The Way

What is Life all about?

One Life, Being, Power, and Substance is responsible for the manifestation, maintenance, and transformation of nature.

We call this God or Supreme Consciousness, it is self existing, self aware and self referring.

Consciousness requires no object to support its existence; it is simultaneously the knower and the known.

Consciousness alone expresses as all variations of life throughout the universe.

Consciousness as Existence is the Being, the inner reality of everything.

Consciousness as Power expresses as all variations of force and energy in nature.

Consciousness is omnipresent.

The Unmanifest Field of Pure Consciousness, Transcendental Reality, is devoid of characteristics, it is the field of unlimited possibilities, the source of outer expression.

It cannot be known, it can only be experienced through transcendence in super conscious meditation, or as Grace and intuition, but it cannot be described sufficiently in words to satisfy the mind.

The Godhead: It is the first unfoldment from the Unmanifest field of Consciousness.

Unlike the unmanifest field, the field of God has attributes which can be examined, discussed, known about and experienced.

In the Godhead prevail three attributes. These are the gunas which regulate the interplay between God and nature.

Sattva – elevating and luminous, rajas – change and transformation, tamas – heaviness and inertia.

In us they contribute to changes in mind, body and consciousness.

We can overcome tamasic influences through purposeful action, rajistic behavior through meditation and by cultivating sattvic qualities; eventually we transcend even the influence of sattva guna. Once this occurs, we have achieved control over nature.

Individualization and Self Involvement of Consciousness

The Word, (Om) Comforter, Holly Spirit, the enlivening aspect of God, the primordial creative force acting upon itself. This force unfolds four aspects which can be contemplated and experienced.

Creative force – the expressive enlivening force which contributes to the manifestation, maintenance and transformation of nature. It is the expression of cosmic power in the universe

By listening to Om during meditation and at all times, we become attuned to this creative force and experience unity with it. By following the sound back to its source, we are let to the field of God.

Space – the field in which events occur.

Time – co-exists with space. Thus, the term space-time in which events occur.

Fine material forces and particles – these are the basis of material manifestation and have their origin in light – light has its origin in consciousness. The universe is a play of cosmic forces and of electromagnetic frequencies which have wave lengths and colors. We see with our eyes about one billionth of these frequencies.

By manifesting outwardly, the Word externalizes or embodies itself. Originating it the Godhead, the Word is inseparable from God just as “the power of fire to burn is really the fire itself”.

To recognize the power of spirit within and around us, we ought to live with PURPOSE AND AWARESS.

Let’s look at it.

To live with Purpose is knowing why we do what we do. In order to be successful in our endeavors, we not only have to be competent, but consciously competent.

Defining success is an individual concept, but essentially implies that we succeed in what we attempt to do.

What has consciousness to do with it all?

Very much, because to be in the flow of things, we must let Spirit express.

Consciousness and Holy Spirit describe the same idea. We can say that the Holy Spirit is the energy emanating from God.

How does the spirit express in as?

Physically spirit expresses as life force, mentally as inspiration and spiritually as great Joy. We can call this state the baptism of the Holy Spirit.

What contributes to experience the Spirit within and around us?

When our relationships with our neighbors are based on caring and we come to them with a peaceful heart; by being compassionate; in our own lives, by living in the present moment, by having faith that all our legitimate needs are met, by seeing circumstances for what they are and not as how we want to see them; by doing what needs to be done, when it needs to be done; by not being in denial of outer and inner experiences.

By being courageous, courage is the willingness to accept what we see.

By being honest, this is our willingness to see things as they truly are, not as we would like them to be.

By being happy, we have so much to be happy about. So let us be grateful.

Why do so many people fail in their endeavors in life? It is because they do not keep their minds focused and let their feelings go rampant.

Yogananda in Divine Romance goes even further in stating:

“Feelings mask the soul.”

“Then the beholder (the soul) is established in its own state”.

                                     Sutra 1:3

He says, the reason that we are not established in God’s Bliss is because we are intoxicated with the ego feeling (chitta).

He says that our real nature is calmness that we wear a mask of restlessness and that Restlessness has become our habit.

He says it is time for us to remember who we are and take off this mask of feelings and anger and face our true Self. To do this, we have to dissolve the feelings and emotions connected with body consciousness.

Man identified with the body becomes the ego. The ego views as reality the unreal world. We must unite our ego with the soul and behold life as a dream of God in which the soul as an individualized spirit is a participant

We must watch our motives in everything, and be not attached in our action. Non attachment gives great inner freedom and happiness.

Calmness is the parent of right action.

So long as we think of ourselves as having certain qualities, with their characteristic feelings and emotions we are masquerading as these passions and desires because we have done it for such a long a time.

Never be addicted to anything or bound by any habit.

Bliss, the joy of God hidden in our soul – is always new, always constant in our consciousness.

We all meet many people, who are not honest with themselves, who live either in denial or in a dream world, whose life is in chaos.

There seems to be an unconscious need for many to see things other then as they are. This blocks the free expression of Spirit.

Spirit will express when we are open to the experience. Good or Bad are only concepts we have they are not concepts of Spirit – unfortunately we think that life has to unfold according to our pre- conceived ideas. But blocking Spirit from expressing freely robs us from the joy of life. Spirit comes from God as the energy of love, it is also the ingredient of good physical health, block the energy in the body and we develop disease, repress emotions and we have mental problems.

In relationships we experience the spirit as unconditional joy, health, personal strength, radiance, all are expressions of Spirit. Another way to express it is as soul qualities. Soul - Self is the individualization of Spirit.

When we are in Touch with our soul the individualized unit of spirit, we are always conscious of it as the acting power performing all of our mental and bodily acts and different functions such as perceiving, thinking, remembering, feeling, acting and on it goes.

The Bible says, “Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you.”

All of us as individuals are so many reflected spiritual selves of the universal Blissful Spirit …God.

In reality, God and man are one, and the separation is only apparent.

When man identifies himself with his transitory bodily vehicle, and a restless mind, his troubles begin. Identifying with the body, man takes on the limitation of the body.

So it is important that we are in touch with our Soul and through it experience our oneness with all life; and instead of seeking pleasure in life for our fulfillment, we realize that it is the Bliss (Ananda) of God union we really want.