THE HIGHER TEACHINGS

The disciple approached a master to find out about the eternal light of God. The master meditated within, and the following wisdom was revealed. The eternal light is God’s first manifestation by which this universe is created and sustained. God’s highest essence is light. Hence by inwardly seeing the divine light in meditation, the soul shines as God’s awakened son. The eternal light throughout history has incarnated as God radiant souls to teach mankind the wisdom that man’s soul exists in oneness as part of the Universal Spirit. God’s light which in an impersonal way created this universe, can take a personal form such as a spiritual awakening in man’s soul by the practice of meditation. We must have a clear steady vision to see the light. Our consciousness should be one pointed, and our mind must be empty of obstructing thoughts. In purity, silence, and aspiration the light of God will manifest during meditation.

The disciple wanted to know how God could be seen. The master entered a state of silence and received a clear answer. God can be seen by our inner eyes, but not in this changing outer world of finite matter. When man sees God’s highest spiritual form of light, he becomes a spiritual teacher with the divine work of bringing all truth seeking souls into the light. He teaches that during meditation focusing on the third eye, we are to keep our mind empty of all disturbing worldly thoughts and desires. The ultimate aim of all meditation is to realize within our true spiritual identity as separate from the movements of nature’s activities. Thus if we practice this inner silence regularly everyday, peace of mind and an awareness in the soul of God’s blissful presence will radiantly manifest. Then the door to God’s eternal kingdom will open within the truth seeker’s soul.

The disciple asked how freedom in God could be found. The master remembered what his own teacher had taught long ago. Freedom in God is the theme of the divine drama of existence. God is free because there are no limits to His expression in creation. At all times God has absolute knowledge and will to accomplish His vision. In God’s cosmic play the seed of freedom has been planted to grow in man’s soul. Man must light the flame of freedom by discovering his divine identity. Freedom comes when the chains of ignorance, limitation, and ego are broken by the sword of wisdom. Liberation causes man to live in total awareness of his soul’s oneness with the Supreme Being. Divine grace flows into the spiritual seeker who has lit the heavenly burning flame of constant aspiration. All pursuits of pleasure and happiness are in reality a reflection of the soul’s striving to find the one eternal light which brings fulfillment to life. Lasting freedom comes as an internal mystic experience to the aspirant who has dedicated his whole life as an offering to the Divine. The liberated soul is in direct contact with God’s presence, will, and knowledge. His vision spans the galaxies throughout the eternal cosmic cycles. The little ego is dead and has been replaced by the active divine witness who now guides and commands the life of the emancipated sage. The wall of separation between the soul and the Supreme Being has disappeared, and only the bliss of divine oneness and love eternally remain.

The disciple wanted to know how such freedom could be lived daily. The master waited for divine inspiration to express itself in these words. Freedom has to be lived in God everyday of the year throughout one’s life. Each day of the year must present a new opportunity to discover and experience God’s reality. By aspiring to live the spiritual adventure, a divine transformation will take place in our life. God’s freedom is always here. All we have to do to realize this is to remove the obstacles of desire, ego, and ignorance in order to let the divine sun shine through the soul. The true aim of man’s existence is to pursue and discover oneness with God through meditation and devotion. By centering the consciousness on the divine ideal, the aspirant at last realizes and becomes one with the Supreme Being. True freedom is found only in the heart filled with God. Where there is eternal love, infinite wisdom, and creative power there is freedom in God.

The disciple wanted to find the way to realize truth. The master, from his many years of experience, gave the solution. To realize truth one must inquire Who Am I. Realization is the goal that is reached when the seeker knows his identity. To realize the highest goal, the seeker must practice such spiritual disciplines as prayer, renunciation, self inquiry, and meditation. Truth is the target which all of man’s strivings try to reach. Truth is eternal because it is a quality that is the essence of both God and man’s immortal soul. When the mystic discovers that his real nature is being a part of God’s oneness that is the final truth. When the devotee finds that a divine power pervades the universe that is the living truth. When the saint understands that a Cosmic Mind exercises its will to direct all of creation that is the eternal truth. Truth is man’s destination because all souls are growing toward the light of God’s sun. The search for truth must become the guiding principle in man’s whole existence.

The disciple asked how to find the truth since man’s mind is unsteady. The master smiled and gave this advice. Each moment of the day man must ask where is God to be found. Truth can be realized only in a mind that is at peace. The seeker must learn by practice how to reduce his thoughts to zero so that he can become the silent witness observer. This is the way to find the truth by experiencing the divine presence which manifests in the void of man’s expanded silent consciousness. To realize the truth you must hear within the divine call to wake up, search for, and finally discover the truth of God’s reality in this very lifetime. There is no time to waste for the soul that understands that a higher reality waits to be discovered which alone can give man lasting peace and happiness. Meditation is the spiritual beacon that guides and inspires aspirants along the journey leading to self realization.

The disciple was puzzled about where is the point when God and man meet. The master searched deep within his consciousness to present these spiritual teachings. The God point is the supreme moment in the life of the mystic when he reaches union with the Divine. This spiritual state happens when the arrow of man’s soul flies straight into the divine target. God is at the center of existence. But the normal consciousness is obstructed from seeing truth by the veil of nature’s world of matter. The problem to be solved by man is how to return to his original state of pure existence. To be aware of a problem is the first step in approaching its solution. First man must believe that reaching God is the true meaning of his brief life on earth. Hence man must make God the target of his aspiration. The arrow which man shoots toward the God target is his practice of spiritual discipline. The most powerful arrow to shoot at the God target comes from meditation’s bow. Man must concentrate his mind on hitting the divine center of existence. The speed and accuracy of man’s spiritual arrow depend upon his soul’s aspiration and devotion. Aspiration gives the soul’s arrow power, but devotion is the magnet that attracts it to hitting the God target. The God point is when the arrow of man’s soul merges with the target of divine consciousness. When the God point occurs the mystic experiences union with God’s light, bliss, power, peace, and wisdom. Then the soul becomes a realized point of divine sunlight.

The disciple wanted an explanation about what is the divine target. The master saw the answer by intuition and presented the teachings in this clear form. The divine target is like a wheel having spokes radiating from the hub’s center. The spiritual disciplines of meditation, devotion, discrimination, and dedicated action are like spokes that all lead back into the wheel’s hub. Life is like a wheel spinning with 365 spokes through space each year. Be it through meditation, devotion, discrimination, or dedicated action the soul’s arrow when accurately aimed will pierce the divine target. When the God point is reached, the soul arrow and the divine target become of one essence. The aspirant must lift the bow of meditation, shoot the soul arrow, and merge with the God point. When the God point is known, then the soul experiences infinite peace, power, divine bliss, light, and wisdom. The supreme goal is reached when the awakened soul flies straight into the God point’s divine target. The disciple theoretically understood the master’s teachings but needed some practical examples in life to make the abstract more concrete. The master decided to make his teachings easier by presenting them in the form of God stories in which ordinary people were confronted by the challenges of life and managed to realize the divine presence.