The Kingdom of God

VIII

In the East we are told that there are two ways in this life. One, called the Pire Marg, a very beautiful way, and the other, Share Marg, very dark and narrow to begin with. When you enter the way of the world, you are lost and reach nowhere. But if you were to go the other way – the way of the spirit within you, you may have to start in darkness; but ultimately you will enter the Kingdom of God.

The Gospels express it very simply:

Strait is the Way.

And when that opens up, you will find worlds and worlds within you.

There are two ways in this life. One taking us into the outside world, away from the Kingdom of God, the other taking us within towards the Kingdom of God. One leads to death, the other to life.

That is why it is also said: 

Enter ye in at the strait gate.

This you will find in Matthew:

For wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat. Because strait is the gate and narrow is the way which leadeth into life, and few there be that find it.

There are few who take to the latter course. So Jesus stresses:

Strive to enter in at the strait gate, for many, I say unto you, will seek to enter but shall not be able.

Again,

It is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter into the Kingdom of God.

This then is the way to enter into the Kingdom of God within you. This then is the way to open the Inner Eye.

At present you see through two eyes. How to have the Single Eye? It is a practical matter which you have to learn at the feet of some Competent Master, Who can, by giving you the preliminary lift, enable you to have that experience from within.

The Gospel compares it to the lighting of a candle:

If the whole body, therefore, be full of Light, having no part dark, the whole shall be full of Light, as when the bright shining of a candle doth give thee light.

Now you may understand the significance of the lighted candles placed in churches; they symbolise the Light within. The Master enables you to see that Real Light. That is why we are told about the Masters Who came in the past that They could cure the blind – physical blindness in some cases perhaps, but for the most part Spiritual Blindness, the inability to see the Light of God.

Jesus further says:

Blessed are your eyes, for they see, and your ears, for they hear.

We have eyes and see not and ears that hear not.

This is what the scriptures tell you. There is the Inner Eye to be opened and also the Inner Ear to see the Light of God and to hear the Voice of God which is reverberating throughout the creation.

The subject of this talk was: Where is the Kingdom of God, where to see the Light of God, how to enter the Kingdom of God, and how to see the Light of God? All is within you when you rise above body consciousness. As long as you are leading this physical life of the senses, you are identified with the body; you do not know how to transcend the body consciousness, to open the Inner Eye and the Inner Ear; you cannot see the Kingdom of God or the Light of Heaven and you cannot hear the Voice of God. You can learn all these things when you sit at the feet of some Competent Living Master. 

But Christ warns us:

Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves.

The world today is full of pseudo masters so much so that the people are fed up with the very word ‘master.’ Men are willing to sacrifice everything – their money, their possessions, just to see the Light of God. They are fed on hopes and promises and then they are told that they are as yet not fit for the way. Ultimately, they find that those ‘masters’ (so called) are after material wealth like themselves; they lead the same life of the senses as themselves. Naturally this causes revulsion and the people say that masters are all a hoax. This is only an erroneous result of the sad experiences that they have had.

All the gifts of nature are free. Spirituality is also a gift of God, not of man. Why should it be sold? It is not a marketable commodity. Knowledge is to be given away free. Do we have to pay for the sun that shines on all of us? Why then should we pay for the knowledge of God? It is God’s gift, and it is to be distributed free and freely, so no True Master will ever accept anything in return. He gives freely.

Once, some people in America wrote to my Master in India;

We have sufficient worldly wealth. We will give you this wealth, and in exchange, will you kindly give us the wealth of Spirituality?

What did He write? He replied:

Spirituality is God’s gift, and all His gifts are free. This too will be given free. I don’t want any material wealth in return.

What does a spiritually rich man care for worldly riches? But many of the so-called masters have made it a source of profit. I have had occasion to meet some of them. A few do concede their fault, but add that they must live, and living costs money. But it is sinful all the same. You will find there are heads of various sects all the world over, who, we are prone to assume, have reached God. Whether they have reached God or not, is another question. But we do assume that all the religious leaders have reached God. If this be true, then why can they not be friends with each other? Two lovers of wine, two tipplers can sit together in a tavern but two professed Godmen cannot even brook the sight of each other.

Humanity is ignorant, and therefore, it is exploited by so-called Godmen. We must learn to distinguish the genuine from the false, and find the True Master. He would give us a first-hand experience of the Inner Reality.

As Shamas-i-Tabrez, a Muslim mystic, says:

We should be able to see God with our own eyes. We should be able to hear the Voice of God with our own ears.

He should make us see the Light of God and hear the Voice of God; and He would do all this for Love and not for money. This is what all the scriptures say and what all True Masters grant.