God and Man

VIII

The Masters, whenever They came, taught two things: ethical life of clean and chaste living with Love for all men and all creation. Be chaste; don’t think evil of others even in thought, word or deed. Be truthful and love all humanity – hatred for none and selfless service for all. This is the first part which They take up for all mankind, irrespective of whether They belong to one religion or another.

No religion commends hatred for anybody.

The question was put to Christ:

How should we behave with others?

He inquired: 

What did Moses say to you?

He was told: 

A tooth for a tooth and a nail for a nail.

He said: 

That was only because of your hard-heartiness.

They asked: 

What do You say, Rabbi?

Christ answered: 

Moses also said, love thy neighbour as thyself.

They further asked Him: 

What about those who are our enemies?

And what did He say? He said: 

Love thine enemies.

Now, we all are embodied souls. The lover of God has Love for all souls. The soul is a conscious entity of the same essence as of God. In fact, we form a True Brotherhood. We are One with God, One in God, and those who are lovers of God, naturally will have Love for all humanity. Outward things will not matter. When you know yourself and know God, you come in contact with God, and then you will find Him immanent in every form and naturally you will have Love for all. That is the permanent rock, I would say, on which humanity should stand, never to fall. The outer self sometimes gives way and we fall into the error that we preach against. There have been two great wars so far. Fought by whom? By those who were in name the followers of the same Saviour and followed the same religion. Then, it comes to this, that they were not living up to what the scriptures of the Masters say. They simply say: ‘I profess this religion or that.’

If we but live up to what the scriptures say, irrespective of country or religion, we will get ready to see God. After all, man is man. All religions are comprised of men, and men are the same everywhere. This is just like being students in any school or college. Why do you study? For the sake of gaining knowledge. You may join this college or that, that makes no difference. When you get your degree, you are seldom asked from which college you got your degree. They call you a graduate. 

Similarly, all the social religions were made to turn out perfect men believing in the Oneness of God. The word university simply means having one purpose in view. And the purpose to have in view is to understand man: who he is, what he is, and what is his relation to God. But this goal has been lost sight of. The means have become the end, and outer knowledge, instead of leading us to Inner Knowledge, is being studied for its own sake. 

The preaching done by paid men in all religions has made matters worse. Otherwise, the Men of realisation say: 

The True Temple, if any, is man’s body itself.

All the scriptures bear this out. All is holy where devotion kneels. Wherever you have devotion, sit down in sweet remembrance of the Lord and say your prayers. 

My Master used to emphasise the need for a common ground where seekers of Truth, irrespective of their faiths, could gather together. There should be no social forms or rituals, there should be no temples or anything of the sort. Let them remain in their own social religions. The purpose of a man’s life and the Ultimate Goal of the social religions is to know oneself and to know God. How to analyse yourself from the body, open your Inner Eye and enter the Kingdom of God. Those subjects should be dealt with there. 

In India, we have an Ashram in Delhi, and we have no temple there. People come to me and ask: 

Well, what particular temple have You raised?

I always tell them:

Man’s body is the True Temple of God. I have Love for all temples of the social religions, but here I have none.

And for the other temple, the whole world is the temple of God, the earth below and the sky overhead. We have a grassy ground over there where we can accommodate 25 to 30 thousand people. Of course, we have a long shed to give us protection from rain or sun, if necessary. We have all the scriptures over there, for the reason that they speak of the same valuable experiences which the Masters had in Their lives. 

Men come there. They are seeking after Truth. To follow certain outward observances is not the be-all or the end-all. They are only the means to an end. Make the best use of them. 

But until you rise above body consciousness and know yourself and know God, there is no liberation, no return to the True Home of the Father.