GOD IS OMNISCIENT AND EVERYWHERE, SO HAVE NO FEAR

There are many defective ideas in the world that have stifled the 
spiritual quest.

"If an idea is imposed on human beings as a dogma, crushing the 
victim under its heavy weight, people realize that a tormenting 
bondage has been imposed on them. They well understand that the 
dogma has immobilized them, caused retardation instead of progress, 
and brought them to a virtual standstill. They realize that what 
they considered to be spirituality or dharma was actually nothing 
but a colourful procession of various superstitions, and lest they 
raise their heads against those superstitions and smash that house 
of cards built on quicksand, certain ideas are constantly whispered 
into their ears: "You shouldn't do this, you shouldn't do that -- it 
will bring about your ruin. If you do that, you will be doomed to 
hell, or if you do this, your tongue will fall off." People realize 
that their voices against dogma have thus been silenced by injecting 
fear complexes into their minds, and that they have been reduced to 
useless lumps of cow-dung. Nevertheless, since they lack proper 
initiative and drive, they willingly surrender themselves to fate, 
and accept their helpless shedding of tears as their appointed lot 
in life.

Ancient people believed that the fragrant smoke from these homa 
rituals would rise from the earth to the higher regions and, making 
the ether and air heavy with fragrance, would please the gods. The 
people thought that this scented smoke and perfumed air would be 
beneficial to health, improve mental functioning and transport 
people to the abode of the gods.

During the course of time, dogma has crept into this concept of 
fasting also. Some people started arguing that the system of fasting 
is a means to attain virtue: those observing fast are likely to 
secure a permanent place in heaven and can even see the 
grandchildren of their grandchildren before they die! Moreover, 
undue importance was attached to a few specific days of fasting -- 
if people could fast on those specific days, it was said, they would 
attain heavenly bliss, not only in one life but for lives together." 
(NAMAH SHIVA'YA SHANTA'YA, DISCOURSE 13, SHIVA'S TEACHINGS -- 2 
(CONTINUED), SHIVOPADESHA 3, 2 July 1982, Patna)

"The very idea of heaven and hell is sheer bunkum, and is in fact 
hatched in the brains of the authors of mythologies. Such people 
don't have the capacity to implant a peg in the solid ground of 
logic. Yet in order to humour the ignorant, if I accept the 
existence of such things as heaven and hell, I would ask, if the 
spirit of a wicked husband goes to hell and grazes about the field 
as a bull, would his virtuous wife also go to hell and, becoming a 
cow, start grazing beside him.  Those who take advantage of people's 
simplicity or ignorance are veritable demons in the form of humans, 
and those who deceive people by taking advantage of their emotions, 
inspired by the ideal of sacrifice, are even worse than demons. 

Society will not reap any real good from the endeavours to 
camouflage this impurity behind elegant phrases or religious 
exhibitionism. 

Those who want to keep women subservient to men in this life by 
holding out a bait of affected sympathy and the false prospect of 
heavenly bliss in the following life, fail to understand that 
although such fake sympathy and the lure of heavenly prospects may 
be conducive to making women inert and servile to men, actually no 
real good will come to human society. If half the society is steeped 
in inertia due to superstition, the other half will undoubtedly find 
the journey tough going with this heavy load of inertia. In 
individual life purity is equally necessary for both men and women, 
and to justify that necessity real spiritual vision is 
indispensable." 
(The Awakening of Women Part 1 Section 2-1, SOCIAL JUSTICE FOR 
WOMEN, "Social Justice", Human Society Part 1)

What is real spiritual vision?  It is to know God as omniscient and 
the controller.  This means truly understand God as being everywhere.

"God, the Supreme Consciousness, is not merely the Cognitive 
Faculty, He is also the Controller.  It is not enough just to create 
something - one will have to control it also.  The Supreme 
Consciousness is that Controller.  Just as He gets this manifested 
universe of seven layers - physical world, crude mental world, 
subtle mental world, supra-mental world, subliminal world, latent 
existence and the absolute without any qualities - created by the 
Operative Principle, He gets it controlled by His Operative 
Principle also.  The movement  of human beings towards the world of 
immortality is controlled by the Supreme Consciousness.  Human 
beings will have to move along the path which leads to this immortal 
realm, not along the sinful path which leads toward worldly 
objects.  In various scriptures it is said that the seven lower 
realms of crudity - the seven "hells" are exist.

But the negative movement towards crudity is also within the control 
of the Supreme Consciousness.  Whenever a person sinks to the nadir 
point of degradation, we often say, "Such-and-such a person has gone 
to hell."  'Whenever people become crude and are immersed in wrong 
actions which are contrary to the spiritual code, they become 
totally inert.  In utter defiance of the moral code, they involve 
themselves in many vicious activities, goaded by the lure of power, 
position, prestige, name and fame, and monetary gain, and thus they 
invariably move toward the lowest 'hell', the most degraded state.  
Such people, instead of moving towards the abode of nectar, move 
towards degradation.  But the controller of this path, too, is the 
same Supreme Consciousness: the same Entity who controls the higher 
seven realms, controls the seven lower realms as well.

If a person is degraded due to sinful deeds, performed consciously 
or unconsciously, and is born as an insect in hell, in that case, 
will the Supreme Consciousness forget him or her?  No, not at all.  
The living entity who suffers in hell is also a creation of the 
Supreme Consciousness, and He will do whatever is necessary for such 
a person.  Thus it is said that God certainly loves those who are 
truly honest and virtuous, but He does not hate those who are wicked 
or degenerated due to their misdeeds.  Even for such persons God is 
the only hope, the supreme shelter.  Thus he is not a mere 
Witnessing Entity, He is much greater than that.

There is no one who can dictate to Him.  Some people may argue: 
sinful persons are like the most abominable insects of hell - then 
how can God remain with them?  The answer is that even the most 
infernal creatures are also His favourites.  When people degrade 
themselves through wicked actions God becomes sad, but He never 
hates them.  For such degraded people, the only safe shelter is the 
Supreme Consciousness.  Thus it is said that He is not merely the 
knowing or Cognitive Faculty.  He is much more than that."  
(PURUS'A, Subha's'ita Sam'graha Part 12, 12 July 1979, Jaipur)

"We should not forget that He is master of both heaven and hell. If 
there is a place like hell, God is there because He is omnipresent. 
If He does not live in hell, He is not an omnipresent entity. If a 
sinner goes to hell God is also there. Therefore the so-called 
sinner should not be afraid of anything and should not worry. When 
he or she goes to hell, God will also be there with him or her." 
(THE OMNISCIENCE OF THE CAUSAL MATRIX, A'nanda Vacana'mrtam Part 5, 
17 November 1978, Delhi)

"If we use the Himalayas as an ink-tablet, the largest ocean as the 
inkpot, the branch of the biggest forest tree of heaven as a pen and 
the entire lithosphere as paper, and with this paper, ink and pen if 
the goddess of learning writes for an indefinite period even then it 
would not be possible to write all the attributes that He possesses. 
So attributional worship is meaningless; and because it is 
meaningless it is impractical, not feasible and nothing but a waste 
of time.

To say, `Oh God, give me this or that' is meaningless because your 
actual requirements are better known to Him. A child does not know 
what it requires but the mother of the child knows and the mother 
provides accordingly. You do not know what your actual requirements 
are, but the Supreme Father knows and He provides accordingly, and 
he will continue doing so for ever. So your burden is His burden. 
You need not say, `Oh God, give me this or give me that'." (THE 
FUTILITY OF NON-CARDINAL PRAYERS, A'nanda Vacana'mrtam Part 5, 21 
November 1978, Delhi)

So God's love is everywhere, and He is sure to provide what is 
necessary.  However, one should not perform bad actions and one 
should not try to gain rewards of being conceited about good actions.

"Those who are the followers of certain schools of philosophy and 
who believe in the concept of hell, assert that those who perform 
good deeds to go to heaven, and after a certain period of time when 
their reaping of the consequences of their good actions is over, 
they are reborn as human beings on this earth.  Of course, 
philosophically we do not subscribe to this view, because we do not 
believe in the existence of heaven.  But it is true that the good 
reactions of good deeds will certainly come to an end some day.  
What will happen then?  It is said:

'Those who convert the fruits of their deeds are like tradespeople.  
We call such people greedy, who perform actions in expectation of 
good reactions.  Certainly these people will go to hell again and 
again.'

Now, those who advocate the supremacy of the doctrine of action 
should remember that only the performance of good deeds is not 
enough: one will have to be ready to undergo the reactions of good 
actions.  After undergoing the reactions one will again have to come 
down on earth.  And one will not always do only good deeds: bad 
deeds may also be performed.  So one has to keep grinding along the 
cycle of actions and reactions, which seems to have no end.  

It is said the proper approach is:

'When I perform some deed, I do not expect any result: I surrender 
everything to the Supreme Consciousness.'  

That is:

'I perform the deeds but I do not expect the results thereof - I 
immediately surrender the results of my actions.  I am  prepared to 
undergo the bad reactions of my bad deeds, but I do not wish to 
enjoy the good fruits of my good deeds: I offer those to the Supreme 
Consciousness.'

Now, who can say such things?  Only those who have strong devotion 
to the Lord.  Such people love God more than they love themselves.  
They are the true devotees, not just the people of action.  'Keep on 
doing actions without expecting any results' - -it is futile to say 
this to a person of action who want the reactions of good actions.  
This should be spoken only to one who is established in devotion.

There are some people who say, "Well, we will undergo hardship for 
the welfare of the world."  This undergoing of penance has also a 
bright side.  A ninety or one-hundred-year-old woman undertakes 
penance - why?  Certainly with the expectation that her penance will 
one day be rewarded - perhaps that she will get a place in heaven.  
Let us see how important this undertaking of penance is - whether it 
is for one's family, or for one's personal elevation, or for the 
benefit of the society.  Nothing in this world is valueless: even 
the undertaking of hardship is not useless.  But is that the highest 
excellence in human life?  In fact, the undertaking of penance is an 
action without any fixed goal: "I do not know, nor do I want to 
know, why I am subjecting myself to penance.  I am merely doing 
penance for the sake of penance."  This is totally meaningless.  It 
is like rowing a boat without knowing where one is drifting - merely 
rowing for the sake of rowing.  This is utterly useless.  This 
aimless rowing will simply cause pain in the hands.  One day one 
will lose the capacity to row the boat, and finally the boat will 
sink and all will be drowned.

One should undergo penance for others' welfare, for the well-being 
of the world; and the good that the world enjoys due to one's 
sacrifice is the reward.  One should not expect any reward greater 
than this. 

There are other persons who advise people to practice various 
rituals like painting sandalwood paste on their foreheads, or 
sitting while facing only in one particular direction.  It takes a 
lot of time to complete these complicated rituals, and time is so 
valuable in human life.  Besides, what is to be gained in painting 
sandalwood marks on the forehead if the mind wanders in the mire of 
hell?  This is considered to be one of the paths to reach God by 
following certain special rules.

There are some people who think that if they simply ideate on God 
daily for some time, then their purpose will be served.  But this is 
not enough.  Yes, when you think of God for some time you will no 
doubt remain elevated for that period; but when you again become 
engrossed in your mundane duties you will again become stepped in 
mire.  Who will save you at that time?  In each and every action you 
will have to try to realise the Supreme Entity; then and only then 
will those actions not be binding.  Otherwise, every action will 
become the cause of great bondage.

There are many people who are fond of reading good books - 
voluminous books on philosophy, spirituality, etc.  Now if one's 
mind roams about in the filth of hell, what real purpose will be 
served by reading the scriptures?  You have seen some white ants 
living in the pages of books of scriptures.  They are always 
immersed in the scriptures: do they attain liberation or salvation 
thereby?  No, certainly not.  Besides, the path of knowledge is more 
analytic than synthetic, and often in the minds of those who follow 
it there is a hidden desire that other people should accept them as 
great scholars.  Now if they cherish the internal desire that others 
should regard them as great scholars, their minds will become 
extroversal.  So what is to be gained thereby?  The desire for 
praise will go on increasing and in the process they will finally 
turn out to be inferior people.  Any dishonest people, merely by 
praising them, can easily get them to perform even bad actions.

So those persons who do not possess genuine love for God, who are 
averse to spiritual practice, who only read books and scrounge for 
bits of intellectual information, who go to listen to the 
instructions of religious teachers, cannot do any really good work 
in the world.  And worst of all, those people, by hankering after 
others' praise, become worse than ordinary people." (HOW AN IDEAL 
PERSON SHOULD LIVE, Subha's'ita Sam'graha Part 12, Ananda Purnima 
1979, Calcutta)

So, remember, God loves all.

"God has equal love and affection for white ants, mosquitoes and 
mammoths. Even though a mammoth has a huge body, God shows no 
special partiality for it. He is as concerned about a tiny mosquito 
as He is about the entire universe. Although this vast universe, 
along with the so-called heaven and the so-called hell and this 
world of mortals, is so complex and vast, God does not devote any 
extra time to it, nor does He devote any extra time to the tiny ant. 
Behind every created thing there functions a particular force 
assigned by the Supreme Consciousness. According to scriptures this 
force is called divine. Everything has a special manifestation of 
divine power, a special effulgence radiated from the Supreme 
Consciousness. Thus no entity should be hated, and none is 
insignificant.

The poets say for, God, heaven and hell all become hallowed by the 
sacred water that has washed Your feet. 
(DISCOURSES ON TANTRA VOLUME 1, SAMBHU'TI AND MAHA'SAMBHU'TI, July 
1967, Delhi, DMC, Subha's'ita Sam'graha Part 9)

from works of Shrii Shrii Anandamurti 




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