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bhaktajoy

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  1. This is interesting.

     

    Taken from:

    http://near-death.com/experiences/research10.html

     

    War

    War exists everywhere in nature. Viruses invade our bodies and the antibodies within destroy them. Fatal diseases try to destroy our lives and we turn to physicians to kill them. Animals and humans must kill plants and animals for food. Humans are constantly at war with insects that eat our crops and invade our homes. The world is literally a combat zone where the survival of the fittest is the rule. Nature goes to war against itself in the form of hurricanes, volcanoes, earthquakes, etc. Millions of years ago, an asteroid came from outer space and destroyed much of Earth and made the dinosaurs extinct. The threat of another asteroid or comet hitting the Earth remains. Societies must fight wars against drugs, crime, poverty and the mafia. Threats from dictators and fascists, such as that from Hitler, have forced nations to go to war to stop them. Religions describe a spiritual war that exists within us and society.

     

    Currently, there is a war against terrorism going on right now. Terrorists target thousands of innocent women and children in the name of religion. What should our response be to this? Should we view this war against terrorists as we did with Hitler and destroy them? Is any war justified? Or are all wars unjustified, including wars in defense of freedom? A battle in our heads can occur when we try to decide whether to support the war against terrorism or not. This battle in our heads often spills out in the form of riots, protest and political debate. Questions are raised such as this: In the light of near-death experiences and unconditional love, should we fight a war or should we fight for peace? Are we justified in killing our enemies who seek to kill us? Or is it immoral to kill our enemies even if it means being killed ourselves? Is it immoral to stop a murderer who breaks into your homes to rape and kill your family? Even if it means we must kill? Should we passively allow terrorists to use weapons of mass destruction to kill others? Is our real choice to either kill or being killed?

     

    The Big Bang

     

    The first violent act of carnage committed in the universe was an act of God. In the beginning, God created an infinitely massive explosion that resulted in everything there is. This incredibly violent cataclysm which God unleashed led to unimaginable chaos and fireballs of unbelievable proportions. After eons of time, chaos was replace with structure and the stars and planets were born.

     

    "I saw that the Big Bang is only one of an infinite number of Big Bangs creating Universes endlessly and simultaneously. The only images that even come close in human terms would be those created by supercomputers using fractal geometry equations." (Mellen-Thomas Benedict)

     

    Survival of the fittest

     

    On Earth, the survival of the fittest became the struggle for life through domination, submission, killing, and being killed. Nature wars against itself in order to evolve. The "fight or flight" mechanism that exists in animals, including humans, aided in our evolution to a higher order of creature. In times of stress, adrenaline pours into our blood stream to help us in fighting or fleeing from an enemy. Within our body exists a virtual war zone. Our body is frequently the battleground between viruses and antibodies. Creatures roaming the Earth must destroy plants and animals for survival. Our decision to kill plants and animals is not a moral decision, but a life or death decision. This world is certainly a violent place.

     

    "The Earth was an expression of divine mind with its own laws, its own plan, its own evolution. Souls, longing to feel the beauty of the seas, the winds, the forest, the flowers, mixed with them and expressed themselves through them. They also mingled with the animals, and made, in imitation of them, thought forms: they played at creating; they imitated God. But eventually, this mingling with the Earth realm entangled souls in matter." (Edgar Cayce)

     

    Natural born killers

     

    Evolution led to humans rising to the top of the food chain of command. This was the result of the human capability and success in conquering the animal kingdom. Is this human capacity to kill a product of nature or nurture? Science is beginning to understand that there is a balance between the two. Humans are genetically natural born killers whether we like it or not. People born with a dysfunctional frontal cortex of the brain are highly prone to be serial killers. FBI profilers know that white men are more prone to be serial killers than any other racial group. Legal battles in our courts of law have even seen the criminal defense of "my brain made me kill."

     

    "One of these Fates casts before the crowd to be reincarnated a number of Earthly destinies from which they may choose to be, for example, a tyrant, an animal, an artist, or, as Odysseus carefully chose, an ordinary citizen who minds his own business." (Plato, as revealed from the NDE of a soldier named Er)

     

    The planet of the apes

     

    The history of humanity is the history of warfare. There have been wars of aggression and wars of liberation; wars of religion and wars of politics; and wars among individuals and wars of the world. Tyrants have risen to power and tyrants have fallen. Civilizations have risen and civilizations have fallen. All the while, history shows that humanity learns very little from history when it comes to war. Modern civilization is the product of a tremendous number of devastating wars and man's inhumanity to man.

     

    "I went back and lived in the minds of Jesus and his disciples. I heard their conversations, experienced eating, passing wine, smells, tastes - yet I had no body. I was pure consciousness. If I didn't understand what was happening, an explanation would come. But no teacher spoke. I explored the Roman Empire, Babylon, the times of Noah and Abraham. Any era you can name, I went there." (Dr. George Rodonaia)

     

    Smart bombs

     

    Today, humans are able to completely destroy the world and everyone in it with weapons of mass destruction. The world is now an even more dangerous place. Unstable people in control of such weapons are rising to positions of great authority. In our newspapers we read about "holy war", "smart bombs", "friendly fire,peacekeeper missiles" and "military intelligence." Has the world gone mad?

     

    "I had always thought of hell, when I thought of it at all, as a fiery place somewhere beneath the Earth where evil people like Hitler would burn forever. But what if one level of hell existed right here on the surface - unseen and unsuspected by the living people occupying the same space." (Dr. George Ritchie)

     

    Conquering death

     

    Today, doctors are beginning to win the war against death. Near-death accounts are spreading a message of unconditional love which, if everyone on Earth would practice, war would cease exist. NDEs teach us that we must love even our enemies. Near-death accounts warn us that if we choose not to love our neighbors, apocalyptic consequences will result.

     

    Laura experienced a heated battle between the doctors who were trying to save her and the angels who were trying to bring her over to spirit. During the struggle, an angel finally said, "They're stronger than we are," and she was sucked back into her body. (Laura)

     

    Make war not love

     

    While it is true that love is always the best teacher, war can also result in divine revelations for the learning and soul growth of humanity in general. NDE insights reveal that our greatest mistakes can be our greatest teachers. The following are examples of how war can bring divine insights to better humanity.

     

    The oldest NDE ever recorded in western civilization was the result of war. Plato described the NDE of a soldier who was killed in battle and who came back to life on his funeral pyre. Er was told that he must be a messenger to humanity to tell them of the other world. (Plato)

     

    Lynn saw soldiers who died during the Vietnam War hiding in the NDE tunnel. They were afraid to come into the light or who were disoriented about where they were. Lynn was told that there was no need to worry about them because a guide would eventually help them along. (Lynn)

     

    Ned Dougherty once lived an unspiritual and hedonistic life. While trying to murder his business partner, Ned had a heart attack and an NDE. He saw the light of God and felt God's embrace and love - a love greater than any love he had ever known. Spiritual beings began cheering him and conveying their loving encouragement and support. They cheered, "You are doing wonderfully. We are here to support you. Continue to do good work, and we will help you. You are part of us, and we are part of you. We stand ready to come to your aid when you need us, and you will. Call us. Beckon us. We will flock to you when the time comes!" Ned was confused by all the attention because there wasn’t anything wonderful about the way he had conducted his life. He thought, "How can I be doing wonderfully? I almost killed someone tonight. Could I be justified in what I tried to do?" Ned's deceased friend appears and says, "You were spiritually rescued from a negative event that was taking place in your life." (Ned Dougherty)

     

    After a man's son was murdered, it angered him so much that he decided to kill the person responsible. One day, the spirit of his son appeared to him and said, "No hatred, no anger, Dad," and he repeated it, "No hatred, no anger." This amazing spiritual experience changed his heart so much that he no longer felt the anger and hatred. He even began to feel sorry for the man who murdered his son because he will have to live every waking minute of his life knowing that he is a murderer. (Bill Guggenheim)

     

    During Paul's NDE, he witnessed the judgment and punishment of a soul who murdered three people. Paul saw angels whipping the murderer. The soul wonders what sin he has committed. The "gatekeeper" brings forth three of his murder victims. The soul was then cast down to the world to be reincarnated. (Apocalypse of Paul)

     

    During Carter Mills' life review, he saw himself as a child killing a mother bird with a sling shot. At the time, he was so proud of that shot. But during his life review, he felt the pain that the bird's babies went through when they starved to death. (Carter Mills)

     

    A woman consulted Edgar Cayce on a critical health matter. She was about to undergo a very risky surgery and she wanted to know whether or not to have it done. Cayce induced himself into having an NDE using hypnosis in order to read the woman's life record in heaven. Afterward, he advised the woman to have the surgery because it would be a success. He explained that the surgeons who were to perform the surgery were once Inquisitors in a past life who tortured and killed her because of her religious beliefs. By going ahead with the surgery, she would be allowing the surgeons to pay a karmic debt they owed her. Because of this advice, the woman underwent the surgery. It was successful just as Cayce foretold. (Edgar Cayce)

     

    The armies of heaven

     

    Some near-death accounts describe the unseen spiritual warfare occurring all around us and the warring angels involved. These angels are often described as extensions of God's desire to bring peace to the world. Here are some examples:

     

    God is in the process of recruiting an army in which God will shake the world. Working through his soldiers, God will produce great miracles that will shake the established hierarchy of organized religion. (Howard Pittman)

     

    The archangels Michael and Gabriel are two gigantic, magnificent and mighty beings dressed in brilliant garb. Michael's role is to choose souls to be soldiers for God. Gabriel teaches souls the ways of the soldier for God. (Lou Famoso)

     

    According to the archangel Michael, God's army of angels is visiting us with a life force of energy, a spiritual energy radiated by the Creator to all humankind. (Ned Dougherty)

     

    Everything in the spirit realm is controlled by the all-pervading vibration of God. This divine vibration controls all thoughts by destroying negative thoughts and allowing only good thoughts of love and happiness. (Arthur Yensen)

     

    Souls preparing themselves for birth are like "battle-hardened veterans girding themselves for combat." (Dr. Michael Newton)

     

    Kerry witnessed a battle between a Being of Light and a force of darkness during which the dark force was defeated. (Kerry Kirk)

     

    Kenneth saw a frightening creature whose purpose was to escort Kenneth through the gates of hell. The creature was thwarted when the voice of God shook the very foundations of hell and set Kenneth free. (Rev. Kenneth Hagin)

     

    (Note: Rev. Hagin does not identify this creature to be the Devil.)

     

    Lou saw a large being who is very beautiful but darker in contrast to the archangels Michael and Gabriel. This darker being had eyes that were pleasing but piercing in gaze. It was revealed to Lou that this being is the one who was cast out of heaven. (Lou Famoso)

     

    (Note: Although the Bible describes a multitude of entities being "cast out of heaven", Lou's description of this dark being certainly resembles a Devil. But as with Rev. Hagin, Lou does not identify this being to be the Devil.)

     

    Dalyrada saw an entity called the "Angel of Death." She learns that this entity is a messenger of God who is frequently confused with, or assumed to be the Devil. This being is described as: looking fierce but not frightening, made out of black shadows, having a humanoid form, an angular face, glittering eyes, and huge black wings pinioned behind him. Dalyrada states that this angel possesses a very wonderful sense of humor, which nobody ever seems to comment on, and a high level of compassion. She also states that this "Angel of Death" is remarkably similar to the "Lord of Death" described in the Tibetan Book of the Dead. (Dalyrada)

     

    There is no entity known as the Devil or Satan. Even if we assume one does exist, he would have to be an insane angel who was crazy enough to fight with God and this is as futile as trying to stop the sunrise. (Arthur Yensen)

     

    Cecil was told by a Being of Light that God would never allow a Devil to exist. (Cecil)

     

    No pain, no gain

     

    Near-death accounts reveal that God's love for us is not a passive love but a "tough love." If God actually was a pacifist, God could strictly control the world so that war would not be permitted to happen on Earth (or in hell) as it is in heaven. Or, as a pacifist, God could passively allow the world to fend for itself and become a place where absolute chaos and anarchy would rule. Near-death accounts reveal that God is intimately involved in all that happens in the world and this includes all the war that happens on Earth. Although God does not want people to kill each other, according to NDE accounts, God permits it for the purpose of instruction. God dwells the hearts of everyone and is an influence on humanity toward peace. The following NDE insights demonstrate how God's love is a tough love. God's love is more concerned about our inner spirituality than our outer physical condition.

     

    God does not wish to see us suffer. Our adversities are of our own creation. Just as a parent punishes a child in order to correct it, so the laws of God prove immovable when we try to resist them. The more we struggle to resist, the more hopelessly do we entangle ourselves at the mental or physical or material or emotional level, and sometimes on all four levels simultaneously. (Edgar Cayce)

     

    God's overriding desire is to purify the darkness of our souls, irrespective of the suffering it puts us through to achieve that end. If we learn to accept our situations in life, instead of fighting it, then our suffering is greatly minimized. (Daniel Rosenblit)

     

    All the suffering in our lives is actually for our own good. Out of the most tragic of circumstances springs human growth. (Angie Fenimore)

     

    Mistakes are an acceptable part of being human. We are to make all the mistakes we want. Mistakes are how we learn. The key is to try and not make the same mistakes again. God loves us the way we are - mistakes and all. When we make mistakes we should seek forgiveness, learn from the mistakes, let go of guilt, and try not to repeat them. There is not necessarily only one right choice. There is a spectrum of right possibilities from which we can choose. (Rev. Howard Storm)

     

    Our suffering is not a "cross" from God for us to bear. It is a challenge to help us grow and stay compassionate. (Lynn)

     

    Life is supposed to be hard. We can't skip over the hard parts. We must earn what we receive. (Angie Fenimore)

     

    An acceptance of suffering as a needed lesson can bring instantaneous healing. (Edgar Cayce)

     

    The meek inheriting the Earth

     

    Jesus taught that the meek will inherit the Earth. Although he taught people to love their enemies and to turn the other cheek, the unconditional love he taught was not a passive love but a "tough love". Jesus was certainly not a pacifist. He angrily chased the moneychangers out of the temple with a whip. He told his followers that he came to bring a sword, not peace. He even told his disciples to buy a sword to protect them from harm. On the cross, he said that a legion of angels were at his disposal to fight and prevent him from being killed. He is seen in heaven with a sharp "double-edged sword" who will return to Earth with the armies of heaven to destroy the forces of Satan.

     

    The question arises concerning the identity of the meek and the identity of the strong? Are the strong actually weak? Are the rich actually poor? NDE insights suggest that those who are physically weak are often spiritually strong and are sent to the world to teach others.

     

    There are many divine rewards from struggling and overcoming a handicap from birth. (Mary Ellen)

     

    The mentally retarded are special people who know much more than they are able to express. They are actually more spiritually advanced and come to Earth to teach the rest of us. (Sandra Rogers)

     

    Life is a cycle leading humanity toward perfection. Most people have this secret revealed to them when they die, but handicapped children often know this and endure their problems without complaining because they know that their burdens will pass. Some of these children have even been given the challenge of teaching the rest of us how to love. (Dr. Frank Oski)

     

    Hardships are necessary for the growth of our soul. (Sandra Rogers)

     

    Some people have an NDE because of losing a battle against a fatal disease. During their NDE, a Being of Light miraculously destroys the disease in their body. They are then returned to their body and returned to life. (NDE evidence)

     

    A firefighter lost a battle against a fire he was fighting. During his NDE, he was told that if he chose to return, he would miraculously not suffer the ill affects from the fire. He was told that this will happen so that: "God's power over the elements would be made manifest." (Jake)

     

    Sarah was beaten to death by an intruder which resulted in her NDE. She was told by her guardian that she was brought to heaven to rest and gain the courage and energy to go on and finish her mission. (Sarah Powell)

     

    Give me liberty or give me death

     

    God gave humanity the freedom to war and murder each other. Evidently, free will is one of the greatest gifts given to humanity by God. Although free will permits people to kill each other, free will is the only vehicle which permits a person to love and be a true companion with others and God. A robot with no free will does not have the choice to love. For this reason, all the war and murder that has ever happened in this world is the result of God's gift of freedom.

     

    War exists in the world because humans come here and make free choices to learn and evolve. Unfortunately, this creates a mess and war is a part of that mess. But the same free choice principle is instrumental in cleaning it up. (David Oakford)

     

    All the misery that happens in this world is our fault. God gave us the tools to live by including free will. It is our free will that is responsible for war and hatred. (Carter Mills)

     

    Some scientific discoveries were divine gifts that humanity perverted to use for war. (Howard Storm)

     

    Humanity's general inability to believe that life is everlasting is responsible for millions of people being killed by war. Human life has been held very cheaply. But humans are progressing up the spiral of evolution to a place where we know that there is no problem, no pain, no ill, no disharmony in the entire universe that will eventually not be made into harmony. (Margaret Tweddell)

     

    The perfect love of Adolf Hitler

     

    Its hard to comprehend how one man can have such a horrible influence on the world. Adolf Hitler was responsible for unleashing a global war that was never before known in history. We think of Hitler as the personification of evil and we believe he is now somewhere burning in hell for eternity. We believe we are incapable of doing the things that he did. It horrifies us that any human being could do these things. We practically deny his humanity in order to demonize him. But this is one of the things that makes Hitler so terrible and horrifying - he was human.

     

    Try to imagine what Hitler's life review must have been like. In the light of complete understanding, he would suddenly realize his true nature as perfect love. He would then become every victim of his atrocities and feel all their pain. He would see perfectly how all his thoughts and actions had an impact on the entire universe. Because he made such monumental mistakes, he probably learned more important lessons from his life review than anyone else ever had from their life review. It may have even been too unbearable for one man to take.

     

    The perfect teacher Adolf Hitler

     

    From big mistakes come big lessons. It is clear that Hitler made very big mistakes which led to big lessons not only for himself, but for humanity. God permitted Hitler to make these mistakes for the purpose of instructing humanity. Near-death accounts reveal that God loves everyone unconditionally and this includes Hitler. We must love everyone unconditionally, including Hitler. We know that God's infinite mercy extends to him and someday Hitler will join the choir in heaven just like the rest of us. We know this is true because of the following:

     

    "I'm sure that I asked the question that had been plaguing me since childhood about the sufferings of my (Jewish) people. I do remember this: There was a reason for everything that happened, no matter how awful it appeared in the physical realm. And within myself, as I was given the answer, my own awakening mind now responded in the same manner: "Of course," I would think, "I already know that. How could I ever have forgotten!" (Beverly Brodsky)

     

    Everyone goes to the same place. This includes Billy Graham, Hitler, and Jeffery Dahmer. (Mac Wright)

     

    Mistakes are an acceptable part of being human. We are to make all the mistakes we want. It is how we learn. (Howard Storm)

     

    There really is no "sin" as it is known in the world. The only thing that has any meaning in the spirit world is what we think. The very core of our being is perfect love and light. (Jayne Smith)

     

    There is no evil in any human soul. It is the lack of love that distorts people. We are designed by God to self-correct, just like the rest of the universe. No one is lost because everyone is already saved. (Mellen-Thomas Benedict)

     

    God is light. Light is spiritual awareness. God is also darkness. Darkness is the lack of spiritual awareness. God is the incorporation of both light and darkness. (Kevin Williams' research)

     

    From these NDE insights, we should conclude that Hitler was not an "evil" man. "Evil" does not exist - only ignorance. Hitler was very spiritually ignorant. He was so spiritually ignorant that we might even consider him spiritually "retarded". It is even possible that this spiritual retardation was the result of a dysfunctional frontal cortex of the brain. Who is to say? Thinking of Hitler as a mentally handicapped person (who by the grace of God goes us) makes it a little easier to love him unconditionally. How can we hate retarded people? It is much easier to sympathize with them.

     

    The perfect lessons of Adolf Hitler

     

    Assuming that Hitler was able to stand up through the negative aspect of his life review and assuming he did not condemn himself to hell because of it, he would have seen the tremendously positive influences he had on the world. These positive influences are positive lessons that God gives to humanity for the purpose of instruction and perfection. Here are some of these positive influences:

     

    (1) Hitler brought the world together, all of a sudden, to a new level of spiritual awareness. War, such as that started by Hitler, must never be allowed to happen again. For over the last fifty years and going strong, such a war has not happened. This increased level of spiritual awareness concerning the utter horror that spiritual ignorance can bring, helped make the idea of the oneness of humanity realized such as the creation of the United Nations.

     

    (2) Hitler was the catalyst that led to the development of the atom bomb, another factor that brought a new level of spiritual awareness to humanity. We now have the ability to destroy the planet many times over and everyone in it. This helped bring humanity together to prevent this from happening. The full extent of the horror of war is now realized. One act of aggression can now result in the complete oblivion of Earth. Ironically, the atom bomb is actually contributing to the deterrence of complete oblivion. (Mellen-Thomas Benedict)

     

    (3) Hitler gave humanity a yardstick for which to measure the extent of the need for people to change for the better. The spiritual darkness that Hitler unleashed in the world greatly increased the need for spiritual light. Unbridled bigotry, hatred, and spiritual ignorance on such a massive scale are greater threats to the world than ever known before. Spiritual ignorance now has the power to bring humanity to the very brink of extinction.

     

    (4) The legacy of Hitler demonstrates the folly of appeasing murderous dictators. It is too costly to allow them to threaten the world with impunity. Their murderous intent must be nipped in the bud early on before it takes a devastating world war to stop it. As stated earlier, God does not desire war but God will allow it to happen for the purpose of instruction leading to perfection.

     

    (5) Hitler's attempt to rule the world ultimately led to a shift in the balance of the world's power. Colonialism dissolved all around the world and people began to be free to govern themselves. America became the "Arsenal of Democracy" to counter the threat of political oppression that breeds dictators such as Hitler. The legacy of Hitler and World War II is ultimately resulting in the victory of democracy all over the world.

     

    (6) The NDE principle of how our greatest mistakes become our greatest lessons can certainly be applied to Hitler. Hitler and Nazism was such a colossal mistake that it resulted in a colossal lesson. A similar situation on the other side of the spectrum can be made concerning Jesus. The colossal mistake of executing Jesus led to an even greater good.

     

    Humanity is designed to self-correct itself (Mellen-Thomas Benedict). Hitler and Jesus are good examples of how this self-correcting process works.

     

    Today humanity is faced with the rise of potential "Hitlers" who threaten to rule the world. The terrorist threat and terrorist organizations are all over the world. Many people around the world view this terrorist threat as a "cancer" that needs to be surgically removed. Does the free world need another "Hitler" to teach us another lesson? Perhaps it does. Does humanity need more self-correcting? If so, what will it take - another Hitler or another Christ?

     

    Apocalypse now

     

    Near-death experiencers are given glimpses of the future as it would exist if current trends continue. Near-death accounts reveal the Earth as a single organism for which we are all a part. We are the Earth's human awareness. Our wars and transgressions not only cause us to suffer but causes the Earth to suffer as well. The following NDE insights reveal our connection to Earth and how wars and transgressions affect it.

     

    The Earth has terrible wounds on her body. She is gasping for breath and calling out to God and to her children to stop the killing and hatefulness. The world is dying and praying for all of us to help her to heal and regenerate. (Dr. Liz Dale's research)

     

    Humans have fallen away from living in balance with nature. Great damage will be inflicted on the Earth before this "harmonic balance" is finally restored. (David Oakford)

     

    Humans are out of harmony with the world and all its creatures, including our own brothers and sisters, with whom we are constantly at war. (Norman Paulsen)

     

    Humanity is in the final moments before Jesus returns. The Earth is being prepared for this event. The war between the forces of light and the forces of darkness are growing so intense on Earth that humanity is in danger of being consumed by the forces of darkness. (Angie Fenimore)

     

    A war in heaven occurred that led to "Devil" and his "angels" being cast out of heaven to Earth. Humans have fallen from their original position with God and have become enemies of God. Because of the transgressions of humanity, a final war will happen. "Angels" will inflict "disasters" on the world and the people of the world. A war will occur between the heavenly forces and a hellish force called "Babylon". Jesus will return to Earth with the "armies of heaven" to destroy the forces of darkness. Finally, an "angel" will cast the "Devil" into a "bottomless pit" and peace finally comes to Earth. (The Book of Revelation)

     

    The enemy within

     

    Near-death accounts reveal that everyone has within them a divine nature and a human nature that wars against each other. At our higher divine level, everyone is connected and there is no separation between us. But our lower human nature tends to believe the illusion (or delusion) that we are separate from others. The war within us is the battle between our lower nature and our higher nature. The following NDE insights describe this battle within us.

     

    The "war in heaven" between God and the "Devil" symbolizes the war between our Higher Self and our lower self. Our Higher Self is part of the Universal Consciousness of God for which everyone is connected. The lower self is symbolized as the "Devil" and is the force of self-centeredness, self-gratification, self-righteousness, self-interest, self-consciousness, self-glorification, self-condemnation, self-will, and self. This force within us wars against our divine nature. In essence, the greatest enemy we will ever face is self. This selfish force warring within us is the source of all the wars and atrocities that occur in the world. Only the purification of the world (our body) will restore everything. "Babylon" is symbolic of this selfish desire manifested in the world that cause us to war against ourselves and others. (Edgar Cayce)

     

    The war between our Higher and lower self will eventually led to the victory of our Higher Self. The "Devil" (self-will) is then cast into the abyss (self-will being suppressed by the divine will). The result is "heaven on earth" (divine conscious awareness). This war between the Higher and lower self is a battle existing at the individual level and the collective level of humanity. The Book of Revelation is the story of the fall and rise of humanity. It is the story of the victory of our divine nature over our human nature. It is paradise lost and paradise found. (Edgar Cayce)

     

    The struggle between our higher and lower selves grows until finally the destructive elements are completely overcome. (Betty Bethards)

     

    Humans are educated at a higher level by spirit beings who bring us into heaven. We grow and increase, and grow and increase, and shed the concerns, desires, and base animal stuff that we have been fighting much of our life. Earthly appetites melt away. It is no longer a struggle to fight them. We become who we truly are, which is part of the divine. (Rev. Howard Storm)

     

    God's love looks at all of us throughout the eyes of eternity. God's overriding desire is to purify the darkness of our souls, irrespective of the suffering God has to put us through to achieve that end. However, it will greatly minimize our suffering if we learn to accept instead of fighting against our situation in life. (Daniel Rosenblit)

     

    Jesus knew he had to die on the cross to fulfill his mission. His mission was to demonstrate to humanity how self-sacrifice and self-denial can overcome self-centeredness, self-gratification and self (the "Devil") and how it leads to our complete restoration with our divine nature. (Edgar Cayce)

     

    War is hell

     

    Since war is so prevalent in this world, it should be no surprise that there exists a spirit realm where the human desire to kill can be fully expressed. At death, a person's inner nature is expressed outwardly in the spirit realm. People take their inner hellish natures with them after death. The result is what people refer to as "hell". The following are some NDE descriptions of hell.

     

    Hell is like a great battlefield that is jammed with hordes of angry souls who are locked in fights to the death where no death is possible. They are locked into habits of mind and emotion, into hatred, lust, destructive thought-patterns that cannot be satisfied. Souls can even be found arguing over some religious point, trying to kill those who do not agree with them. (Dr. George Ritchie)

     

    Hell is a psychological condition which represents the hellish inner thoughts and desires within some souls. Here they become uninhibited and their hellish condition is fully manifested. No demons are there to inflict punishment. Each soul acts out their own anger and hatred by warring and tormenting others. (Emanuel Swedenborg)

     

    Hell is a state where a wild orgy of frenzied taunting, screaming and hitting occurs. These souls are completely ignorant of any higher spiritual realities. They are a mob driven by unbridled cruelty and passions. (Howard Storm)

     

    Murderers in hell do not see a devil. Instead they see visions of their own face distorted by hatred, greed, anger, and other defeating emotions. Souls such as these will stay in torment for a long, long time, until they believe themselves to be totally lost. At this point, they may at last cry out to God to rescue them. This wail of despair is heard by God and they are rescued. They are then given opportunities to make amends through the process of reincarnation. (Ruth Montgomery)

     

    Farewell to arms

     

    Although the world has a long history of war and murder, NDEs reveal that someday all war will end and heaven will be established on Earth. This will happen when humanity learns its lessons, renounces war, and changes for the better.

     

    There will be no nuclear war in the world because God loves the world. (Howard Storm)

     

    If humanity changes for the better, a horrible world war will be averted. (Dannion Brinkley)

     

    Out of all the wars that humans tried to create, God allowed only a few, to bring people to their senses and to stop them. (Howard Storm)

     

    If people turn more to spirituality and less to materiality, these wars will not happen. (Ned Dougherty)

     

    God is going to rescind some of humanity's free will in favor of more divine control over human events in order to bring peace and harmony to the world. (Howard Storm)

     

    Man will prey on man until man will pray for man. (Lou Famoso)

    "Only the destructive forces know death as lord. Only spiritual forces know life as the Lord. Know ye the Lord!" - Edgar Cayce

     


  2. Mahatma Gandhijee

    Bhangi Colony

    New Delhi.

     

     

    Dear Friend Mahatmajee,

     

     

    Please accept my respectful Namaskar. I am your unknown friend but I had to write to you at times and again although you never cared to reply them. I sent you my papers "Back to Godhead" but your secretaries told me that you had very little time to read the letters and much less for reading the magazines. I asked for an interview with you but your busy secretaries never cared to reply this. Anyway as I am your very old friend although unknown to you in order to bring you to the rightful position deserved by you. As a sincere friend I must not deviate from my duty towards a friend like your good self.

     

     

    I tell you as a sincere friend that you must immediately retire from active politics if you do not desire to die an inglorious death. You have 125 years to live as you have desired to live but if you die an inglorious death it is no worth. The honour and prestige that you have obtained during the course of your present life time, were not possible to be obtained by any one else within the living memory. But you must know that all these honours and prestiges were false in as much as they were created by the Illusory Energy of Godhead called the Maya. By this falsity I do not mean to say that your so many friends were false to you nor you were false to them. By this falsity I mean illusion or in other words the false friendship and honours obtained thereby were but creation of Maya and therefore they are always temporary or false as you may call it. But none of you neither your friends nor yourself knew this truth.

     

     

    Now by the Grace of God that illusion is going to be cleared and thus your faithful friends like Acharya Kripalini and others are accusing your inability at the present moment to give them any practical programme of work as you happened to give them during your glorious days of non-co-operation movement. So you are also in a plight to find out a proper solution for the present political tangle created by your opponents. You should therefore take a note of warning from your insignificant friend like me, that unless you retire timely from politics and engage yourself cent per cent in the preaching work of Bhagwat Geeta, which is the real function of the Mahatmas, you shall have to meet with such inglorious deaths as Mussolini, Hitlers, Tojos, Churchills or Llyoyd Georges met with.

     

     

    You can very easily understand as to how some of your political enemies (both Indian and English) have deliberately cheated you and have broken your heart by doing the same mischief for which you have struggled so hard for so many years. You wanted chiefly Hindu/Moslem unity in India and they have tactfully managed to undo your work, by creation of the Pakishtan and India separately. You wanted freedom for India but they have given permanent dependence of India. You wanted to do something for the upliftment of the position of the Bhangis but they are still rotting as Bhangis even though you are living in the Bhangi colony. They are all therefore illusions and when these things will be presented to you as they are, you must consider them as God-sent. God has favoured you by dissipating the illusion you were hovering in, and by the same illusion you were nursing those ideas as Truth(?).

     

     

    You must know that you are in the relative world which is called by the sages as Dwaita i.e. dual -- and nothing is absolute here. Your

    Ahimsa is always followed by Hinsa as the light is followed by darkness or the father is followed by the son. Nothing is absolute truth in this dual world. You did not know this neither you ever cared to know this from the right sources and therefore all your attempts to create unity were followed by disunity and Ahimsa. Ahimsa was followed by Himsa.

     

     

    But it is better late than never. You must know now something about the Absolute Truth. The Truth with which you have been experimenting so long is relative. The relative truths are creations of the 'Daivi Maya' qualified by the three modes of Nature. They are all insurmountable as is explained in the Bhagwat Geeta (7/14). The Absolute Truth is the Absolute Godhead.

     

     

    In the Katha Upanishad it is ordered that one must approach the bonafide Guru who is not only well versed in all the scriptures of the world but is also the realised soul in Brahman the Absolute -- in order to learn the science of Absolute Truth. So also it is instructed in the Bhagwat Geeta as follows:-

     

     

    Tad Biddhi Pranipatena

    Pariprasnena Sebaya

    Upadekshyanti Tad Jnanam

    Jnanina Tatwadarshina (4/34)

     

     

    But I know that you never underwent such transcendental training except some severe penances which you invented for your purpose as you have invented so many things in the course of experimenting with the relative truths. You might have easily avoided them if you had approached the Guru as abovementioned. But your sincere efforts to attain some Godly qualities by austerities etc surely have raised you to some higher position which you can better utilise for the purpose of the Absolute Truth. If you, however, remain satisfied with such temporary position only and do not try to know the Absolute Truth, then surely you are to fall down from the artificially exalted position under the laws of nature. But if you really want to approach the Absolute Truth and want to do some real good to the people in general all over the world, which shall include your ideas of unity, peace and non-violence, then you must give up the rotten politics immediately and rise up for the preaching work of the philosophy and religion of "Bhagwat Geeta" without offering unnecessary and dogmatic interpretations on them. I had occasionally discussed this subject in my paper "Back to Godhead" and a leaf from the same is enclosed herewith for your reference.

     

     

    I would only request you to retire from politics at least for a month only and let us have discussion on the Bhagwat Geeta. I am sure, thereby, that you shall get a new light from the result of such discussions not only for your benefit but for the benefit of the world at large -- as I know that you are sincere, honest and moralist.

     

     

    Awaiting your early reply with interest.

    Yours sincerely,

    Abhay Charan De

    Enclosure -- one leaf from Back to Godhead.

     


  3. That Hindutattva site is a racist one.Actual spiritual knowledge gives peace but today hindus have no peace.They do not like Srila Prabhupada because he says the truth and is bonafide.Also the idea that "all" are God does not make sense unless they are demigods.God is one without a second and all are his parts and parcels and are meant to serve him.

     

    I avoid hindu sites for I find the same mentality there.Most of todays hindu organizations are actually terrorist.


  4. Spiritual master is as good as God himself.I don't know why Indians criticize their own spiritual culture.We all have forgotten our true nature as servants and lovers of God.Anyway all this is for our own growth as theist prabhuji mentioned.Its all krsna's mercy.If Prabhupada and God comes before me I will bow down before my spiritual master first,for he showed me the way to krsna.


  5. When I say He knew everything about me, this was simply an observable fact. For into that room along with his radiant presence - simultaneously, though in telling about it I have to describe them one by one - had also entered every single episode of my entire life. Everything that had ever happened to me was simply there, in full view, contemporary and current, all seemingly taking place at the same time. Every detail of twenty years of living was there to be looked at. The good, the bad, the high points, the run-of-the-mill. And with this all-inclusive view came a question. It was implicit in every scene and, like the scenes themselves, seemed to proceed from the living Light beside me.

     

    "What did you do with your life?"

     

    Desperately I looked around me for something that would seem worthwhile in the light of this blazing Reality. But there was only an endless, short-sighted, clamorous concern for myself. Hadn't I ever gone beyond my own immediate interests, done anything other people would recognize as valuable?

     

    And all at once the question itself built up in me. It wasn't fair! Of course I hadn't done anything with my life! I hadn't had time. How could you judge a person who hadn't even started?

     

    The answering thought, however, held no trace of judgment. 'Death,' the word was infinitely loving, 'can come at any age.'

     

    'What about the insurance money coming when I'm seventy?' The words were out, in this strange realm where communication took place by thought instead of speech, before I could call them back.

     

    If I'd suspected before that there was mirth in the Presence beside me, now I was sure of it: the brightness seemed to vibrate and shimmer with a kind of holy laughter - not at me and my silliness, not a mocking laughter, but a mirth that seemed to say that in spite of all error and tragedy, joy was more lasting still.

     

    And in the ecstasy of that laughter I realized that it was I who was judging the events around us so harshly. It was I who saw them as trivial, self-centered, unimportant. No such condemnation came from the Glory shining around me. He was not blaming or reproaching. He was simply ... loving me. Filling the world with Himself and yet somehow attending to me personally. Waiting for my answer to the question that still hung in the dazzling air. 'What have you done with your life to show me?'

     

    The question, like everything else proceeding from Him, had to do with love. How much have you loved with your life? Have you loved others as I am loving you? Totally? Unconditionally?

     

    Hearing the question like that, I saw how foolish it was even to try to find an answer in the scenes around us. Why, I hadn't known love like this was possible. Someone should have told me, I thought indignantly!

     

    "I did tell you."

     

    But how? Still wanting to justify myself: how could He have told me and I not heard?

     

    "I told you by the life I lived. I told you by the death I died. And, if you keep your eyes on me, you will see more ... "

     

     

     


  6. In December 1943, during World War II, twenty year old Dr. George Ritchie died of pneumonia. Nine minutes later, miraculously and unaccountably, he returned to life to tell of his amazing near-death experience in the afterlife. His near-death experience was the one that profoundly moved Dr. Raymond Moody to begin seriously investigating the near-death experience. Since Dr. Moody is considered to be the "father of the near-death experience" this near-death experience is in a class of its own. You will find this experience to be one of the most profound near-death experiences ever documented. The following is Dr. George Ritchie's awesome near-death experience excerpted from his ground-breaking books, Return From Tomorrow and My Life After Dying.

     

    The men let go of my arms ... I heard a click and a whirr. The whirr went on and on. It was getting louder. The whirr was inside my head and my knees were made of rubber. They were bending and I was falling and all the time the whirr grew louder.

     

    I sat up with a start. What time was it? I looked at the bedside table but they'd taken the clock away. In fact, were was any of my stuff?

     

    I jumped out of bed in alarm, looking for my clothes. My uniform wasn't on the chair. I turned around, then froze.

     

    Someone was lying in that bed.

     

    I took a step closer. He was quite a young man, with short brown hair, lying very still. But, the thing was impossible! I myself had just gotten out of that bed! For a moment I wrestled with the mystery of it. It was too strange to think about - and anyway I didn't have the time.

     

    I went back past the offices and stepped out into the corridor. A sergeant was coming along it carrying an instrument tray covered with a cloth. Probably he didn't know anything, but I was so glad to find someone awake that I started toward him.

     

    "Excuse me, Sergeant," I said. "You haven't seen the ward boy for this unit, have you?"

     

    He didn't answer. Didn't even glance at me. He just kept coming, straight at me, not slowing down.

     

    "Look out!" I yelled, jumping out of his way.

     

    The next minute he was past me, walking away down the corridor as if he had never seen me, though how we had dept from colliding I didn't know.

     

    And then I saw something that gave me a new idea. Farther down the corridor was one of the heavy metal doors that led to the outside. I hurried toward it. Even if I had missed that train, I'd find some way of getting to Richmond!

     

    Almost without knowing it I found myself outside, racing swiftly along, traveling faster in fact than I'd ever moved in my life.

     

    Looking down I was astonished to see not the ground, but the tops of mesquite bushes beneath me. Already Camp Barkeley seemed to be far behind me as I sped over the dark frozen desert. My mind kept telling me that what I was doing was impossible, and yet ... it was happening.

     

    I was going to Richmond; somehow I had known that from the moment I burst through that hospital door. Going to Richmond a hundred times faster than any train on earth could take me.

     

    Almost immediately I noticed myself slowing down. Just below me now, where two streets came together, I caught a flickering blue glow. It came from a neon sign over the door of a red-roofed one-story building with a "Pabst Blue Ribbon Beer" sign propped in the front window. "Cafe," the jittering letters over the door read, and from the windows light streamed onto the pavement.

     

    Staring down at it, I realized I had stopped moving altogether. Finding myself somehow suspended fifty feet in the air was an even stranger feeling than the whirlwind flight had been. But I had no time to puzzle over it, for down the sidewalk toward the all-night cafe a man came briskly walking. At least, I thought, I could find out from him what town this was and in what direction I was heading. Even as the idea occurred to me - as though thought and motion had become the same thing - I found myself down on the sidewalk, hurrying along at the stranger's side. He was a civilian, maybe forty or forty-five, wearing a topcoat but no hat. He was obviously thinking hard about something because he never glanced my way as I fell into step beside him.

     

    "Can you tell me, please," I said, "what city this is?"

     

    He kept right on walking.

     

    "Please sir!" I said, speaking louder, "I'm a stranger here and I'd appreciate it if - "

     

    We reached the cafe and he turned, reaching for the door handle. Was the fellow deaf? I put out my left hand to tap his shoulder.

     

    There was nothing there.

     

    I stood there in front of the door, gaping after him as he opened it and disappeared inside. It had been like touching thin air. Like no one had been there at all. And yet I had distinctly seen him, even to the beginnings of a black stubble on his chin where he needed a shave.

     

    I backed away from the mystery of the substance-less man and leaned up against the guy wire of a telephone pole to think things through. My body went through that guy wire as though it too had not been there.

     

    There on the sidewalk of that unknown city, I did some incredulous thinking. The strangest, most difficult thinking I had ever done. The man in the cafe, this telephone pole ... suppose they were perfectly normal. Suppose I was the one who was - changed, somehow. What if in some impossible, unimaginable way, I lost my ... hardness. My ability to grasp things, to make contact with the world. Even to be seen! The fellow just now. It was obvious he never saw or heard me.

     

    And suddenly I remembered the young man I had seen in the bed in that little hospital room. What if that had been ... me? Or anyhow, the material, concrete part of myself that in some unexplainable way I'd gotten separated from. What if the form which I had left lying in the hospital room in Texas was my own?

     

    And if it were, how could I get back to it again? Why had I ever rushed off so unthinkingly?

     

    I was moving again, speeding away from the city. Below me was the broad river. I appeared to be going back, back in the direction I had come from, and it seemed to me I was flashing across space even faster than before. Hills, lakes, farms slipped away beneath me as I sped in an unswerving straight line over the dark nighttime land.

     

    I was standing in front of the base hospital.

     

    And so began one of the strangest searches that can every have taken place: the search for myself. From one ward to another of that enormous complex I rushed, pausing in each small room, stooping over the occupant of the bed, hurrying on.

     

    I backed toward the doorway. The man in that bed was dead! I felt the same reluctance I had the previous time at being in a room with a dead person. But ... if that was my ring, then - then it was me, the separated part of me, lying under that sheet. Did that mean that I was ...

     

    It was the first time in this entire experience that the world "death" occurred to me in connection with what was happening.

     

    But I wasn't dead! How could I be dead and still be awake? Thinking. Experiencing. Death was different. Death was ... I didn't know. Blanking out. Nothingness. I was me, wide awake, only without a physical body to function in.

     

    Frantically I clawed at the sheet, trying to draw it back, trying to uncover the figure on the bed. All my efforts did not even stir a breeze in the silent little room.

     

     

     

    Suddenly I was aware that it was brighter, a lot brighter, than it had been. I stared in astonishment as the brightness increased, coming from nowhere, seeming to shine everywhere at once. All the light bulbs in the ward couldn't give off that much light. All the bulbs in the world couldn't! It was impossibly bright: it was like a million welders' lamps all blazing at once. 'I'm glad I don't have physical eyes at this moment,' I thought. 'This light would destroy the retina in a tenth of a second.'

     

    No, I corrected myself, not the light. He. He would be too bright to look at. For now I saw that it was not light but a Man who had entered the room, or rather, a Man made out of light, though this seemed no more possible to my mind than the incredible intensity of the brightness that made up His form.

     

    The instant I perceived him, a command formed itself in my mind. "Stand up!" The words came from inside me, yet they had an authority my mere thoughts had never had. I got to my feet and as I did came the stupendous certainty: 'You are in the presence of the Son of God.'

     

    If this was the Son of God, then his name was Jesus. This person was power itself, older than time and yet more modern than anyone I had ever met.

     

    Above all, with that same mysterious inner certainty, I knew that this man loved me. Far more even than power, what emanated from this Presence was unconditional love. An astonishing love. A love beyond my wildest imagining. This love knew every unlovable thing about me - the quarrels with my stepmother, my explosive temper, the sex thoughts I could never control, every mean, selfish thought and action since the day I was born - and accepted me just the same.

     

     


  7. >>A devotee friend once informed me that according to Srimad Bhagavatam,offences committed by the mind are excused in Kali-Yuga.Does anyone know the scriptural reference?

     

    Really?I see.My problem is that I am already suffering from anxiety and other mental disorders.My mind has become my greatest enemy.I am off all spiritual practises right now not even chanting.Last year I attained the joyful stage of Brahma-Bhuta and love for Krsna.Sex desires completely left me for 7 days while I was immersed in thought of lotus feet of the Lord.All glories to Vaisnavas who are like desire trees.Progress in spiritual life is possible only by their blessings.Guru and Gauranga ki jaya!


  8. Chant,Chant and Chant.There is no other way.

    I am also falling down(temporarily) coz of anxiety and bipolar delussion disorder.Such thoughts also coming in my mind(obsessive?).

     

    Beg Krsna and Srila Prabhupada for forgiveness.They love us more than we will ever know.We should not forget that we are pure spiritual beings and the love that God has for us will never be diminished.From his viewpoint everything is perfect and going on according to his plan.

     

    God bless you


  9. >>My question: According to Islamic belief, God (Allah) has no shape or form, Allah can't be seen, Allah is neither male nor female. This seems to contradict with Vedic teachings if God is said to have a form. Isn't there a real contradiction here? http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/islam/islam_beliefs.shtml

     

    Brahman, Paramatma, and Bhagavan

     

    By Jayadvaita Swami

     

     

    Three stages of Truth, Absolute Truth

     

     

    According to the Vedic literature, the Supreme, the Absolute Truth, is one, yet it can be understood in three progressive stages of realization.

     

     

    FIRST STAGE

    In the first stage, one realizes the Supreme as an all-pervading reality, beyond words, beyond the mind, beyond matter, beyond all dualities. We may call it the One, the White Light, the Absolute, God, the Force, or whatever. That Supreme, one sees, is all that truly exists. In the Vedic literature, that Supreme is called Brahman.

     

    SECOND STAGE

    In the second stage, one perceives that the Supreme is not only all-pervading but present within one's own heart. What is that greater source within from which we derive inspiration, intuition, inner guidance? By meditation one can realize that it is God, or the Supreme Absolute. The Vedic writings call this aspect of God the Paramatma, or Supersoul. The Vedic sages distinguish between the Supersoul and the small individual soul. Both reside within the heart, but one is infinite, the other infinitesimal. The soul, the tiny spark of consciousness within, is my true self. It is by nature eternal, blissful, wise. But it is small, and so it may get lost in illusion and entangled in material life. But the Supersoul, great and infinite, is ever beyond illusion. And so it is this Supersoul to whom the minute soul turns, realizing that Supersoul to be the Supreme.

     

    THIRD STAGE

    In the third stage, one realizes that the same Supreme Absolute, the same God, that pervades everything and resides within one's heart exists also as the supreme individual person. Just as I, the soul, that small spark of consciousness, exist as a person, a conscious individual, so too does the supreme consciousness, the Absolute. Just as I have thoughts, feelings, intentions, so does the Supreme. And just as I have specific qualities and activities, so again does the Supreme. The Supreme, in the personal feature, has all the attributes found in other living beings--but His are all infinite, unlimited, unrestricted by the conditions of matter. That Supreme, the Personality of Godhead, exists in His own realm, beyond all dualities and illusions. In the Vedic literature, this personal feature of the Absolute is called Bhagavan. The Vedic teachers illustrate these three stages of realization by an example. When we look all around us we see the sun by its all-pervading light, the sunshine. When we look up into the sky we see the source of that light, the sun planet, powerful and brilliant. And if we could somehow go to that planet we could meet the sun-god, the person who rules the sun. All of these three are the sun. Yet one who sees only the sunlight has yet to see the sun planet, and one who sees only the sunlight and sun planet has yet to meet the sun-god. In a similar way, one who realizes only Brahman has yet to realize the Paramatma, one who realizes the Paramatma has yet to realize Bhagavan, but one who has realized Bhagavan has attained full realization, for he knows all three features of the Absolute.

     

    HOW DO YOU KNOW GOD IS A PERSON?

     

    Some philosophers believe that God isn't a person. Since our bodies are perishable, full of ignorance and miserable, they conclude that God must have no such body, no such form. They correctly assume that God cannot be limited like us, but they incorrectly conclude that He must be formless. They prefer to think of God as an invisible force, the total universe, or some other sort of all-pervading truth.

     

     

    But to restrict God from having a form is to impose another kind of limitation on an entity who is supposed to be unlimited. How can the source of all forms have no form? Why should an impersonal God give rise to anything, especially anything that has order and symmetry and so on? Denying the personal form of God betrays envy of Him. If God were impersonal, then we'd be greater than Him, because we'd have something He doesn't. But God is the source of all beings. Since we have forms, how can it be that He doesn't? If God isn't a person, then how can His sons be persons? The Bible also confirms that man is made in the image of God.

     

     

    The Vedic scriptures tell us that one of the features of God is impersonal, but in His ultimate feature, He has a personal form that is eternal, full of bliss and knowledge. He is not just a person, but He is the Supreme Person. Although He is the oldest of all, He is always youthful; His transcendental body never ages. Parashara Muni, a great sage of ancient India, defined God as He who fully possesses six qualities in full: opulence, strength, fame, beauty, knowledge, and renunciation. Each of us may have these qualities in part, but only God has them in full.

     


  10. Origin of the Soul

     

    Since time immemorial, man has inquired about the origin of the soul. In the thinking of many neophyte devotees the soul falls down from eternal pastimes with Krishna due to mundane envy. In this brief essay, Srila Sridhara Maharaja answers this most vital of all questions: "Who am I? Where have I come from?

     

    Commentary

     

    by Srila Bhaktirakshaka Sridhar Dev Goswami Maharaja

     

    How does the soul first appear in this world? From what stage of spiritual existence does he fall into the material world?" This is a broad question, which requires some background information.

     

    There are two classes of souls, jivas, who come into this world. One class comes from the spiritual Vaikuntha planets by the necessity of nitya-lila, the eternal pastimes of Krsna. Another comes by constitutional necessity.

     

    The brahmajyoti, the nondifferentiated marginal plane, is the source of infinite jiva souls, atomic spiritual particles of nondifferentiated character. The rays of the Lord's transcendental body are known as the brahmajyoti, and a pencil of a ray of the brahmajyoti is the jiva. The jiva soul is an atom in that effulgence, and the brahmajyoti is a product of an infinite number of jiva atoms.

     

    Generally, souls emanate from the brahmajyoti which is living and growing. Within the brahmajyoti, their equilibrium is somehow disturbed and movement begins. From nondifferentiation, differentiation begins. From a plain sheet of uniform consciousness, individual conscious units grow. And because the jiva is conscious it is endowed with free will. So, from the marginal position they choose either the side of exploitation or the side of dedication.

     

    Krsna bhuli sei jiva anadi bahirmukha . Anadi means that which has no beginning. When we enter the land of exploitation, we come within the factor of time, space, and thought. And when we come to exploit, action and reaction begins in the negative land of loan. Although we strive to become masters, really we become losers.

     

    Goloka and Vaikuntha servitors are also seen to be within the jurisdiction of the brahmanda, the material universe, but that is only a play, 1i1a. They come from that higher plane only to take part in the Lord,s pastimes and then return. The fallen souls come from the marginal position within the brahmajyoti and not from Vaikuntha.

     

    The first position of a soul in the material world will be like that of Brahma the creator. Then his karma may take him to the body of a beast like a tiger where he is surrounded with a tigerish mentality, or to the body of a tree or creeper, where different impressions may surround him. In this way, one is involved in action and reaction. The case is complex; to analyze the details of the history of a particular atom is unnecessary. We are concerned with the general thing: how the transformation of the material conception springs from pure consciousness.

     

    Matter is not independent of spirit. In the brahmajyoti we are equipoised in the marginal potency as an infinite number of pinpoints of spiritual rays, electrons of consciousness. Consciousness means endowed with free will, for without free will no consciousness can be conceived. An atomic pinpoint of consciousness has very meager free will, and by misuse of their free will some jivas have taken their chance in the material world. They refused to submit to the supreme authority; they wanted to dominate. So, with this germinal idea of domination, the jiva enters into the world of exploitation. In the Bhagavad-gita (7.27) it is stated:

     

     

    iccha-dvesa samutthena

    dvandva-mohena bharata

    sarva-bhutani sammoham

    sarge yanti parantapa

     

    "Two principles in a crude form awaken in the jiva: hatred and desire. Then, gradually the soul comes down to mingle with the mundane world."

     

    At first, sympathy and apathy develop in a crude form, just as when a sprout springs up with two leaves. And gradually these two things help us to dive deep into this mundane world. Upon retiring from the world of exploitation, the soul may return to his former position in the brahmajyoti as spirit. But, if the soul has gathered the tendency of dedication through his previous devotional activities, he does not stop there; he pierces through the brahmajyoti and goes towards Vaikuntha.

     

    Why has the soul come to the world of exploitation" and not the world of dedication? That should be attributed to his innate nature, which is endowed with free will. It is a free choice. This is substantiated in the Bhagavad-gita (5. 14):

     

     

    na kartrtvam na karmani

    lokasya srjati prabhuh

    na karma-phala-samyogam

    svabhavas tu pravartate

     

    "The soul is responsible for his entrance into the land of exploitation."

     

    The responsibility is with the soul, otherwise, the Lord would be responsible for his distressed condition. But Krsna says that the soul's innate free will is responsible for his entanglement in the material world. The soul is conscious, and consciousness means endowed with freedom. Because the soul is atomic, his free will is imperfect and vulnerable. The result of that free choice is that some are coming into the material world, and some are going to the spiritual world. So, the responsibility is with the individual soul.

     

    Once, an Indian political leader, Syamasundara Cakravarti, asked our spiritual master, Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Thakura Prabhupada, "Why has the Lord granted such freedom to the jiva ?" Prabhupada told him, ""You are fighting for freedom. Don't you know the value of freedom? Devoid of freedom, the soul is only matter." Freedom offers us the alternative to do right or wrong. Once, Gandhi told the British authorities, ""We want freedom."' They replied, "You are not fit to have self-government. When you are fit, we shall give it to you." But finally, he told them, "We want the freedom to do wrong." So, freedom does not guarantee only acting in the right way; freedom has its value independent of right and wrong.

     

    Free will is only absolute with the Absolute Truth. Because we are finite" our free will is infinitesimal. The possibility of committing a mistake is there. Our first choice was to dominate" and so, gradually we have entered the world of domination. As a result of this first action, everything else has developed. So, in different ranks" the species have been divided" from the demigods down to the trees and stones. And watery bodies, gaseous bodies, anything that we find here has evolved in that way. The activating principle in any form of embryological development is the soul, and from the soul, everything has evolved."

     

    ______________________________

     

    Additional information for our readers: (In the beginning of his reply to the question as to how the soul first appears in the material world, Srila Sridhar Maharaja mentions that this requires some background. Similiarly, before some of our readers can accept Srila Sridhar Maharaja's above statements as being important guidance for ISKCON in the matter of philosopy we would like to give some background information.

     

    Shortly before departing from this world our spiritual master, Srila A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada instructed his disciples, that if they had any questions regarding philosophy they should approach his Godbrother, Srila B.R. Sridhar Maharaja. "For philosophy you may go to my Godbrother, Sridhar Maharaja at Navadwip.) This has been amply documented in "Our Affectionate Guardians."

     

     

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