness and lack of purpose. It is evident everywhere. Advancement in materialism has eroded cultture and has dealt a hard blow to moral and social values. Only by complete withdrawal from the external world and the exploration of the internal world can a man or woman be at peace with themselves and attain bliss. Yoga (private communion with God) shows the way.


ABOUT REAL YOGA 
 
This word "yoga" means union and denotes union of a person with God. This union is always present and has merely to be realized. The Gita say, "Equanimity is yoga" and further states that perfect severance from all personal desires and hatred is yoga. Detachment is yoga. This detachment cannot be achieved by reasoning or intellectual convictions, but only by a technique. The best technique is Kriya Yoga. Once perfect detachment is achieved, a person gains knowledge of hidden things.
Kriya Yoga is the panacea for all the ills of humanity -- physical, mental and spiritual. It is the answer to all sufferings on these planes and produces all-around development and peace. It transforms a person and leads one to their goal. It can transform societies and nations, ushering in an era of peace, prosperity and happiness in the world.


(Article is an exerpt from the book "Kriya Yoga".)

ACHIEVING SELF-REALIZATION --- PART TWO

THE ULTIMATE GOAL

As the whole Universe is a manifestation of God, the ultimate goal of life is the realization of the Self in body, mind and spirit. It is due to illusion, delusion and attachment to external objects that we are unable to realize that it is God who exists in us as the Self and that every person is a living God. God existing in the body is the Self, whereas the Self in its all pervading, omnipotent nature is God.

God rules the gross human body by means of the six cerebro-spinal centers and the blood vessels, all of which act as defensive forces preserving and sustaining it. Though the Self is invisible and impersonal, it provides a taste of divine bliss by its innumerable manifestations. But people are so bound up in passion, anger, illusion and sensory stimulants that they ignore that bliss.

HE = SPIRIT BEHIND LIFE

The Rg-Veda (ancient collection of Vedic Sanskrit texts and hymns) declares that the Truth is the Supreme Being, the Purusa (cosmic consciousness and the universal principle) of Whom we perceive through past, present and future as the all-pervading existence. He (Spirit/Consciousness) is the Soul of the Universe and it is through this knowledge alone that mankind attains immortality. He is Brahman, the Supreme One, independent, imperishable, indivisible, self-luminous, self-sustained and the Indescribable. He is the basis of all names and forms, the support of all creation. He pervades all creation and yet transcends it. All creation is in Him, but He is detached from it.

He is also the silent witness of the three states of waking, dreaming and deep sleep. The ATMA is the immortal part of a person and is beyond body and mind -- beyond time, space and causation. It is without beginning, without end and without cause. It is Knowledge Absolute, Existence Absolute and Bliss Absolute. The realization of this knowledge frees one from the cycle of births and deaths.

ETERNAL TRUTH

Behind this world, behind all physical phenomena, behind all names and forms, behind feeling, thought, emotions and sentiments, lies the Truth. How can that which has no permanent existence be true?? The Truth is eternal and it is only illusion that makes the unreal appear real. That Truth is the Self, the silent Witness and ruler, which is the only thing that will provide bliss and make a person absolutely free. Self-realization is not for the weak or cowardly, it is for the strong and courageous who can face all storms and sacrifice their ego on the altar of Truth.

>> Article from book "Kriya Yoga" <<

ACHIEVING SELF-REALIZATION. -- PART ONE

ABOUT CREATION

God is one, absolute and non-dual. Before creation He (Spirit) existed as Absolute "Brahman" (highest Universal Principle and Ultimate Reality) or Impersonal Soul. Spirit wished to be manifested in various forms of existence, Thus, from Absolute Brahman Spirit transformed Itself into relative existence and became the manifest universe - Mater, Mother, Divine Feminine. Therefore, whatever we perceive and recognize and whatever exists as matter or life is the ( manifestation of Spirit. The indwelling Self in all creatures is this one Brahman manifesting Itself in different forms.

This transformation into the ever-changing manifest universe is the conception of "jagannatha", the Lord of the world. The word jagannatha is composed of two words -- jagat = the everchanging world, and Natha = the Lord.

HUMANITY 

Of all creatures only human beings are rational and have the facility of discrimination. Therefore, only human beings can realize God, Who exists as the all-pervading Spirit in the human body, as well as in all existence. Mankind can realize that he/she is a living God and that the whole cosmos is but a manifestation of God. In practice, however, we do not have such a realization as part of our direct experience. But still, nothing exists anywhere except the presence of God.

Why do we not experience this truth?? According to the Will of God, mankind is acted upon by two powerful forces -- one "centripetal", the other "centrifugal". The centrifugal force is extrovert by nature and therefore, attracts mankind towards the external world, thus dissipating all his/her energy and engrossing one in illusion, delusion and error. But this centrifugal is merely a different manifestation of the centripetal force, the Atma (Self). It is a misconception to think that the centrifugal force is a seperate entity. The indwelling Self in the body is the ruler of the person. The Self is ever pure, full of bliss, eternal and immutable, as it is nothing other than BRAHMAN (The Ultimate Reality).

GOD AND SELF

The Self is like a mirror that reflects the entire universe. Although a mirror reflects the images of a thousand objects, it does not retain any of them; in fact, it remains detached and indifferent to the objects it reflects. Similarly, even though mankind is absorbed in love, lust, anger, pride, arrogance, avarice and illusion, the Self remains detached, pure, luminous, untarnished and incorruptible. Among all beings, mankind alone can avert the power of the centrifugal force by meditation. Through sincere efforts, one can realize that the whole of existence -- including oneself -- is God.


(Part Two is to be found  under the label SELF REALIZATION).




>> Article from book "Kriya Yoga". <<

THE FIRST SOURCE OF ALL TRUTH

"You must learn the law of the three-dimensional  world which is based on the Law of the Spirit and could not exist without it...."



ETERNAL BE-ING

"The first source of all truth and of all manifestation is the eternal being -- GOD.  But God is in the unmanifested state beyond time and space, and only his manifestations appear as projections in the three-dimensional world.  Therefore in order to understand these laws correctly, we must begin with GOD.  In order to talk about God, however, we always have to cope with the fact that God stands above the recognizable world.  For this reason every living creature can only understand God to the extent to which it itself is able consciously to experience, manifest and realize God;  that is, to the extent to which it itself can be God!  In everything God is living, and everything is living in God.  Nevertheless, God in his own complete, perfect being can be understood only by one who has himself become God -- or who has never fallen out of God.  God can be understood only by God!

"The fact that even the most primitive man has a concept of God shows that divine consciousness is dwelling within him, even though only very dimly and to the lowest degree.  On the other hand, to become conscious in God, to understand God completely, and to be God means to become completely one with one´s own divine self, with the God dwelling within.  That is easy to say but very hard to do!  Because man has fallen out of his divine consciousness, he can only imagine God in accordance with his own personal power of understanding.  How can he know what the real, living divinity is like in its perfection when his power of imagination only corresponds to the level he personally stands on, separated as he is from unity, and having fallen as he has from divinity??  How can the finite understand the infinite, the mortal the immortal, the temporal the eternal??. . . How can an imaginary being understand, experience and become identical with the eternal, true being -- God??


MAN´S INTELLECT

"And still man must reach him!  His eternal desire, his unquenchable longing helps him and propels him forward in the direction of his divine self.  Man´s intellect -- the greatest but most dangerous gift he has received from God -- builds a bridge across the seemingly unconquerable chasm between that which is personal and mortal and that which is impersonal and eternal.  Through man´s intellect he succumbed to the temptation to fall out of divine unity with his consciousness.  But by the same token, his intellect gives him the possibility of bringing back his consciousness into full union with divinity.   By means of his intellect, man is able to understand truth,  and when he has understood, he will seek and keep on seeking and trying until he some day succeeds  in finding the only path to the realization of his self.


REALIZATION

"Realization means being something.  For as long as we think about something or talk about it, we aren´t being it.  You can think about a cat, or about a lion, but that doesn´t mean by any manner of means that you have achieved realization, that you have become a cat or a lion.  Likewise, you can think about yourself without being your divine, creative self!   To think something is to be separated from it.  For if you send out a single thought, you -- the thinker -- are connected only by thinking with the object of your thought.  You are connected with it, but not identical with it.  You are not yet that which is in your intellect.  Your intellect belongs to you;  it is a wonderful tool, a mirror into which you can project everything and in which you can recognize everything but your intellect is not you!!  The intellect is outside your self.  Consequently what you can do with your intellect is not you yourself, is not achievement of realization.

THE PERSONAL `I´

"When man seeks God outside himself, he can often be `thinking´ about God, he can be `praying´ to God, he can be `loving´ God with his whole being, but all this doesn´t mean he has become identical with God.  For man can never find God outside himself!!

"The creator in man is man´s own self whose last manifestation, farthest from his own center, is his little `I´ , his personal `I-consciousness´.  The personal `I´ within him is the image of God mirrored by matter -- in the body.  Thus when man seeks to return to God and re-establish his identity with him he must follow the same path with his consciousness:  he must draw his consciousness more and more from his own little personal `I´ -- deeper and deeper into himself -- turning to his own true self, to his creator, until he consciously recognizes himself in HIM.  But this doesn´t mean that the creature -- the person -- recognizes itself in this condition.  As an imaginary being, it has no true existence and cannot really achieve self-knowledge.  On the contrary, the creator recognizes himself in the created, in the person.  This is the only possibility for overcoming the state of separation and bringing back the consciousness into the state of unity:  the individual stops thinking about himself and instead becomes himself, recognizes himself.  In this condition, the recognizer, the recognized and the recognition are one and the same.  The self -- the creator -- recognizes its self in itself!!


RESURRECTION

"Man can only experience God in this way.  This is resurrection!!  In this state he recognizes that his own self has created him and is constantly creating him, hence that his own self is his creator.  He likewise realizes that the one and only self is the creator of the entire universe!!  As a result of this divine self-recognition he simultaneously experiences the creative cosmic all-consciousness.  At the same time as he achieves self-recognition, he achieves recognition of everything, omniscience!!"


(Article is from "INITIATION" -- Teachings from Ptahhotep, High Priest of ancient Egypt.)