Truth vs Falsehood (58 page)

Another example of the phenomenon of spiritual intention is demonstrated by the effect of the consciousness level of Nisargadatta Maharaj (cal. 720) who met with visitors in the attic above his
bidi
(tobacco) shop in Bombay. They had to climb up a ladder to visit with him in cramped quarters. His infectious spontaneity and animated demeanor charmed the many visitors, and his writings became well known. There are currently numerous students of his work, as well as that of Ramana Maharshi, which constitute an important core to the teachings of Advaita (nonduality).

The demolition of the Great Buddha by the Taliban was a purposeful act of desecration (cal. 35), indicative of the severe psychopathology of the militant Islamic fundamentalism that threatens the world today by its random choices of symbolic targets. Desecration itself is a grave warning signal as represented by the painting of swastikas on synagogues, the burning of flags or crosses, or the burning down of Baptist churches in the South. The basis is a psychotic degree of messianic narcissism, which, interestingly, calibrates exactly the same (30) as the disease of rabies or the consciousness level of serial killers of children (atavistic primitivism), and the ravenous “mad dogs” (i.e., rabid) of war.

Of great importance is the clinical fact that passivity inflames the killer blood lust (e.g., the Japanese slaughter of Manchuria, the Nazi extermination concentration camps, killer-dog packs, etc.) of aggressive primitive populations that calibrate extremely low and are therefore atavistic in their capacity for savagery and extremes of cruelty. They find rationalization in some interpretations of the Koran (Wahhab, Qutb) that provide permission for barbaric practices under certain ‘justifiable’ conditions. From the distorted viewpoint of Islamic terrorists, such ‘justifiable’ conditions can be projected onto almost every incident or “that all infidels who tread on Arab lands” are deserving of a gruesome death.

CHAPTER 17

Spiritual Truth

Introduction

While the majority of people in the United States believe in God (90-92%, CNN News, April 2004) and therefore tend to look to established religions for the highest truth, the source of the truth upon which all religions depend stems from the even higher primary source of spiritual reality itself. Thus, religion is the institutional consequence of spiritual truth rather than its origination or primary source. However, because religion incorporates the truths revealed by its founders, the derived teachings are sufficient and satisfactory for the great majority of people for whom the information is facilitated and made available as scripture by institutional religion.

There has been a great deal of research into the historic origins of the scriptures of all religions, resulting in much discourse and debate over the centuries as to specifics, such as dates, people, and authenticity. Some finalized versions of scripture were formalized by exclusive councils and became “canons” by virtue of scholastic authority. Technically, interpretation of their meaning is the province of theology, epistemology, metaphysics, and ontology (the science of being).

All the great spiritual teachers throughout history were mystics, and the source of their awareness of spiritual truth was the result of Enlightenment and the transformational Realization of the Reality of Divinity as the subjective knowingness that ensues from advanced consciousness by virtue of being at One with the Known. Thus, the Avatar does not speak from knowing ‘about’ but from the actual Presence within, which radiates forth and constitutes the Essence of that which replaces the mind as the source of understanding and Knowingness (the classic
Purusha
). The process whereby this transformation occurs has been described in the history of each saint, sage, and divine teacher and is often included in the scripture itself.

From a purely research viewpoint, the calibrations of levels of consciousness can be aptly applied to verify the reality of any spiritual teaching, including their traditional scriptures. Each level represents the actuality of possibilities of consciousness and the progress from the linear to the nonlinear context, which is infinite and beyond space, time, or location.

The source of the highest spiritual truth is non-mental, and the intellect has difficulty comprehending this critical fact because the mind is intrinsically dualistic and limited, expecting a ‘this’ to come from a ‘that’. In the advanced spiritual Reality, duality dissolves because the ‘this’
is
the ‘that’. The seeker and the Sought become One with the transcendence of the limitation of duality, i.e., Realization of the Self, Illumination, and Enlightenment, i.e., “The Kingdom of God is within you.”

Scriptures and Spiritual Writings

Displayed above are integrous calibrated truths available to humankind, some for over thousands of years of evolutionary history. Any single selection is, in and of itself, sufficient for a lifetime of study and spiritual endeavor. As aspirants discover, it is one thing to know about the truth but quite another to understand it or, even more importantly, to become it. Spiritual progress is simultaneously simple and yet complex, subtle and yet cataclysmic, inspired and yet intimidating. To transcend the limitations of the ego requires intention, integrity of purpose, and resolve (plus grace: the assistance of an advanced teacher and positive karma). The journey often starts seemingly accidentally or as a consequence of curiosity. It then gathers interest and finally involvement, followed by commitment and the discovery of undreamed-of rewards.

To facilitate this endeavor, scriptures and the great spiritual classics supply critical information. Commitment to the goals of spiritual progress, in and of itself, has a transformative effect on brain physiology and attracts spiritual energies that shift alignment and power of concordant attractor energy fields. These recontextualize subjective reality and optimize realization.

From the calibration levels, it becomes evident that the great sages from the early Aryan culture of ancient India represented the first major emergence of the highest spiritual awareness available to man ever recorded. The same truths emerged later in different cultures and eras, completely separate from each other, and yet, the realization of the nature of the highest truth was essentially identical in each case, with some variation of expression that reflected cultural and linguistic differences. Thus, truth as such is not exclusive but universal, or it would not be truth. Therefore, spiritual or religious claims to exclusivity indicate the interference and errors of the egos of later followers of the original sages.

Truth, by definition, has no limitation or qualification and is not discriminatory. Inasmuch as everyone already has a calibratable level of consciousness at birth, the circumstances of that event would imply that they are not accidental but consequent to patterns of spiritual evolution as they manifest in the physical world as culture, family, time, and circumstances. (Consciousness research reveals that the particulars of
every
individual’s birth are absolutely, perfectly karmically just and maximally advantageous, despite appearance or personal opinion to the contrary.)

The calibrations of the world’s greatest teachers are concordant with human experience and validation over great periods of time despite the major cultural changes to which they are relatively immune due to their nonlinear essence. Because truth exists independently of its discovery, like gold, its rediscovery elicits excitement and attraction to a new source.

Advanced spiritual students value all sources of truth and often study combinations of them. Thus, the study of Christian mystics clarifies the truths revealed by the Vedas, and, in turn, the Vedas clarify Buddhist teachings that then clarify the teachings of Jesus Christ.

The limitation of traditional religious practice has been that it often gets involved with the peripheral issues of times, places, personalities, and ethnic propensities (i.e., form and content). Of greater significance is the study of material that is intrinsic to the truths revealed (i.e., the field) and not the circumstances of the events, as anecdotally interesting as they might be. These trappings, which are actually extraneous, have a negative effect in that they are deceptive, diversionary, and lead to such absurdities as people killing each other over whether or not one should wear a beard or worship on certain days of the week, the designation of which did not even exist at the time of the appearance of the great avatars. In Reality, which is nontemporal, there are no ‘days of the week’.

Religious zealots who kill ‘nonbelievers’ for trivia, such as hats, beards, diets, and designated days of devotion, display the negative fallout of undue emphasis on cultural eccentricities. As readers of the original scriptures can see for themselves, every day is a day of devotion; every day is Sabbath. In the hands of barbarians, trivial differences are magnified and then become merely tools of war that ‘justify’ serious sacrilege and violation of even the simplest of spiritual principles. Perhaps transmission of spiritual truth is best done by example and attraction rather than by promulgation to people who are incapable of appreciating its value, appropriate use, and intention.

True missionaries spread valid information and teach by example. Those who are incorrectly motivated become sources of oppression, which leads to revolt (e.g., the Boxer Rebellion).

Missionary zeal reaches its ultimate expression as theocracies and the establishment of state religions that utilize force and punitive government regulation. The history of Europe reflects the utilization of religion in the name of monarchies and power struggles involving the nonintegrous exploitation of church authority. Religious conflict has led to religious wars, which have traditionally been the worst of all wars over the centuries and in almost all parts of the globe, even as reflected in current events arising out of the Middle East. Spirituality unites, whereas, unfortunately, the downside of religion divides. Severe distortions of religious truths lead to their becoming the exact opposites in practice.

Questionable Scriptures and Notes on the Christian Bible

The construction of the Bible was the result of a long process that proceeded over several centuries. Within the first few centuries A.D., there were well over one hundred manuscripts by numerous authors, each purporting to be valid descriptions and interpretations of the teachings of Jesus Christ. These presented a dilemma over which scholars discoursed and put forth their best efforts. As a result, there was a sequence of a collection of writings that had periodic revisions. Many manuscripts were set aside, such as
The Book of Enoch
. Later some, such as
The Apocrypha
, were included by some groups but not others.