God as the Reality of every Soul

Ask yourself:  who (or what) am I?

Seers tell us that at the core of our being we are individualized units of pure consciousness.

This truth needs to be contemplated, realized and demonstrated.

What is contemplation?

Patanjali in sutra chapter 3, sutra 4 states:

“ When concentration, meditation , and super conscious perceptions are simultaneous, this is perfect contemplation.”

The Sanskrit word for this process is samyama, the bringing together of awareness with the object of concentration.

The bringing together of the meditator’s awareness with the object focused upon results in identification. The devotee can then know the object because of being one with it. Prior to this the meditator could only know about the object.

Chapter 3, Sutra 1,  

Concentration – is an undisturbed flow of attention.

Sutra  2

Unwavering, internalized concentration is meditation.

Sutra 3,

As a result of contemplation, the light of direct knowledge dawns in one’s field of awareness.

My dread of death and birth came to an end

When the lord in his glorious hue

Revealed himself to me

And darkness disappeared when I contemplated within I obtained the rare Gem of the Lord’s name.

In the wake of my Bliss

All misery fled away.

The jewel of my mind became absorbed

In the Lord’s love within;

Whatever happens, o Lord,

I accept as Thy will.

One who lives in thy will,

Merges in spontaneous God consciousness.

                                          Kabir

what limits us from fully acknowledging the fact that we are pure consciousness,  rays of the one life?

It is our own resistance to directly and intentionally confront this matter about our own divinity.

We may prefer the role of being a seeker instead of a knower and realizer of truth.

We may enjoy looking at what may be possible for us in the future, or on what others who are enlightened are doing, rather than to involve ourselves in a way so that self-knowledge can unfold.

We may be satisfied to know about our essential nature rather than experiencing our essential nature.

We have the freedom  to choose  how we think, our mental states and our states of consciousness and the freedom to act accordingly.

We can choose to awaken to higher states of consciousness at whatever levels we begin our quest, we simply must want it and be intentional.

A way to start is, following the Kriya Yoga Way of  plain living and inspired rational thinking.

This is the right way to live, easy to understand and to demonstrate.

Right living is an ever-available, transformative Sadhana (spiritual practice), the essence of Kriya Yoga.

We are spiritual beings relating to the human experience, living effectively means that we can regulate our sensory and mental impulses while nurturing our divine qualities. By doing so we experience peace of mind, emotional contentment and weaken and eliminate destructive karmic desires, urges, drives and tendencies.

Some devotees choose to live in a cloistered environment so that their spiritual enfoldment can occur. while this can be useful for a time of uninterrupted contemplation,  living correctly where we are now is the most obvious opportunity for learning and for spiritual growth.

Doing what needs to be done when it needs to be done is letting life express through us fully.

A Zen master wrote:

“My supernatural powers (siddhis) and miraculous acts are taking water from the well and carrying firewood.”

In essence, whatever needs to be done, can be done with dutiful and alert intention.

Contended, skillful performance of ordinary duties can be the means of our liberation.

When we are content, our mental and emotional conflicts are absent, allowing for a free flow of constructive thoughts and creative energies to express.

When we are skillful in our activities, in our relationships, we are in harmonious accord with the rhythms and flows of life and of circumstances.  living in this way, in the flow of things makes living enjoyable and productive as opposed to being grounded in egoism, self-contentedness, laziness, purposelessness. 

Our purpose is to function well wherever we are and be soul liberated.

We function through mind and body and are in relationship with nature and social circumstances. Because of this, we must think and act physically. We must also act on a subtle level to make adjustments to moods, mental attitudes and states of consciousness. 

Being soul centered what we intent must materialize. 

This requires that whatever we intend to accomplish must have purpose and value for it to be constructive.

Know what you want, for you will get it whether we like it or not.

The best way to be is to cheerfully agree to act wisely and well.

This is the way of karma yoga: the way of agreeable, self-less work which results in constructive outcomes without causing harm, and which does not interfere with one’s orderly unfoldments of spiritual consciousness.

This approach to living purifies the mind, eliminates karmic impressions (samskaras), opens awareness to cosmic vistas and enables us to live freely and enjoyably for the duration of our journey in space and time whether in this or other realms.

So long as we are involved with nature at causal, astral or physical levels, we will relate to space, time and circumstances applying to these various levels of existence.  It is therefore worthwhile to live God-consciously and effectively wherever we are.

In Vedic scriptures, the all-pervading life or Spirit of God is said to indwell (yet is not confined) in all levels of world manifestations and everything and every creature.

It is God, as Ishvara that Patanjali infers to in the yoga sutras to which the yogi is to surrender all actions and their results, as well as self-consciousness, in favor of God consciousness.

Even though God indwells the worlds and beings, the Spirit of god is not influenced by them: it is not modified or changed in any way.

Individualized souls by contrast are influenced by their identification with matter because of their delusions and illusions.

However, we must remember that the pure character of the soul is not itself modified, it remains forever pure.  It is only our awareness that is suppressed when we identify with mind and body.

But when we know who we are , we can attune to the  impulses of the spirit of God which are expressive in nature and contribute to evolutionary actions. These impulses can assist us to spiritual unfoldments and to effective functioning to the degree that we co-operate with them and respond appropriately.

Example. God expresses in nature, it creates.  We too have to express and create to be fulfilled; we can also be co-operative by maintaining physical and psychological wellness, choosing a natural food plan; living selflessly with intentional purpose, attending to spiritual practices and learning to trust the supportive action of God in nature.

Even if a person is not aware of the redemptive actions of God’s grace or the beneficial influence of evolutionary forces, sooner or later the relationship between the oversoul (God) and the individualized soul will result in awakening and liberation.

Yoga emphasizes yamas (restraints for the purpose of regulating physical and mental impulses and living an eternal and moral life), and niyamas (intentional procedures or practices which enhance awareness and facilitate spiritual growth.  Our emphasis should always be on full illumination of consciousness, God consciousness.

We can help ourselves to God consciousness and experience, by letting our independent sense of existence dissolve.  By being physically relaxed and mentally open and by contemplating the reality of God.

It can be helpful to establish mental and spiritual rapport with the guru or with a saint, as a point of contact with transcendental realities.

We can attend to Kriya yoga practices, including regular meditation to experience adjustments to states of consciousness by enlivening the nervous system and awake dormant soul forces.

                          Let us be steady on the path and do what needs to be done!

Namaste