Ascent to Higher Realities

The apparent complexity of the ascent of the soul from the darkness of matter to Spirit resolves itself into a single-pointed vision. Once we take up a correct perspective, a perspective which leads to divine union, our attachment to the material is laid to rest.

This union cannot be achieved through sense knowledge, or by one’s spiritual ideas and feelings about God. For this reason, we need to analyze how our attachment to worldly things and even spiritual good can hinder our attainment of God union. In fact, it is the attachment to spiritual blessings in the form of the consolation of prayer, visions and revelations that can pose the most dangerous obstacles to us, because they are felt to be a blessing and for this reason we attach ourselves to them.

We need to embrace a complete detachment from all that is not God and realize that what we give up is replaced by something much better. It is the giving up of temporal and worldly desires and replacing them with spiritual aspirations. Finally we must give up even our spiritual desires in order to attain to full liberation. This is the prelude to the beginning of contemplation and meditation, leading one to Divine union.

Some teachers try to tell us that the cause of the deluded soul is attributable to the fact that the soul is like a tabula rasa (a clean slate) when God infuses it into the body. It would be ignorant without the knowledge it receives through its senses, because no knowledge is communicated to it from any other source. But in fact we experience the darkness or sadness of the soul when it identifies itself with the body. It’s like the presence of a prisoner in a dark dungeon, which knows no more than what he manages to behold through the windows of his prison and has nowhere else to turn if he sees nothing through them.

The reason why the mortification of desire is so important is that a disordered desire creates a likeness between the person and what he desires, for love effects a likeness between the lover and the object loved. If a person has inordinate desires for things other than God, he or she becomes made over in their likeness and cannot be made in the likeness of God. This dual affection cannot exist because two contraries cannot coexist in one person; darkness which is affection set upon the material and light which is God are contrary to each other.

The conclusion is that if a man becomes like the limited object of his desire, he cannot realize his potential to be transformed into the likeness of the infinite God. Such transformation demands that the will of man be completely in accord with the will of God, and any voluntary imperfection is enough to create an obstacle to this transformation.

This concept forms the general context to the beginning of contemplation and meditation, the way of dispelling the dark through the inner way of one’s being. The denial of the appetites of sense pleasure in all things leads to attainment of the divine union with God.

We need to come to the understanding that our soul once united with the Spirit of God is eternally free and that we do not have to die for this to occur. But prior to this we need to be clear that rather than identifying with our body and mind, we need to identify with the Spirit within and realize that we are spiritual beings and not beings wanting to become spiritual. This union can be likened to a loving mother who warms her child with the heat of her bosom, nurses it with good milk and tender food, and carries and caresses it in her arms.

So prior to God union we are attracted to the things of the world, but through a dramatic change that has taken place, the soul which had been circumscribed by the attraction of the outer world now becomes inflamed with love for spiritual things and the love for the world is replaced by the love for the things of God. Undoubtedly, we need to make strong efforts to break with our former habits, but these efforts are powerfully aided by the new yearnings of love that have sprung up from within. The transition occurs with an enkindling of longings for the love of God.

Meditation is the spiritual activity; the feeling of love is the soul’s response. The two together forms a harmonious unity which is best described as spiritual awakening or religious ecstasy.

Before this conversion occurs, we are bound to the world and its allurements, and our attention, affection, energy and faculties are devoted to worldly things. By means of the senses; we looked outward through the senses toward the world.

Conversion means change from the outer to the inner. When this happens the new spiritual yearnings take the place of the attraction of the world. The new attraction that arises in the spiritual part of the soul begins to counterbalance the sensible attraction for the world and soon overpowers it. The net effect of initial conversion is that the desire for temporal things becomes an appreciation of spiritual things. The two are, in fact, opposite perspectives from the same vantage point. Another way of explaining this process is by saying that grace must initially take man as he is.

These words can be summarized as follows: the beginner experiences a growing difficulty in meditation through no conscious neglect. This difficulty in the ability to meditate goes hand-in-hand with a desire to remain still and at peace, resting in a new contemplative knowledge of God that is being given to him. Though this knowledge is very faint and sometimes imperceptible at the beginning, it soon grows more and more conscious when one learns what attitude to take up in regard to it. He then recognizes the presence of God within. 

Paramahansa Yogananda on Spiritual Progress

In the material world, all successes are known by their tangible, though often short-lasting, results. But in the spiritual path all results, being primarily psychological, are intangible. They are real, nonetheless, and everlastingly beneficial. Spiritual results begin as subtle transformations in the consciousness of the inner being.

A common cause of spiritual discouragement is the devotee’s expectation that God’s response will come in a great blaze of awe-inspiring inner illumination. This erroneous notion dulls the devotee’s perception of the subtle divine responses that are present from the very beginning of one’s meditative practices.

God responds to the devotee’s every effort, every devotional call. Even as a novice, you will realize this in your own seeking if you learn to recognize Him as the quiet, inner peace that steals over your consciousness. This peace is the first proof of God’s presence within. You will know it is He who has guided and inspired you to some right decision in your life.

You will feel His strength empowering you to overcome bad habits and nurture spiritual qualities. You will know Him as the ever-increasing joy and love that surges deep within, overflowing into your everyday life and relationships.

Saints are sinners who did not give up. No matter what your difficulties, if you do not give up, you are making progress. 

Does the Bible contain allegory?

 An allegory is a story in which the characters and/or events are symbols representing other events, ideas, or people. Allegory has been a common literary device throughout the history of literature. Allegories have been used to indirectly express unpopular or controversial ideas, to critique politics, and to rebuke those in power (e.g., George Orwell’s Animal Farm and Jonathan Swift’s Gulliver’s Travels). Other times, allegory is used to express abstract ideas or spiritual truths through an extended metaphor, making the truth easier to grasp (e.g., John Bunyan’s The Pilgrim’s Progress and Hannah Hurnard’s Hinds’ Feet on High Places).

The Bible contains many instances of allegory used to explain spiritual truths or to foreshadow later events. The clearest examples of allegory in Scripture are the parables of Jesus. In these stories, the characters and events represent a truth about the Kingdom of God or the Christian life. For example, in the Parable of the Sower in Matthew 13:3–9, the seed and different types of soil illustrate the Word of God and various responses to it (as Jesus explains in verses 18–23).

The story of the Prodigal Son also makes use of allegory. In this story (Luke 15:11–32), the titular son represents the average person: sinful and prone to selfishness. The wealthy father represents God, and the son’s harsh life of hedonism and, later, poverty represents the hollowness of the ungodly lifestyle. When the son returns home in genuine sorrow, we have an illustration of repentance. In the father’s mercy and willingness to receive his son back, we see God’s joy when we turn from sin and seek His forgiveness.

In the parables, Jesus teaches abstract spiritual concepts (how people react to the gospel, God’s mercy, etc.) in the form of relatable metaphors. We gain a deeper understanding of God’s truth through these stories. Other examples of biblical allegory, as a literary form, include the vision of the dragon and the woman in Revelation 12:1–6; the story of the eagles and the vine in Ezekiel 17; and many of the proverbs, especially those written in emblematic parallelism.

Some of the traditions and ceremonies instituted by God in the Bible could be considered “non-literary allegories” because they symbolize spiritual truths. The act of animal sacrifice, for example, represented that our sins deserve death, and each substitute on the altar prefigured the eventual sacrifice of Christ, who would die for His people. The institution of marriage, while serving great practical purposes, is also a symbol of the relationship between Christ and the Church (Ephesians 5:31–32). Many of the ceremonial laws of Moses (regarding clothing, foods, and clean and unclean objects) represented spiritual realities such as the need for believers to be distinct in spirit and action from non-believers. While these examples may not be considered allegories individually (since an allegory requires multiple symbols working together), the religious system of the Old Testament (and parts of the New) can be seen as a broad allegory for man’s relationship with God.

Interestingly, sometimes significant historical events, which appear at first glance to contain no deeper meaning, are interpreted allegorically later to teach an important lesson. One instance of this is Galatians 4, where Paul interprets the story of Abraham, Hagar, and Sarah as an allegory for the Old and New Covenants. He writes, “For it is written that Abraham had two sons, one by the slave woman and the other by the free woman. His son by the slave woman was born according to the flesh, but his son by the free woman was born as the result of a divine promise. These things are being taken figuratively: The women represent two covenants. One covenant is from Mount Sinai and bears children who are to be slaves: This is Hagar. Now Hagar stands for Mount Sinai in Arabia and corresponds to the present city of Jerusalem, because she is in slavery with her children. But the Jerusalem that is above is free, and she is our mother” (Galatians 4:22–26). Here, Paul takes actual, historical people (Abraham, Hagar, and Sarah) and uses them as symbols for the Law of Moses (the Old Covenant) and the freedom of Christ (the New Covenant). Through Paul’s allegorical lens, we see that our relationship with God is one of freedom (we are children of the divine promise, as Isaac was to Sarah), not of bondage (we are not children of man’s bondage, as Ishmael was to Hagar). Paul, through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, could see the symbolic significance of this historical event and used it to illustrate our position in Christ.

Allegory is a beautifully artistic way of explaining spiritual matters in easily understood terms. Through the Bible’s allegories, God helps us understand difficult concepts through a more relatable context. He also reveals Himself as the Great Storyteller, working through history to foreshadow and carry out His plan. We can rejoice that we have a God who addresses us in ways we can understand and who has given us symbols and allegories to remind us of Himself.