The esoteric Side of Religion

I

Dear brothers and sisters

I may introduce myself to you. I am a man like you. Of course, I had the good fortune to sit at the feet of my Master, at Whose feet I learned about the mystery of life, which is the basic principle of all religion – how to solve it. I will lay before you the same, which has been given out by almost all Masters Who came in the past. 

Masters have been coming, and when They left the scene, there were formations just to propagate Their teachings to the humanity at large. I won’t touch the outer aspects of the various religions that came into being, after They visited the earth. But you’ll find that Their teachings are with us in the form of scriptures.

Scriptures are old past Masters speaking through books. They are a fine record of the experiences They had with God and with Their own Self first: what things helped Them on the Way and what stood in Their progress. They left all that in the form of scriptures for our guidance.

So, we are fortunate in the twentieth century that all Masters Who have come so far – Their valuable teachings, Their fine records of Their experiences that They had – are with us today. Had we come before Guru Nanak, say 500 years back, we would not have had the findings that He had with God. If we go back, say 1500 years, the teachings of Prophet Mohammed would not have been with us. And further back, about 2000 years back, you will find the teachings of Christ would not have been with us. Still further back, beyond 5000 years, the teachings of the Buddha would not have been with us. So we are fortunate in this century that we have all the golden treasures of Their findings in the realm of Spirituality: knowing God and knowing first one’s own self, because it is the self that can know the Overself – what we are, who we are.

I will take this up only from the esoteric side of the teachings. There have been many Masters Who came in the past, if you have to go through Them. So each religion has two aspects: one is the outer, and the other is the inner one. Outer forms – reading of various scriptures, saying of prayers in a certain way, performing rites and rituals – they apparently differ in practice, but the purpose is the same. Of course, you will find the differences due to the various customs – different customs prevailing in those countries, and the climatic influences as well.

To read scriptures is the first thing in each religion. What they are, as I told you, they are fine records of the teachings of the Masters – that They gave out – past Masters speaking through books. By reading them and having the True Import of them, you will find that they are a guidance for us – those who wish to know God and to know one’s self. But even to have the right interpretation thereof, we need Somebody Who knows the Way. What the Masters saw or had experiences of in Their lives, They are giving that. Whenever They said anything, They meant only one thing at a time, you see. So, to have the right interpretation thereof, we need Somebody Who knows the Way or treads on the Way. He has, to some extent, the same experiences that They gave out. There Their scope ends. They are worth tons in gold and emeralds, you see, for those who are seeking.

Then, further, comes the saying of prayers and the performance of various rites and rituals; their main purpose is to develop Love and devotion for God. These are good actions, but the purpose of knowing God is a little bit different, you see.

So, knowing God will arise only to our own self when we are liberated from the mind and outgoing faculties, you see. So I will take up and put before you only the findings of the Masters Who came in the past from the esoteric point of view.

For all Masters agree that there is a Maker of this universe. It did not just come about by itself. The Maker Himself is unchangeable, but the world created is constantly undergoing change. The reason for this is God is All-Consciousness, made of one Substance and, as such, That cannot be decomposed; so That is eternal, unchangeable permanence. And the creation-world that He made, He made of atoms, and atoms are changing, you see. The world is made of matter. Matter is made of elements, and elements are made of atoms; so, naturally that will decompose some day.

The world is made of matter which is changing, and on the same principle, God made man, with the same privileges to everybody. Man has a body – a physical body – and is an embodied soul – it is spirit in man. So, we are also conscious entities, made of one substance; as such, we are also eternal. But the body is made of matter – likewise as the world is made, so that it will decompose someday.

The man-body is considered to be the highest in all creation. The macrocosm is in the microcosm of the man-body. In the macrocosm, we have got three planes: physical, astral, and causal. God has given us bodies to work through these planes. The man-body is the wonderful house we live in. God gave us bodies to work through these planes so that we may be able, whenever we wish, to traverse in those planes, and even go beyond. But pity it is that we do not know beyond this physical body.

The time does come when we have to leave the body. Our body works so long as we are in the body, and we are in the body so long as some Power is controlling us in the body. The man-body is the wonderful house we live in – we have got nine apertures of two eyes, two nostrils, two ears, mouth, and other genital organs, but we cannot run away out of it. Breathing goes out – some Power is controlling it back into the body. Surgeons perform operations that last for hours on the stomach, etc., but still with our bellies cut, we cannot run away out of the body. There is some Power that is controlling us in the body. When that Power is withdrawn, we have to leave the body.

Similarly, that controlling Power is controlling all creation. So we have to know that controlling Power, which is called by the Word God and various other names as given by the Masters.

So man-body is considered to be the highest in all creation, because in the man-body alone we have the capacity and privilege to realise God. All Masters’ findings are like that. The Mohammedans called it the noblest of all creation; the Hindus called it as the form divine; and the Sikhs tell us that man is the highest of all creation, and the Christ referred to it as the temple of the Living God.

You will find in the Bible,

Know ye not that ye are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you? … Know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost, Which is within you?

As the Spirit of God, the Supreme Power dwells in us, what are we but the Spirit of God? As we are the Spirit of God, then why search ye for a so-called Life-Principle? As we are the Spirit of God, and as the Spirit of God is eternal, why think we that we can die and become extinct?

So all ancient Masters taught that man is eternal in his own right, which stems from the Spirit of God, which is the Holy Ghost in man’s body. You will find that all Masters, whenever They came, gave out the same thing. It is laid down in the Upanishads that when the bodies were set up, the souls of the rishis came up and entered in the man-body – they selected that as the highest of all creation. Similarly, in the Mohammedan scriptures it is laid down when the man-body was set up, God ordered the angels to bow down before the man-body. So, you will find that man is the highest in all creation. Now, you will find man has different aspects: it has the physical body, it has intellect, and it is embodied soul. You see, this is the finding of all Masters Who came in the past, and They say,

Develop all around.

We have developed physically; we have developed intellectually in a very wonderful way; we have found so many new inventions, which are very astonishing; we can go around the world in an hour or so; we can fly from one end of the world to the other end in hours. We are now trying to reach the moon, but with all these interim advancements, physical and intellectual, we are not happy. The reason why? The third side which is its own self – that we have forgotten: it is spirit in man. 

All Masters Who came drew our attention towards the fact:

Well, look here your body is more than all possessions and raiments. Your life is still more valuable than the body. We have done so much about the body and possessions, but what have we done about or own selves?

In an accident, suppose a house is on fire. All possessions are burnt away, you escape safe, and you say,

Thank God, I am saved!

So the body is more valuable than all possessions. God forbid, if one breaks his leg or arm; but still he says,

Thank God, I am saved!

So life is more valuable than the body, too.

When we have done so much about our physical body and outer possessions – and so much – but what have we done about our own selves, you see? We know little or nothing about our own self. This is the side which is not cared for. We have pinned ourselves to the outward shell of the body, but we have done nothing about the kernel therein: we are the indweller of the body. We are only carrying on the body for a certain period, which is the golden opportunity given to us to know God and to know one’s self first.

So you will find all Masters gave that you must know yourself first, as self-knowledge precedes God-Knowledge. The old Greeks had to say the same thing, Gnothi Seauton – Know thyself! The Upanishads say so, Know thyself. And the Bible says, Be still, and know that you are that. So I mean to say there are findings of all Masters in all religions; and They have given out the same parallel thoughts, which are the same everywhere.

So, God is to be realised. Now the Highest Aim before us is to know God. All scriptures say so. But to know God, we have to know ourselves. How to know our self? By self-analysis – by rising above body consciousness. This physical body which is shaken off at the time of death – if we learn now how to leave the body, we will know we are not this body – we are the indweller of the body. We have got the astral body to work through the astral planes, and the causal body to work through the causal planes. If we just rise above all these, we know that

The Father is working through me, and I am in the Father.

I and my Father are One.

This is what all Masters say.

And Guru Nanak says,

Until you know yourself, you are in a grand delusion.

We can come out of this delusion only if we can analyse ourselves from the body at will. 

We say it is my body; it is my coat; it is my hat. Of the latter two, ‘we can take it off.’ But can we take off our own bodies, too? It is only at the time of death that we have to leave the body. If now we know how to leave off the body, you see, then the matter will be cleared – there will be no fear of death.

So Masters say,

If you know God – because He is the Controlling Power keeping us in the body – the nearest approach to It, if at all you can find Him, It is within you.

What have the people been trying to do so far? They have tried to find Him by going to the mountains and the secluded places, into forests and other places of pilgrimage. Well, God resides everywhere – there is no place where God is not. He is pervading all creation. The whole world is the True Temple of God and, in a miniature scale, the man-body is the True Temple of God. That very Controlling Power that keeps all creation under its control, that is also keeping us in the body. So the nearest approach for that is just to invert within – just to enter the temple of the man-body.

So the macrocosm is in the microcosm of the man-body. If we are to find out, we will have to enter into the man-body to find Him, because there you have got the nearest, direct approach. When you know Him, you can see Him all-everywhere.

We seek Him through the scriptures. Scriptures, as I told you, can create in us an interest to know God. But the God which we have to know is already the very Controlling Power within our own self. We reside in this body, and that Controlling Power – which is called by different names – also resides in the body. If at all, two brothers are living in the man-body – soul and God – but the soul cannot see God. That is a pity.

Masters have referred to it as such,

The soul and God are lying in the same bed,

but our soul is under the control of the mind, the mind is under the control of the outgoing faculties, and our outgoing faculties are so much so identified with the outward things that we have forgotten our own selves. So, for that purpose, we have to tap inside as Emerson puts it – or peep inside.

So we can withdraw even within one’s self. We can realise God when we will reach the Third Eye or the Single Eye, or rise above the senses. This is realised by first withdrawing all the consciousness from the body up to the eye-centre, by being taken up by means of the God-in action-Power, which is called Word or Naam – which is already the Controlling Power within your own self.

So, you will find Him where? For that personal purpose, all Masters said,

You must be reborn!

When Christ came, He said, 

Except you be reborn – be born again – you cannot enter the Kingdom of God.

The Kingdom of God is where? The Kingdom of God cannot be had by observation – it is within you. You can find a clue of it when you enter the laboratory of the man-body and rise above the senses. So unless you come up there … 

This is in the Word that Christ gave out: Nicodemus was a ruler of the place. He said, Master, how can I unmold? How can I re-enter the womb of the mother, and be reborn? (chuckle) When Masters say something, They mean something. That is not a birth of the flesh, but birth of the Spirit. Flesh is born of the flesh, and Spirit of the Spirit. Then, again, He emphasised, You must be reborn!

So this very thing exists in other Masters’ sayings in the East, too, that say,

You must be twice born.

One is the physical birth; the other – the next birth – is just rising above body consciousness into the beyond. So such like teachings we find common in all. And further,

They say, 

Learn to die so that you may begin to live. 

What is death? Saint Plutarch says,

Soul experiences when we leave the body, the same way as one who is initiated into the mysteries of the beyond.

So, at the time of death, you must have watched somebody dying – the soul withdraws from beneath and just withdraws at the back of the eyes, and the eyes are upturned, then soul leaves the body. So whatever we do, at the time of death the soul has to rise above body consciousness –  above the senses – come at the back of the eyes which is the seat of the soul in the body.

Just as a light bulb in a room has one place, and from there light is radiated through the whole room, similarly the ‘bulb’ of the soul is at the back of the eyes, and from there it enlivens the whole body.

What the Masters meant – Learn to die so that you may begin to live, if you know how to rise above body consciousness, then you will have an Everlasting Life. This is what all other Masters in the East said.

Guru Nanak said,

learn to die a hundred times a day, at will.

Is it possible? Saint Paul said, 

I die daily.

The question was put to Prophet Mohammed, 

Is it a death which will lead us to the grave?

The Prophet said,

No, it is not a death that will lead you to the grave, but it is a death which will lead you from the darkness into the Light.

Similarly all Masters say this is what is meant, as I told you, we have first to withdraw from outside within, to tap inside, to enter the laboratory of the man-body, and then you have to rise above the senses and to the back of the eyes, which is the seat of the soul in the body. So this is realised by first withdrawing all the consciousness – our attention – from outside within. By entering within the man-body, we have to rise above the level of the eyes, which is the seat of the soul in the body. This is what is meant by, Learn to die so that you may begin to live.

Prophet Mohammed said, 

Oh man, you have got the man-body – you are fortunate. Go, learn to leave the body at will, and know God!

God is already there, but we do not know because our mind is under the control of the outgoing faculties, you see. And the outgoing faculties are engrossed in the outward things so much so that we have forgotten ourselves. So, the first thing is just to withdraw from outside. So the main obstruction to God-Realisation is our own mind, which is fond of pleasures – a child for parents, friends, and playmates; as man for wife and children, then for wealth, property, power, and prestige. He goes on seeking one pleasure after another, thus chasing a mirage.

So you will find that we just have to analyse ourselves from the mind and outgoing faculties. That we can do when we first withdraw from outside, enter the temple of the man-body, and then rise above the senses, you see. This is what is called to die daily. This is what is called, You must be born anew. This is what is meant by the Masters’, You must be twice born. So these are the common findings of all Masters. 

So, the soul is dominated by the mind, and the latter is ruled by the senses. Man is tied down by the mind. So this is the first difficulty that stands in the way. If we learn how to control the mind, then the other step that we will take that will reach the Home of our Father.

So what did the Masters say? We must be pure of mind, you see? Those who are given up to the outward sensuous life, they cannot withdraw from outside. They are dragged on like anything. What does the mind want? Mind is after pleasures, and the outward pleasures can be divided into two parts: one, mind is dragged away outside by beautiful sceneries; and the other by very sweet tunes or songs, you might say. So, unless this mind gets some superior higher form of pleasure within, it won’t leave the outside. So God has made the arrangement that all Glory and beauty lie within you. Simply for that, you have to invert and rise above body consciousness. For that reason, if you come across such people, you must have some elementary steps of a normal life.

Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.

This has been give out by almost all Masters when They came. We must have a normal, temperate life. We are born – these senses are for our use – we were not made for the senses. Now, these senses drag us out like anything through the outgoing faculties, and the outgoing faculties are five in number. Sight is working through the eyes. Similarly, audition is working through the ears; smell is working through the nose; taste is working through the tongue; and touch is working through the skin. So these outgoing faculties always keep us engaged outside. If we control these, you see, we can invert.