“The kingdom of
God does not come in response to sensory observation; neither can they find it
who say, ‘Behold, it is here or there somewhere in the clouds.’ Rather
concentrate within and you will find the sphere of God consciousness hidden
behind your material consciousness.”
Paramahansa Yogananda
“If those who
lead you say, ‘Look! The kingdom is in heaven,’ then the birds of heaven will
precede you. If you say, ‘It is in the sea, ‘then the fish will precede you.
But the kingdom is within you and it is outside you. If you will know yourself,
then you will be known, and you will realize, that you are children of the
living Father. But if you do not know yourselves, then you dwell in poverty and
you are poverty”
Gospel of Thomas, verse 3
His disciples
said to him, when will the new world come? He said to them, what you are
looking forward to has come, but you don’t know it.
Gospel of Thomas, verse 51
Jesus’ disciples
said unto him: “When will the kingdom come? “ Jesus answered, “It will not come
by waiting for it. People will not say, ‘Look, here it is, or there it is, but
the kingdom of the father is spread out upon the earth and people do not see
it.
Gospel of Thomas, verse 113
There is a
beautiful accord between the teachings of Jesus to enter the kingdom within us
set as forth by Lord Krishna in the Bhagavad Gita to restore the soul, the
reflection of God in man, to its rightful ruler over the bodily kingdom. When
man is settled in that inner kingdom of divine consciousness, the awakened
intuitive perceptions of the soul will pierce the veils of matter, life energy
and consciousness and uncover the God essence in the heart of all things.
He dwells in the
world, enveloping all, everywhere, His hands and feet; present on all sides,
His eyes and ears, His mouth and heads; shining in all the sense faculties, yet
transcending the senses; unattached to creation, yet the mainstay of all; free
from the gunas (attributes of nature), yet the enjoyer of them.
He is within and
without all that exists. The animate and the inanimate; near He is and far;
imperceptible because of His subtlety.
He, the
Indivisible One, appears as countless beings; He maintains and destroys the
forms, then creates then anew.
The Light of all
Lights, beyond darkness; Knowledge itself. That which is to be known, the God
of all learning, He is seated in the heart of all.
RAJA YOGA as
taught by Paramahansa Yogananda, Swami Vivekananda and other Great Indian
Masters.
Rajas Yoga, the
royal way of God union, is the science of actual realization of the kingdom of
God that lies within oneself. Through practice of the sacred yoga techniques of
exteriorization, one can find that kingdom by awakening the astral and causal
centres of life force and consciousness in the spine and the brain that are the
gateways into the heavenly regions of transcendent consciousness. One who
achieves such awakening knows the omnipresent of God in His Infinite Nature and
in the purity of one’s soul, and even in the delusive cloaks of changeless
material forms and forces.
Patanjali,
India’s foremost ancient exponent of Rajas Yoga outlined eight steps to be
followed for ascension into the kingdom of God within.
1)
Yama,
restraint By resisting, restraining and regulating destructive impulses, their
opposite characteristics are cultivated and perfected. Such as: moral conduct;
abstaining from injury to others, truthfulness, non stealing, self-restrain,
covetousness, constructive use of vital forces, insightful renunciation of
desires.
2)
Niyama:
purity of body and mind, contentment under all circumstances, self study
(contemplation) and devotion to God
These two steps
yield to self-control and mental calmness.
3)
Asana:
a series of exercises physical and mental, disciplining of the body so that it
can assume and maintain the correct posture for meditation without fatigue or
physical or mental restlessness.
4)
Pranayama:
techniques of life-force control that calm the hart and breath and remove
sensory distraction from the mind,
5)
Pratyahara:
the power of complete interiorization and stillness resulting from withdrawal
of the mind from the senses.
6)
Dharana:
the power to use the interiorized mind to become one-pointedly concentrated on
God in one of His aspects through which He reveals Himself to the inward
perceptions of the devotee.
7)
Dhyana:
meditation deepened by the intensity of concentration (Dharana} that gives the
conception of the vastness of God, His attributes as manifested in His endless
expansion of Cosmic Consciousness.
8)
Samadhi,
union with God: full realization of the soul’s oneness with Spirit.
All devotees may
find the door to the kingdom of God by concentrating on the spiritual eye, the
Christ consciousness centre at the point between the eyebrows. Long and deep
correct meditation enables one gradually to convert the consciousness of the
material body into that of the astral body, and with the awakened faculties of
the astral perception to intuit deeper and deeper states of consciousness until
one reaches oneness with the source of consciousness. Entering the door of the
spiritual eye, one leaves behind all attachment to matter and the physical body
and gains access into the interior infinitudes of God’s kingdom.
The tissues of
the physical body are made up of cells; the tissue of the astral body is
composed of life force – intelligent unites of light or life energy. When man
is in a state of body attachment, characterized by tension, or contraction of
life energy into atomic components, the life energy of the astral body becomes
compacted, circumscribed by identification with the physical form. By
metaphysical relaxation (by using meditation, and mantras}, the life force
begins to expand – the grip of the flesh on one’s identity loosens. By deeper
and deeper meditation the energy frame of the astral self expands beyond the
boundaries of the physical body, being of a sphere of existence unfounded by
the delusional restrictions of the three dimensional physical world, has the
potential to become one with the Cosmic Energy pervading the whole universe.
God as the Holy Ghost, Holy Vibration, is the light of the Cosmic Energy; man,
made in the image of God is composed of that light. We are that light
compacted; and we are that light of the Universal Self.
As the first step
toward entering the kingdom of God, the devotee should sit still in the correct
meditation posture, with erect spine. The yogi begins with proper deep
breathing, inhaling and tensing the body, exhaling and relaxing, several times.
With each exhalation all muscle tension and motion should be cast away, until a
state of body stillness is attained. Then by concentration techniques, restless
motion is removed from the mind. In perfect stillness of body and mind, the
yogi enjoys the ineffable peace of the presence of the soul. In the body, life
is templed, in the mind, light is templed; in the soul, peace is templed. The
deeper one goes into the soul, the more that peace is felt; that is
super-consciousness. When by deeper meditation the devotee expands that
awareness of peace and feels his consciousness spreading over the universe,
that all beings and all creation are swallowed up in that peace, then he is
entering Cosmic Consciousness. He feels that peace everywhere in flowers, in
every human being, in the atmosphere. He beholds the earth and all worlds
floating like bubbles in that ocean of peace.
The inner peace
first experienced by the devotee in meditation is his own soul; the vaster
peace he feels by going deeper is God. The devotee who experiences unity with
everything has established God in the temple of his inner perception.
In the temple of
silence, in the temple of peace,
I will meet Thee,
I will touch Thee, I will love Thee.
And coax Thee to
my altar of peace.
In the temple of
samadhi, in the temple of peace,
I will meet.
Thee, I will touch Thee, I will love Thee,
And coax Thee to
my altar of bliss.
Paramahansa Yogananda
The self
governing yogi, he whose mind is fully under control, thus engaging his soul in
ceaseless meditative union with Spirit, attains the peace of My being: the
final Nirvana (deliverance).
Bhagavad Gita VI: 13 - 15
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