Dear Brothers and Sisters

It is vital to understand what is the correct approach on the 
spiritual path and how to attain spiritual salvation.  Spiritual 
teachings and teachers have been ongoing since the development of 
human civilization - but few have been omniscient Spiritual 
Preceptors.  

Where can you find the spiritual essence that is required? Only 
through proper spiritual practices based on rational approach, 
devotional outlook and sense of surrender to the Supreme.

Spiritual salvation is the union of unit consciousness with the 
Supreme Entity - God.  This is the true definition that results in 
non-duality and the result is achieved only through genuine 
spiritual practices.  Accordingly heaven is within, and lack of 
spirituality is what causes people to make a hell for themselves.

Today a revival of inner meanings is required.

These teachings have been given to assist all in the world to develop spiritually.  These are the authentic teaching of a Spiritual Preceptor.

This is a series for inspiration and upliftment. It is particularly 
suitable for those persons giving talks or sermons to their 
congregations and brings uplifting thoughts to the listener - so 
bringing them closer to God.

These pieces you can slot or adjust into any of your talks and 
sermons. 

---

Not Heaven and Not Hell - The Need for a Spiritual Ideal

"The proverb "prevention is better than cure" may be applied to all 
aspects of life. It is undeniable that, when we see the variety and 
seriousness of crimes increasing with the so-called advancement of 
civilization, it becomes necessary for crime-prevention policies to 
be given greater importance than remedial action. Civilized people 
today should be more interested in preventing base criminal 
propensities from arising in human beings in the first place, than 
in taking corrective measures to cure criminals' mental diseases.

It is true that the majority of people are not born dishonest.  If 
one's goal is a pure and pervasive one, then the defects in the 
process of attaining the goal can never transform a person into a 
sub-human creature. And if these efforts are in harmony with 
people's psychology, this will be extremely beneficial. As a result 
many people will harmonize the rhythm of their diverse ideas and 
ideologies and progress together, thereby gradually transforming the 
inherent individualism and disparity of social life into one 
symphonic chord, one unified rhythm, which will become the genuine 
prototype of a healthy human society.

This idea of oneness is fundamentally a spiritual idea. Individually 
and collectively human beings will have to accept the Supreme and 
the path to realize the Supreme as the highest truth, and this will 
have to be recognized as the highest goal of human life. As long as 
human beings do not do so, the human race will find it impossible to 
implement a sound, well-thought-out plan of action for social 
progress. No penal or social code, no matter how well-planned, can 
liberate society. Without a spiritual ideal, no social, economic, 
moral, cultural or political policy or programme can bring humanity 
to the path of peace. The sooner humanity understands this 
fundamental truth, the better.

"Good" or "bad", "virtue" or "vice" - from the worldly standpoint 
notwithstanding, people act in order to attain happiness. We judge 
people's actions as "good" and "bad", "virtue" and "vice", only 
after evaluating those actions in terms of a goal and steps to reach 
that goal.

On a relative level, virtue and vice are both distortions of the 
mind. That which may be considered good in one particular temporal, 
spatial or personal environment may be considered bad in another. A 
country generally bases its penal code on the concept of virtue and 
vice which prevails in that country, and the concept of virtue and 
vice in turn is based on accepted religious doctrines. 

However, at the universal level, virtue is that which helps to 
expand the mind, by whose assistance the universe increasingly 
becomes an integral part of oneself, and vice is that which makes 
the mind narrow and selfish. And the realm to which the mind of a 
person engaged in virtuous activities travels, is heaven, and the 
realm where the mind of a sinner races about in a wild frenzy, is 
hell. 

Those who ignore their conscience and repeatedly commit crimes due 
to poverty, eventually turn into habitual criminals. If somebody 
steals or robs out of hunger, or is goaded by their propensities 
into some mean act, it will be the duty of society to find out what 
the person's needs are and then remove them in some lawful way. But 
if society fails to do its duty (and to date human beings have not 
yet been able to create a society in the true sense of the term) and 
punishes such criminals instead, focusing only on the magnitude of 
their crimes, all feelings of remorse will vanish from their minds 
and in their place a sense of desperation will arise. They will feel 
that since they have already been stigmatized and have nothing 
further to lose, there is no point in suffering by earning a living 
in an honest way. They will think, "As I am sinking, let me sink to 
the depths of hell." Those who have committed crimes due to poverty 
(whether due to lack of food or clothing, or physical or mental 
factors), will blame society for their offences. They will claim 
that their poverty is the result of a defective social structure, 
and in most cases this allegation will be true." (HUMAN SOCIETY PART 
1, JUSTICE)

What is needed is a higher spiritual ideal.  Immerse yourself in it 
and make it part of your life and readings.

"In every era literature has depicted the unique union of bliss 
(godliness) and objective pleasure in different modes according to 
the different phases of evolution to the characteristic self. That 
which is antithetic to one's nature, no matter how assiduously one 
might attempt to paint it with the colours of the imagination, can 
never be accepted by humanity as its own. It has no use in life, nor 
has it any relation with the inner nature of human beings.

In order to give full expression to the continuous flow of 
humanity's true nature, then insight, power of expression, and 
boldness - all three are necessary. The creation of ideal literature 
is not possible for those who are ever ready to yield to the 
pressures of the throng. To manifest that true nature of self, one 
will have to give a clarion call to the common people to struggle 
against those forces that want to suck dry their vitality. Those 
voices which lack that bold heroism will simply whine and whimper 
doggerels in the name of poetry - they will try to save themselves 
from the responsibility of reality by counting the stars in the 
heavens." (The Message of Human Fulfillment, THE PRACTICE OF ART AND 
LITERATURE, A Few Problems Solved Part 1, 1966)

In literature it is also important to understand the inner meaning.

"To understand the underlying meaning of what is laid down in 
scriptures, the idea is to be grasped first; otherwise the proper 
spirit will never be realized. If I say, something the same word 
carries different meanings in different contexts. You have to 
understand how cautious you have to be in practising reading 
spiritual works. Those with vested interest seek to keep the public 
away from the true spirit of the true scriptures, because this 
facilitates their exploitation." (SVA'DHYA'YA, A Guide to Human 
Conduct, A'nanda Pu'rn'ima', 1957)

In this regard, consider the concepts of heaven and hell.  

"The mind has this potentiality - it takes the form of its object. 
If you say, 'I am a sinner, I am a sinner,' you will be a sinner. 
Even if you are not a sinner but you always think, 'I am a sinner, I 
am a sinner, I am a sinner,' you will be a sinner because that 
sinning becomes your mental object. So you should never say, 'I am a 
sinner, I am a sinner, I am a sinner.' You should say, 'O Lord, I am 
your child, I am your son, I am your daughter. I have the birthright 
to sit on your lap. Please purify me.' This is the proper approach. 
This should be the proper approach.

'My dress has become dirty. Please get my dress clean and take me on 
your lap.' This should be the proper approach, and not, 'Oh, I am a 
sinner, I am a sinner, I am a sinner.' Never say this, that I am a 
sinner. Don't be guided by this sin complex or a complex of 
hopelessness, or a complex of defeatism.

And in personal life you should move along the path of 
righteousness, towards the Supreme Goal, towards your Supreme 
Father. Nobody is unimportant, nobody is insignificant.

And you should never think, 'Oh, because the priest didn't issue me 
any ticket for Heaven, I won't be able to go to Heaven.' No, no, no, 
don't say that. The priest has no right to issue you a ticket, and 
who is going to issue you a ticket to Hell? No, no, no, your good 
actions will bring you closer to the Supreme Consciousness (God), 
and finally you will become one with Him by dint of your spiritual 
practices, by dint of your intuitional practice." "EVERYTHING COMES 
FROM SOMETHING, A'nanda Vacana'mrtam Part 12, 2 June 1979 evening, 
Lyon)

"So now, if a man always thinks, 'I am a sinner, I am a sinner, I am 
a sinner, I am a sinner,' then in a weak moment that will happen. 
[Whispering] 'I am a sinner, I am a sinner. I will have to go to 
Hell. The priest said he won't grant me a gate-pass to Heaven. I 
don't know who will issue a gate-pass to Heaven to that priest! If 
he won't issue a gate pass to Heaven, certainly for this hypocrisy 
he should also be served with a gate pass to Hell!'

So you should not develop the sinning complex or sinner's complex in 
your mind. Rather, yours should be a positive ideation. 'I am the 
son or daughter of the Supreme Consciousness - God. I am never 
alone. I am an inseparable portion of that Supreme Entity.' What 
will happen? Your mind will be strengthened. You will get immense 
psychic power, and that psychic force will get affixed by dint of 
your meditation (repetition of the name of the Supreme and constant 
internal remembrance of the Supreme). This is the positive approach 
and this you must do. You must not develop the complex of sinning, 
You must not develop the complex of inferiority - 'I am illiterate. 
I am a fool'.  A complex like this also makes a man weak, mentally 
weak." (SELECT YOUR OBJECT VERY CAREFULLY, A'nanda Vacana'mrtam Part 
12, 31 May 1979 morning, Valencia)

So what is heaven and hell from an internal meaning?  

The human mind is progressively unfolding according to its inherent 
propensities. When it finds something that produces congenial mental 
feelings, it is called happiness, and when uncongenial mental 
feelings come, it is called sorrow. 1 

"When a man moves in a line opposite the pull of the Supreme Being, 
this is movement towards degradation. Movement is a must, whether it 
is towards progress or degradation - whether towards hell or 
superman. Those animals and inanimate objects whose minds are not 
developed have no chance of being degraded since they have no choice 
of movement except in the direction of the Supreme. But man has the 
freedom of choice between progress and degradation. (THE DIVINE 
WILL, Ba'ba''s Grace)

Only the movement according to the will of the Supreme Being is 
movement towards progress. 2

Movement that expands the mind is good or virtue or creates a 
heaven.  Movement that is contracts and narrows the mind is bad or 
vice or creates a hell.

"The subtle mental world (svarloka in Sanskrit) is the pure mental 
sphere on which happiness and sorrow are experienced; it is also 
called the pure mental body of the Cosmic World (manomaya jagat) or 
pure mental body (manomaya kos'a) in individuals.  It is in this 
sphere that the the reactive momenta to past actions exist.  
According to mythology, after the death of the physical body, people 
go to heaven or hell.  The fact is that the reactive momenta of 
one's past actions are that which determine the individuality of 
unit beings (situated mentally in this subtle mental world).  The 
Christian and Muslim ideas of heaven and hell and also in Hindu 
Karmakandi Jaemini Partna', were derived from the fact that the 
reactive momenta to past actions are that which determine that the 
requitals of actions exist and they exist in subtle mental world 
(svarloka).  In reality no layer of the mind will remain after 
death.  The reactive momenta to past actions remains as the object 
of the soul.  Thus the ideas of heaven and hell of the Hindu, 
Christian and Muslim mythologies are completely false, because after 
death there remains no mind at all to experience heaven or hell." 
(SOME QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS ON ANANDA MARGA PHILOSOPHY, Ta'ttvika 
Praveshika', Tattva Kaomudii Part 1).  

What exists is the potential reactions to past actions.

"It is the subtle mental world (svarloka) which is called the pure 
mental (manomaya) world and it is in this stratum that a person 
experiences pleasure and pain. Heaven or Svarga and Svarloka (in 
Sanskrit) are synonymous. Pleasure-seeking persons perform righteous 
deeds motivated by the desire to attain heaven after relinquishing 
the mortal body. the potential reactions to past actions 
(sam'ska'ras) exist in the pure mental (ie the very manomaya world 
or manomaya-kos'a) which is also known as the pure mental sphere. 
The potential reactions to past actions (sam'ska'ra) are generated 
in this subtle mental world (svarloka). It is the popular belief 
amongst the Christians, the Mohammedans, the Jains and the 
ritualistic Hindus that the fruits of virtuous deeds are enjoyed in 
svarloka or heaven." (THE BASE AND THE RELATIVE TRUTH (A'dha'ra and 
A'peks'ika Satya) Subha's'ita Sam'graha Part 1, A'nanda Pu'rn'ima' 6 
May 1955).

But:

"There is neither heaven nor hell (Na svargo na rasa'talah).

There exists no such thing as heaven or hell. When a person does a 
virtuous act or enjoys the fruits thereof, the environment around 
him or her is then called heaven; and when he or she does an evil 
act and endures the consequences thereof, then the environment 
around that person becomes a hell for him or her." (A'NANDA SU'TRAM, 
CHAPTER 2, 2-20)

So:

"Human beings should move forward with a thorough knowledge of 
propriety and impropriety. They must maintain a balance between 
social propriety, political propriety and psychic propriety. One's 
relations with one's brother, sister, mother, wife, etc, are all 
different. One's behaviour with one's sister should not be the same 
as it is with one's wife. Maintaining proper relations with 
different sorts of people is part of propriety. Human beings must 
not go beyond the limits of psychic propriety. If balance is 
maintained and propriety is properly measured, then the world will 
be an abode of dynamic adjustment (prama') - heaven will be 
established on the earth.:" (YOGA PSYCHOLOGY, BIO-PSYCHOLOGY, 3 June 
1987, Calcutta)

Some lecture that: "You know, only sinful people become ghosts after 
death and, if they don't spend a lot of money on the last-rites, 
they won't be able to go to heaven.  That's why the poor ghosts have 
to stay down in hell and rot there." (IN THE LAND OF HAT'T'AMA'LA')

Some say: "The more gifts given to the priest, the higher my 
father's ascent into heaven will be.  Therefore, I had to incur a 
debt in order to properly arrange everything." (IN THE LAND OF 
HAT'T'AMA'LA') 

Who in the modern world will dare give such lectures about heaven or 
hell?  But some do, due to lack of spiritual understanding.  Indeed!

"Almost every religion has claimed that only its followers are God's 
chosen people and that the rest of humanity is cursed and bound by 
the chains of Satan. One religion has declared, "Our prophet is the 
only saviour. There is no escape from mundane sufferings except by 
taking refuge in him." Another religion has declared, "I am the last 
prophet. Prayers must be said before God a specific number of times 
in a certain manner each day. Special animals must be sacrificed on 
particular days. These are the wishes of merciful God. Those who 
follow these injunctions will attain heaven on the Day of 
Judgement." Yet another religion says, "Know ye, my son, thy God is 
the only God. All other gods are false gods." Just imagine, all 
these religions preach universal fraternity, and yet this universal 
fraternity is kept within the confines of their own [religious] 
community.* Humanity gasps for breath at such preposterous claims of 
universal fraternity.

Carried away by the grandiose slogans of their respective religions, 
the followers of these religions have at different times whipped up 
a frenzy of communal (religious) hatred and indulged in orgies of 
genocide. Had their founders seen such sights, they would have 
hidden their faces in utter shame. Of all the bloodshed that took 
place in the Middle Ages, a major part was a natural consequence of 
this communal religiosity which is hardly a "universal fraternity". 
(HUMAN SOCIETY PART 1, MORALISM)

This still goes on today. But remember: 

"However dense the cimmerian darkness may be, the crimson dawn must 
follow. The fiends of hell may burst out in loud laughter, but all 
must fade in the void with the sunrise. The light of spiritual 
practices shall dispel the thick darkness, notwithstanding the night 
of the pangs of humanity. Sunshine is destined in human life." 
(A'nanda Pu'rn'ima', 1973, A'NANDA VA'N'II SAM'GRAHA)

So let us remove this vile guise of condemning people by inferiority 
complexes of sin and let us understand the meaning of good and bad 
and that heaven and hell are within.  Then we can also understand 
that a person's crimes are something to be rectified so that they 
can contribute to society.  Punishment of itself is not a solution.  
A proper human society needs to be built based on morality, and the 
true meaning of spiritual practices can advance accordingly.  People 
are not born sinners.

"By nature human beings are not wicked; rather most people are peace-
loving and thus inclined towards personal purity. This inclination 
of the individual keeps the collective mind pure." 3

"The very idea of heaven and hell is sheer nonsense anyway. Such 
stupid ideas thrived in the minds of those who popularized ancient 
myths, but they have no capacity to find a foundation in the solid 
ground of rationality. If, however, in order to humour such fools, I 
accept the existence of heaven and hell, I might ask, 'If the spirit 
of a wicked husband goes to hell and grazes in the fields as a bull, 
should his virtuous wife also go to hell after her death, become a 
cow and start grazing beside him?'" 4

It should be mentioned here that:

"Those who want to keep women subservient to men by holding out 
false hopes or the illusory prospect of heavenly enjoyment in the 
afterlife, fail to understand that although such false hopes or the 
lure of heaven may be sufficient to keep women passive or in 
servitude, no real good can ever come to human society from this. 
The reason is that if, due to dogma and superstition, half of 
society is bogged down in a state of inertia, the other half will 
undoubtedly find progress difficult carrying a heavy, inert burden. 
In individual life purity is equally necessary for both men and 
women, and to make this possible real spiritual vision is essential. 
As long as injustices against either sex exist, purity is 
impossible." 5

Even sinners should depend upon God - He is there to help them. 6

"He is not only the Lord of heaven, He is the Lord of hell also.  So 
even a sinner of hell should not become mentally disturbed because 
the Lord of hell is with him.  'Even if the sinner of sinners 
resorts to complete surrender, then they will be freed from all 
kinds of sins'.  'They must attain salvation, for God is the granter 
of salvation.'" 7

Now to finish off, here is an amusing story that shows the folly of 
false thinking.

THE PLIGHT OF KING TRISHANKU
from: Sarkar's Short Stories Part 1

"I expect you all know the story of King Trishanku. One day he 
decided it was time to go to heaven. The pleasures and delights of 
this world, which he had long enjoyed, no longer enticed him. He 
knew he had enough physical and psychic strength to undertake the 
journey. What he lacked was virtue - his stock of virtue was 
exhausted.

The story goes that King Trishanku instructed his guards to tie him 
to the end of a long arrow with a piece of nylon rope, and then 
shoot the arrow towards heaven's gate. The arrow sped through the 
sky at the speed of a rocket. The gods were alarmed. At the gates 
the security guards were dripping with perspiration. This had never 
happened before. "What should we do?" they wondered.

As a rule, heaven's gate is never closed. However, on this occasion 
the guards decided to take a risk. They closed the gate. At that 
instant the giant arrow hit the gate with a tremendous thud, and got 
stuck. And there it stays till this day with King Trishanku tied to 
one end with a piece of nylon rope.

Those people who stagnate in life, who neither progress nor regress, 
suffer a plight similar to that of King Trishanku.

I don't know whether heaven's gate was opened later or not. Informed 
sources tell me that the gods have built a new gate on the other 
side of heaven. That's the way in these days."

From the works of Shrii Shrii Anandamurti
1.      PA'RTHASA'RATHI KRS'N'A AND AESTHETIC SCIENCE, DISCOURSE 26, 
NAMA'MI KRS'N'ASUNDARAM, 5 April 1981, Calcutta.
2.      THE DIVINE WILL, Ba'ba''s Grace.
3.      SOCIAL JUSTICE, HUMAN SOCIETY PART 1
4.      SOCIAL JUSTICE, HUMAN SOCIETY PART 1
5.      SOCIAL JUSTICE, HUMAN SOCIETY PART 1
6.      WHO IS THE LIBERATING ENTITY OF HUMAN SOCIETY, Subha's'ita 
Sam'graha Part 11, 18 February 1979, Bangalore
7.      WHO IS THE LIBERATING ENTITY OF HUMAN SOCIETY, Subha's'ita 
Sam'graha Part 11, 18 February 1979, Bangalore





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