How would you interpret this?

Question

"God is a concept by which we measure our pain". That is from John Lennon's song "God" and I was just wondering how you would interpret this sentence? I find it quite interesting.

Answer 1

Here are some excerpts for you to ponder into ____________


One day Jesus took his close disciples, Peter, James and John up on a high mountain. There Jesus revealed to these disciples a glimpse of His Divine effulgence. As the men watched Jesus was transfigured. His appearance changed so that His face shone like the brilliance of a million suns, and His clothing became dazzling white. Suddenly, Moses and Elijah appeared and began talking with Jesus. Peter blurted out, “Lord, this is wonderful! If you want me to, I’ll make three shrines, one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.”

This Divine experience was too much for Peter and he wanted it to be permanent. But even as he said it, they were taken up in a cloud of bliss. In this Super-conscious state they heard the Primordial Sound of Silence saying: “This is My beloved Son, and I am fully pleased with Him. Listen to Him.” This heightened experience gave the disciples a spiritual shock. They fell face down on the ground. Jesus, the all compassionate Mother came and resuscitated them. “Get up,” He said, “don’t be afraid.” With His gentle touch, the disciples came back to normal consciousness and when they looked they saw only Jesus with them. (Matthew 17:1-9)

Jesus instructed the disciples not to tell anyone about their experience until He has been raised from the dead. That is until He has shown the world that He has power to lay down His body and to take it up again. (John 10:18)

This Divine experience instilled in the hearts of the disciples the truth of the Divinity of their Master. “Yes, He is the promised Messiah, the One who is to come”. However, one more doubt lingered in their minds. The prophets of yore had given unmistakable signs that will herald the coming of the Anointed One. One of these is that the great Prophet Elijah who lived 850 years before Christ will come again to prepare the way for the Messiah. “Behold I will send you Elijah the Prophet before the coming of the great day of the Lord”. (Malachi 4:5) “Since this prophecy has not been fulfilled”, the disciples wondered in their minds, “why does Jesus claim to be the Promised Messiah?” And as they descended the mountain, they mustered the courage to ask Him: “Why do the teachers of religious law insist that Elijah must return before the Messiah comes?”

Jesus, the master of time, told them that Elijah had already come in the person of John the Baptist but people had not recognized him and he was being badly treated. (Matthew 17:12 ; and 11:14)



Leonardo Da Vinci's John the Baptist
In the drama of John the Baptist - the reincarnation of Elijah - and Jesus the resurrection of the Christ, we see the twin play of reincarnation and resurrection. Resurrection is the realization of who we are. Since our essence, our true Self is the very essence of all things, created and uncreated, resurrection is the knowledge and totality of all things. Reincarnation is the ignorance of who we are. It is the delusion that identifies the unbounded Immortal Spirit with the limitations of the body-mind complex.

Resurrection therefore, is the consummation of reincarnation. The very purpose of birth is to overcome the cycle of rebirth. We are born to learn how not to be born again. Our Beloved Swami once said in one of His discourses in Brindavan that the greatest gift one can give to a Mother is not to be born again in the womb of a mother.

Within this process of emancipation we are faced with the intricacies of fate and freewill, the play of karma and grace and the enigmas of suffering and death. How can we overcome death? When Jesus says “Unless you die, you will not live” (John 19 :3), what exactly did He mean? What is death? What is it that must die? What is it that reincarnates? What is it that resurrects? What is it that is not born and does not die?

Through history Humanity has battled with these mysteries from age to age. However hard one may try to grapple with these questions, the final elixir lies on that resurrection day: that early morning Sun-day, when the Effulgent Sun of the Atma rises from within our hearts. Then all doubts will dissolve as the mist disappears with the dawn of the morning sun. For there is nothing hidden that will not be revealed. (Luke 12:2) This presentation is not aimed to give a blueprint answer to the above questions but to dare you to dive into that depth of your being wherein there lie no secrets.

The Story of John the Baptist who was Elijah

The conception and birth of John the Baptist was a Divine Miracle. It all began with a Jewish priest, Zechariah, who lived when Herod was king of Judea. (37 – 4 BC) Zechariah was a member of the priestly order of Abijah. His wife, Elizabeth, was also from the priestly line of Aaron. Both of them were upright in the sight of God, observing all the Lord's commandments and regulations blamelessly. But they had no children, because Elizabeth was barren; and they were both well along in years.

One day while Zechariah was engaged in his priestly duties in the temple, he had an unusual experience. An angel of the Lord appeared to him with this message: “Your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you are to give him the name John. He will be a joy and delight to you, and many will rejoice because of his birth, for he will be great in the sight of the Lord.



Zechariah is told of John's birth by an angel Zechariah relays the good news to Elizabeth

He is never to take wine or other fermented drink, and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit even from birth. Many of the people of Israel will he bring back to the Lord their God. And he will go on before the Lord, in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the fathers to their children and the disobedient to the wisdom of the righteous--to make ready a people prepared for the Lord." (Luke 1:5 -13)

Zachariah doubted the message of the angel Gabriel because he could not understand how his wife who has passed the age of childbearing could give birth to a son. Because of this unbelief, Zachariah was struck dumb by the angel and was not to speak again until the Holy child John was born. It was on the eighth day during the naming ceremony that Zachariah spoke again to the delight of all to disclose the name which the Angel had given to the child: “He is to be called John”. We were told that the child John grew up in the Spirit and Power of God and stayed alone in the wilderness living a very austere and simple life. Jesus said that John neither ate nor drank anything. (Matthew 11:18)

Jesus in the Womb of Mary visits John in the Womb of Elizabeth



The angel of the Lord brings the good news to Mary
After six months of Elizabeth’s pregnancy, the angel Gabriel was again sent by God to a virgin named Mary to announce to her the good news that she was to be the chosen Mother of God - she was to bear the Divine Child, Jesus. After this message, the Angel told Mary that her relative (cousin or aunt) Elizabeth who was said to be barren was going to have a child in her old age and is now in her sixth month.

For nothing is impossible with God! Mary who was then pregnant with the Divine Child Jesus hurried into the hill country of Judea to visit Elizabeth . When Mary greeted Elizabeth, we were told that the child in her womb leapt for joy. Even as a fetus in the womb of his mother, John recognized the presence of Jesus in the womb of Mary. Mary stayed with Elizabeth for three months. In other words, Mary must have stayed to help Elizabeth until John was delivered. (Luke 1:56)

John was the One who Announced the Divinity of Jesus

Before Jesus began His public ministry in Israel around the age of 29, people thronged to John in the wilderness where he was preaching and baptizing by the River Jordan. The people were curious to know the identity of John. They were wondering in their hearts if John might possibly be the Christ, the Promised Messiah. John flatly denied it. “I am not the Messiah,” he said.

“I baptize you with water but there is someone among you who is more powerful than I, One whose sandals I am not fit to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire.” They then asked John whether he was Elijah or one of the prophets. John said, “No, I am not”. (John 1:21) It is interesting to notice that John did not know that he was Elijah. But Jesus who has merged with the principle of time knew who he was. John’s state is the common experience of many who have not reached the super conscious state of being where one is able to see all things - past, present and future.





When finally Jesus appeared on the scene, it was John the Baptist who announced His Identity to the world: “Behold! There is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world! He is the one I was talking about when I said, ‘Soon a man is coming who is far greater than I am’. From now onwards, He must increase and I must decrease”. (cf John 1:29 ff)

Jesus was Baptized by John

Jesus went to John to be baptized. Baptism is a Jewish/Christian religious ritual symbolizing the new birth in the Spirit. It is an outward sign which initiates the spiritual aspirant on the inward path that leads to the resurrection of the Eternal Immortal Spirit. Jesus once said, “The truth is, no one can enter the Kingdom of God without being born of water and the Spirit. Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to Spirit.”(John 3:5)

The water used in the ritual of baptism represents the cleansing process that leads to the inner purification of the heart. Blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see God. John baptized with water. But Jesus baptized with fire and the Holy Spirit. Water can cleanse only the outside. That is why the baptism of John is regarded as incomplete. But the spiritual agents of fire and the Holy Spirit that represent Christ’s baptism purify from within and without and makes the inside one with the outside. This is initiation into the highest state.



John baptises Jesus in the river Jordan.... ...and the Holy Sprit descends upon Him

John was surprised that Jesus was coming to him for baptism. He knew Jesus was clean both inside and out. He protested saying, “I am the one who needs to be baptized by You, and do You come to me?” Jesus replied, "Let it be so now; it is proper for us to do this to fulfill all righteousness."

Then John consented. In this way we could say that John the Baptist was the Guru of Jesus who initiated Him on the path of the Spirit; just as Lord Rama was initiated by Sage Vashishta and Lord Krishna by Sage Sandeepani. They took upon themselves a Guru, not because they needed one, but because they want to teach humanity the necessity of spiritual initiation on the path of liberation.

After His baptism, as Jesus came out of the water, the heavens were opened and John saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and settling on Him. And a voice from heaven said, “This is my beloved Son, and I am fully pleased with Him.” (Matthew 3:17)

John Imprisoned by King Herod



John the Baptist in the wilderness
Herod Antipas (born 20 BC) ruled over Galilee and Parea where Jesus and John the Baptist concentrated their ministries. King Herod had violated the Old Testament Jewish law that forbade the marriage of a man to his brother’s wife. (Leviticus 18:16) Herod had snatched away Herodias, the wife of his brother Philip while Philip was still alive.

John the Baptist openly denounced this marriage saying to Herod, “It is not lawful for you to have your brother’s wife.” As a result, Herodias nursed a grudge against John and wanted to kill him by all means. Herod feared John because all the people believed John was a prophet. As a compromise to his wife, he had John put in prison around AD 30 or 31.

John Doubts the Divinity of Jesus

While John was in prison, naturally he would have prayed to Jesus to free him from the shackles of those who wanted to kill him. John knew very well that Jesus had the Power to free him. But Jesus was totally silent about John’s predicament. Only one who has been behind bars would understand the agony of John the Baptist, whose life was hanging by a tread. What didn’t John do for Jesus? He has been righteous from the womb. Jesus said John was the consummation of all the prophets put together. John had sacrificed every drop of blood and sweat for the mission of Jesus.

For the sake of Jesus he spent all his life in the austerity and the dangers of the wilderness neither eating nor drinking. The very reason of his birth was to prepare the people for the coming of the Messiah. This mission he carried out with his entire Soul and Heart and Strength. On the physical plane, John was a blood relation of Jesus. What other conditions could a devotee fulfill to draw the compassion of the Lord?

The big Atmic question is “Why didn’t Jesus do anything to help John?” Sometimes devotees cry to the Lord in the anguish of their suffering but all that they experience is an impenetrable Silence. Can the One who made the ears not hear? Can the One whose very essence is pure Love be indifferent to the anguish of suffering?

This condition raised a number of doubts in the mind of John. He has already heard the mighty works that Jesus was doing. So he sent his disciples who came to visit him in prison back to Jesus to ask Him: “Are you really the Messiah we’ve been waiting for, or should we keep looking for someone else?” Jesus told them, “Go back to John and tell him about what you have heard and seen— the blind see, the lame walk, the lepers are cured, the deaf hear, the dead are raised to life, and the Good News is being preached to the poor. And tell him: ‘Blessed is he who does not loose faith in the Son of man. ’” (Matthew 11:6) The test of true faith is that unconditional and unwavering devotion to the Lord in the midst of the contradictions of reason. Indeed it is impossible to please God without faith. (Hebrews 11:6)

The Beheading of John the Baptist

Herodias’s hatred for John the Baptist was unquenchable. She could not settle for just his imprisonment. Finally the opportune time came. On his birthday Herod gave a banquet for his high officials and military commanders and the leading men of Galilee. Herodias had planned to have her daughter, Salome, dance before Herod and his guests. Salome’s dancing pleased Herod and his dinner guests and in an impulsive passion, Herod promised her under oath that he would give her anything she asked for, up to even half his kingdom. The little girl went to her mother and said, "What shall I ask for?" "The head of John the Baptist," she answered.

At once the girl hurried in to the king with the request: "I want you to give me right now the head of John the Baptist on a platter." Immediately Herod regretted his rash promise, but because of his oath and because he didn’t want to back down in front of his guests, he issued the necessary orders. So John was beheaded in the prison, and his head was brought on a tray and given to the girl, who took it to her mother. John’s disciples came for his body and buried it. Then they told Jesus what had happened.



So ends the story of John the Baptist as far as the Human mind can perceive it. It is a very sad story from the limited human perspective that sees only a part of the whole. The story of John the Baptist as it stands now leaves a lot of questions unanswered. It creates a lot of contradictions about God as we are taught to see Him - All Loving, All Knowing, All Powerful, All Just and Omnipresent. It evokes a feeling of angst, disgust, and revenge towards life and towards being. Why did Jesus tell us, “Love your enemies?” Can this Love truly be genuine when we find ourselves in the practical situation of John the Baptist? Why did Jesus tell us, “Do not judge”? In the existential situation of John the Baptist, how is it possible not to pass judgment on Herod and Herodias?


So far we have looked at the story from the perspective of John the Baptist, which is also our own perspective, the human point of view. The human mind can only see fractions because its very nature is fragmentation. The Spirit sees all things because its essence is Totality. Let us now see the story not from the human fragmented points-of-view, but from the Divine Holistic view-point where all points, past, present and future converge.



The Big Atmic Question: “Why Is God Silent?”


The Untold Story of Elijah



The Prophet Elijah
Elijah lived and prophesied around 850 BC during the reign of King Ahab. He was one of the greatest prophets Israel ever had. Many great miraculous signs and wonders were attributed to him including raising the dead to life. At the end of his life, Elijah’s body did not go through the natural process of death and decay. Instead his body was dematerialized into pure energy in what the bible refers to as a chariot of fire. (2 King 2:11) Such was the greatness of the prophet Elijah the Tishbite.

One of the greatest confrontations that Elijah faced during his ministry as a prophet was the battle for the religious freedom of Israel. Israel as a nation worshiped Yahweh the God of their ancestors. They entered into an agreement (covenant) as a people with Yahweh who delivered them from slavery in Egypt. Yahweh was to be the personal God (Guru) of the people of Israel on one hand and on the other, Israel was to obey the laws of Yahweh which include the Ten Commandments and a more extensive list of laws that were written down in the “Book of the Covenant” ( Exodus 21 :1-23).

King Ahab went and married a foreigner, Jezebel, the daughter of Ethbaal the King of Sidon. When Jezebel moved to Israel she brought Baal, the God of her people which she worshipped. As time went on she forced her husband to make Baal the state religion. Pretty soon, almost all of Israel was worshipping Baal and this violated the covenant Israel had made with Yahweh.

Although God is One and can be worshipped and appropriated in different forms, God wants us to stick to One Form and One Name. Without singleness of mind and that unshakable faith in the chosen ..., it is impossible to control the wayward and wavering nature of the mind. To penetrate that level of consciousness where we are one with God we must stick to the chosen ....

Real idolatry lies in the wayward nature of the mind to jump from one .... to another at the least dissatisfaction of one’s expectations on the ..... Devotees nowadays find faults with their ..... and hop from one .... to another. The fault is not with the ...... The problem is with the mind of man. True Masters will never yield to the vicissitudes of the mind of the devotee. ....... Follow one Master.

Their task is also one, namely to destroy the expectations of the disciples. Devotees run to a ..... with a heap of desires. But the ..... one desire is to make the disciple desireless. When the devotee cannot surrender to this action of the..... , how can the goal of life be reached? The result is a trail of ..... and before long the devotee will start boasting on how many ...... he has come across!

It is true that treasures are hidden in the womb of mother earth. But when you do not drill at one point, how can you hope to reach the depths of the treasure? One-pointedness of mind, heart and strength is the greatest commandment imposed on the people of Israel so as to reach that promised land of supreme peace, bliss and beatitude. “Listen O Israel, Yahweh is One. And you shall Love the Lord your God (Yahweh Adonai) with all your Mind and with all your heart and with all your strength”. (Deuteronomy 6:4)

This was the mission of Elijah: to turn the hearts and minds of the people of Israel to their ...... , Yahweh and to follow his teachings. It was a battle which he fought with religious zeal.

The Great Confrontation on Mount Carmel



A Baal Mask
The religious cult of Baal was flourishing in Israel because it had enjoyed the support of the state. The prophets of Baal grew by leaps until there were 450 of them. Elijah was the only prophet of Yahweh that was left. Finally Elijah was able to convince the King to hold a religious contest between the prophets of Baal and himself which was to take place on Mount Carmel.

King Ahab gathered all the people and the prophets of Baal together on this Mountain. The agreement was set by Elijah. He said to them “You call on the name of your Baal and I will call on the Name of Yahweh; and the one who answers by fire, let Him be God over the people of Israel. And all the people answered, it is well spoken.” (1 Kings 18:24)

The prophets of Baal made everything ready and prepared their sacrifice to Baal. Then they started praying and calling on Baal to come and consume the offering with fire from above. They prayed from morning until noon dancing round the altar they had made until they were exhausted. Then Elijah mocked them saying: "Shout louder! Perhaps he is deep in thought, or he is relieving himself. Or maybe he is away on a trip, or he is asleep and needs to be wakened!”

So they shouted louder, and following their normal custom, they cut themselves with knives and swords so as to appease Baal to answer their prayers. They raved all afternoon until evening, but still there was no reply, no voice, no answer.



Elijah confronts the Baal prohets
Then it was the turn of Elijah. Elijah built his altar according to the tradition of Jewish religion. He led his sacrifice on the altar he had made and told the people to dig a trench round the altar. After they had done this, Elijah commanded the people to pour gallons of water on the sacrifice until the altar ran through with water and overflowed the trench.

Then Elijah the prophet walked up to the altar and prayed, “Oh Adonai, God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, prove today that you are God in Israel and that I am Your servant. Prove that I have done all this at Your command.” Immediately the fire of the Lord flashed down from heaven and burned up the sacrifice, the wood, the stones, and the dust and licked up all the water in the ditch! When the people saw it, they fell on their faces and cried out, “Yahweh is God! Yahweh is God!” (1 Kings 18:38 )

Elijah Beheaded the 450 prophets of Baal

When this happened, Elijah commanded the people “Seize all the prophets of Baal. Don’t let a single one escape!” So the people seized them all, and Elijah took them down to the Kishon Valley and had them killed there. (1 King 18:40) This act was a breach of the agreement that Elijah made with the people and the prophets of Baal. This was also not the will of Yahweh. Elijah succumbed to the temptations of religious fanaticism.



Elijah's nemesis, Queen Jezebel
When Peter, one of the closest disciples of Jesus drew his sword to fight the Roman soldiers who came to arrest Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane, Jesus said to him: “Peter, put away your sword, for all who draw the sword will die by the sword.” (Matthew 26:52). This is the immutable law of Karma. We reap what we sow. (Galatians 6:7) There are certain seeds that take time to reap their fruits.

It is not at the time you sow the corn seed that you reap its harvest. Some seeds produce their harvest annually. Others are biannual and yet others take a much longer period to bear fruit. It is foolish to think that one’s thoughts, words and deeds have no consequences because one does not experience their effects immediately or in one’s present life. The effects of certain actions may take many lifetimes to manifest. This was the case with Elijah who was born John the Baptist as we will find out.

The Path of Elijah's Soul - Life to Life

When Queen Jezebel heard what the Prophet Elijah had done to her prophets she vowed to put an end to the life of Elijah. Jezebel sent a messenger to Elijah saying: “So let the gods do to me and more so, if I make not your life as one of them (the prophets of Baal) by this time tomorrow” (1 Kings 19:2). Jezebel had this desire ingrained in her mind. She pursued Elijah to take away his life. Elijah fled for dear life.

But this desire was not fulfilled in that present lifetime.

.... there are three reasons for a man to be born again. One is the sin, the second is an unfulfilled desire or some experience and the third is lack of knowledge or ignorance. It can also be a combination of the three. The residue of lifetimes of desires, activities and experiences which have been thrust back into forgetfulness (that is into the subconscious mind) by subsequent events makes an impact on character and personality. One’s actions, habits, talents, relationships and dispositions date back to previous births. Herodias’ hatred for John the Baptist sprang from her desire to kill Elijah in her past life as Jezebel.



Elijah seeks refuge from Jezebel on Mt. Sinai
Elijah prayed to God as he ran away from the hands of Jezebel. He fled for forty days and forty nights to Mount Sinai, the mountain of God and there he had an experience of God’s presence. He was not to die in the hands of Queen Jezebel in that lifetime.

However, the consequences of one’s actions are inescapable. They can be postponed but the soul must pass through its purifying tunnel to learn the lessons of self evolution. In extreme situations, God descends in human form to cancel the effect of these sins by taking them upon Himself.

This happens only when there is total surrender on the part of the devotee or when Mother Earth groans in the burden of man’s collective sin. The prophet Isaiah wrote about Jesus thus: “He was wounded for our transgressions, crushed for our iniquities; by His wounds we are healed” (Isaiah chapter 53, who lived around 700 BC).

Some weak minded people say: He healed others but He cannot heal himself”. These are the same minds who said to Jesus, “Come down from the cross. You claim to be God but you cannot come down from the cross”. (Matthew 27:40 – 41)

Jesus, the master of time, told us that John the Baptist was Elijah. The word of the master is absolute truth. We do not need to inquire further on that. However, from good inference, we can see the same environment of Elijah’s time reenacting itself in the whole drama of John the Baptist. King Ahab was reborn as King Herod. Queen Jezebel came back as Queen Herodias. In the past Ahab went against the law of the Israelites to marry a foreigner, Jezebel, who brought so much trouble to Israel by imposing a foreign religion on them. In Jesus’ time, Herod, who had been King Ahab, also went against the law to marry the wife of his brother Philip.



Mt. Carmel
Before then, Elijah had condemned with venom the action of Jezebel which finally led to the great confrontation on Mount Carmel. Later, John the Baptist spoke vehemently against the marriage of Herod to Herodias because it was unlawful in the sight of God. Previously, Jezebel had nursed a deep revenge to take away the life of Elijah because he had killed her prophets. As time went on, Herodias found an opportune moment to realize her dream which she had nursed 850 years back.

Why did God remain silent? Because without resolving our karma we can not be set free. For everyone must give account of every single word uttered. (Matthew 12:36) God remains the Silent Witness in this drama. Jesus knew that if He freed John the Baptist from prison with His Divine Powers, He would not be doing any good to the spiritual emancipation of John the Baptist. Jesus also knew very well that if he had freed John, it would have only been a temporary terrestrial freedom and that John would have to come back again to clear the consequences of his actions. And this Divine opportunity might take another 850 years to come by!

Now we understand why Jesus told us to love our enemies! Now we have a glimpse as to why Jesus told us never to pass judgment. How can I love my “enemy” when I do not know that my “enemy” is my greatest friend in every sense because he helps me to clear my debts? Without this “enemy” I cannot be free! Or how can I judge another when I know that in judging another I condemn myself? Whatever happens to me, I have attracted to myself and that which I attract to myself works for the emancipation of the Self from the tangles of the non Self. Everything that happens to the Self is a gift from the Self to the Self for the highest good of the Self, which is Self liberation.

It now makes sense why Jesus the all knowing master said: “If anyone strikes you on one cheek, turn the other as well and if anyone asks for your tunic, give him your cloak as well. (Luke 6:29) When we react to actions we repeat the chain of action since action and reaction are equal and opposite. If I slap you and you slapped back and I retaliate and you revenge and I hurt you and you hit me back; we shall never escape the wheel of birth and death. The stings of death and birth are destroyed through non – reaction. We must act but we must never react.


Just do it!
With no compulsion to do it
And with no repulsion not to do it
Just do it!

What is it that is born? - Body
What is it that dies? - Body
What is it that is reborn? - Mind
What is it that must die to end rebirth? - Mind
And what is it that is never born, and that never dies? - Atma




When Jesus said - unless a person dies, he will not live! - He was referring not to the physical death of the body but to the dissolution of the mind in the Oversoul. Physical death involves the disintegration of the five elements that compose the physical body. When the mind becomes united with the subtle body, we say the person has lost consciousness. He does not hear; you call his name, he does not respond. Ether (Sound) the first element has merged back to ether.

Next, the person stops breathing. That is when the doctors declare him dead. But this was not the time he died. It was only the moment that the second element, air relating to the sense of touch, had merged back to the universal breath. After this, the third element fire disintegrates. The body grows cold starting from the feet.

Fire relating to the sense of sight has gone back to Fire. When this happens, the fourth element, water, which relates to the sense of taste, begins to drip from every pore and hole. That is why the doctors put the body in a cold chamber. Finally, earth which pertains to the sense of smell merges back to earth, dust unto dust. The body is either buried or cremated.

When the physical body which is made up of the five elements which in turn relates to the five senses, the five sense organs and the five organs of action, thus disintegrates, the vital force is withdrawn to the subtle body which is composed of the mind. In fact the process is the other way round.

When the vital force is withdrawn to the subtle body, the mind, the physical body disintegrates. The mind does not die with the death of the body. Because the mind is the treasure house that stores one’s memories, experiences, habits, desires, expectations etc, and this information is not wiped out with the death of the physical body.

It remains in the memory chip of the sub conscious mind and are transmitted from birth to birth. Those who are able to tap into the roots of the sub conscious mind know the truth of their former lives. When the mind, lower and higher, is freed of this pile of information, there is no birth and there is no death. This is why the Christian mystics have referred to this path of mental transcendence as the “cloud of unknowing”

Even when one has succeeded through rigorous spiritual exercises in emptying the mind of all thoughts and desires, yet that tiny root-seed-impulse, the seat of ego-consciousness, the sense of I–ness from which all thoughts germinate, will still persist.

Saint Augustine of Hippo (354-430) was troubled by this problem. How can the mind know God? One day he was having a walk along the shores of the ocean lost in silent contemplation. As he walked, he met a little boy who had made a very small hole beside the sands of the shore and was transferring the waters of the ocean into the little hole.

Augustine was puzzled when he saw this child. He stopped and asked the little child what he wanted to do. The boy told him that he wanted to transfer the ocean into the hole he has made. The saint was amused by the child’s audacity. He told the child that it is a mere waste of time.

First the hole is not big enough to contain the waters of the ocean and secondly, even if it were as big, it will take the child uncountable lifetimes to transfer the waters with the little cup in his hand. The child then raised his head and said to the saint: “So also it is for the mind to understand God!” Immediately the child disappeared and Augustine realized it was Jesus who had come as a little child to teach him this lesson.

How can you understand That
which has no stand?!
How can you comprehend That
Which has no end!?

That which has no bottom
How can you fathom IT?
And That which has no dimensions
How can you measure IT

Who can gauge the depths of the Heart
Or with the categories of the mind
Tell That which words
Cannot define?

Who can confine the infinite Spirit
Or with the limits of Time
Specify That
Which is beyond sound!?

Deep is calling on deep
In the depths of the depthless.
Oh how can the Soul tell It
The untold Truth
That It can only reach You
Only through You!?

Dare to Let God do it

There is a simple way out. And because this way is very simple, it is very easy since it allows you be at ease and at peace throughout the process. Allow God to kill the mind. Don’t try to kill the mind. You might not succeed over a trillion million life times. Instead, allow God to do it. In the first place only God can do it because only He has the Power of mental dissolution. God is the Master mind. Only the master can set the slave free. Secondly it takes Him no time.

Dare to let God do it! This means that you have to give your mind to God. When God Himself fights the war then not only will you be sure of victory, but you will also enjoy the war. The war will be fun. This is because you will be unaffected by whatever happens since the Lord is your shield. You will remain calm and equal minded in cold and heat, day and night, sorrow and joy, loss and profit because you know you are in that Divine zone where you are totally screened from the dualities of the mind.

Answer 2

Hello and Happy Easter! As for Lennon's song, it is absolutely wrong, incorrect, and was merely humanistic reasoning which misleads people! God is NOT a concept or merely some mental imagining of humanity. NO! God is a PERSON who is holy, loving, and is without beginning or ending! Whether a person believes in God or not has no bearing on the reality. Likewise in believing or denying thee existence of heaven and hell... it is ABSOLUTE and not subject to fallen man's finite understanding. There is only ONE God, one way to salvation and heaven itself... and only one way to escape hell to not suffer forever: Jesus Christ God's son... who died for the sins of the whole world. God is righteous and holy, and the wages of sin is death... but the gift of God is eternal life. Every man, woman, boy, girl, and whatever religious figure will bow their knees and proclaim that Jesus Christ is LORD to the glory of God the Father. Yes, that includes Mary, Muhammed, and the devil. That's truth... objective and not relative nor subjective to finite ideology. Do you believe... I hope so!

Answer 3

Interesting as casting light on the Judeo-Christian tradition.

"God" as defined therein is the cultural inheritance of the old Hebrews, who believed themselves (as do all peoples) to be "God's Chosen," but who subsequently had a run of bad luck. "How can bad things happen to US, who have a unique covenant with the Lord?" Hence the notion of "sin," which removes the blame for disaster from the postulated God and places it back on man. Hence the consequent notion of "salvation." Hence the entire psychology of Western religion and morality. In this sense, "God" is quite literally a "measure of our pain."

Answer 4

according to the bible God does allow pain and suffering, in fact in the old testament it states something along the lines that it is God who brought the pain and suffering for the purpose of correction. do we don't punish our children when they do something wrong?
I believe based on what I know about Lennon, isn't that he didn't believe in God but could see how it is that we as humans used the name of the Creator for ungodly things against each other. when we look at history it is in the name of one god or another that we do unthinkable things to each other, even to this day.
Lennon also wrote the song imagine, where he pondered our ability to live as one.

Answer 5

God is the great I AM. He is known by his mercies or he will be known by his judgments. John Lennon knows that God is, now.

Answer 6

I would say that it means the more feelings of pain and hopelessness we have, the more vengeful a God we create.

Answer 7

Sounds like he was on a cocktail of drugs which was not unusual for him. Why do people attribute wisdom to a pop star who wrote entertaining ditties?

Answer 8

Our pain is measured by our suffering. Our suffering is caused by our sin (original sin).

Answer 9

God comforts pain, he doesn’t cause it or use it to push us around.