Sunday Service Reading #12

From Rays of the One Light
We Are Children of Light

IT IS COMMON FOR PEOPLE to perceive themselves according to their present realities. A person in ill health says, “I am ill.” Few say, “I am well; it is my body that is suffering.” People in a low income bracket say, “I am poor.” Only the unusual person will say, “Though outwardly I live in poverty, inwardly I am wealthy.”

Thus, when it comes to moral and spiritual development, people commonly identify themselves with their weaknesses and their mistakes. They consider it almost a sign of humility to say, “I am a sinner,” though in effect what this means is that they identify themselves with their sinfulness, not with the soul's power to transcend all limitations in God.

The great masters, including Jesus Christ, have always emphasized the divine potential of mankind. To encourage us, they address us as children of light, not of darkness.

The Bible, in the Gospel of St. John, Chapter 3, makes the point that our true home is not the mud of this Earth, but the light of heaven. “No man hath ascended up to heaven,” it tells us, “but him that came down from heaven.” This passage continues: “[even so] the Son of man who is in heaven,” emphasizing that Jesus, though he lived on earth, is perceived by the eye of wisdom as conscious, even in human form, of his true reality in heavenly spheres.

The way to know God is to live in godly consciousness, and not to bewail our imperfection and our distance from God. Jesus said, “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.” And the Bhagavad Gita states,

Seekers of union with the Lord find Him dwelling in their own hearts. But those who, lacking in wisdom, seek Him with impure motives, cannot perceive Him however much they struggle to do so.

“If you want to know God,” Paramhansa Yogananda said, “live in the thought that you have Him already.”

Thus, through holy Scripture, God has spoken to mankind.

VIDEO of Jyotish's Service on this Subject from 3-21-10
MP3 for Download (or online listening) of Jyotish's Service on this Subject from 3-21-10

VIDEO of Asha Praver's Service on this Subject from 3-22-09

MP3 for Download (or online listening) of Asha Praver's Service on this Subject from 3-22-09

VIDEO of Gyandev's Service on this Subject from 3-22-09

MP3 for Download (or online listening) of Gyandev's Service on this Subject from 3-22-09

MP3 for Download (or online listening) of Asha's Service on this Subject from 4-6-08

MP3 for Download (or online listening) of Nitai's Service on this Subject from 4-6-08

MP3 for Download (or online listening) of Lorne's Service on this Subject from 3-21-10

MP3 for Download (or online listening) of Lorne's Service on this Subject from 3-22-09

Long Readings from the 3 Volume Set:
Rays of the Same Light

#12 We Are Children of Light
("Is Heaven Man's Birthright?" in the original book)

This passage is from the Gospel of St. John, Chapter 3, the 13th Verse:

"No man hath ascended up to heaven but him that came down from heaven; [even so] the Son of man who is in heaven."

Commentary

Is Jesus saying here that no one but him ever ascended to heaven? Or was his use, rather, of the past tense intended to mean that, while those who lived before him hadn't ascended to heaven, from now on heaven would be open to all those who acknowledged him?

It is, certainly, far from the spirit of all of his other teachings for him to claim that no one but him would ever ascend to heaven. Often he spoke of people going there. Even to one of the criminals who were crucified with him, he said, "Verily I say unto thee, this day shalt thou be with me in paradise." (Luke 23:43)

As for his use of the past tense, he said (Matthew 8:11): "Many... shall sit down with Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven." Clearly his meaning here is that three, at least, of the ancient prophets had been welcomed into heaven.

What this passage offers, then, is a simple but important truth. As the ancient philosopher Plotinus put it: "Like only can comprehend like."  

Jesus here is explaining how it is possible for human beings to ascend to heaven — and, by extension, to know Truth. How? Because it is from heaven that we have all descended! We are children of God, of His light; and not — except in the blindness of our material delusion — the offspring of darkness and sin.

Jesus differed from unenlightened mortals in that he had descended from that realm consciously. He spoke from his own experience. As he put it to Nicodemus, prior to the passage quoted above: "Verily, verily, I say unto thee, We speak that which we do know, and testify that which we have seen."

Jesus was underscoring the authority with which he spoke when he referred to "the Son of Man who is in heaven." A great master lives consciously in the astral realm, even as he does on this material plane of existence. Communication is as easy and natural for him with the inhabitants of that world as it is for the people of this one.

Heaven, in this passage, refers to the higher regions of the astral universe — that world which exists behind the gross atoms of the material universe. The astral universe is a vast region of light and energy — similar in appearance, though not in substance, to the world around us. In fact, the entire physical universe is only a projection of that subtler level of universal creation.

Man's physical body, too, is a projection of his astral body, which in fact it resembles. When in death he abandons his earthly form, he goes on living in his astral body, and in the astral world. There, he continues to experience whatever predominant state of consciousness he created for himself while on earth. The major difference between the astral world and this world is that, there, his awareness is no longer enclosed in the dense cocoon of matter. Whatever he experiences after death of happiness or misery is, consequently, intensified.

If, while on earth, he expressed kindness to others, and loved God, his joy in the heavenly world is extreme. But if on earth he lived selfishly, and acknowledged no other reality than his own, after death he will find himself abandoned in his ego, and utterly alone. Discovering nothing external on which to feed his egoic desires, because hemmed in by the fog of self-involvement, he may see nothing anywhere but darkness, and may therefore experience only fear and suffering.

Jesus' statement in this verse makes it clear also that man's physical body could not survive in the subtle astral realms. It is in his astral body that he ascends to heaven: that which "came down from heaven." Jesus, however, awake as he was in God, could maintain uninterrupted his conscious identity  as the Son of man — that is to say, as a human being — while living simultaneously as an angelic being in the astral world. Thus, he was able to speak of his body as being even then in heaven.

It is important to realize that heaven is man's divine birthright. As children of Light, darkened though our vision be by our attachment to matter, there is a center deep within each of us where divine Truth can be recognized.

Meditate, then, whenever you read the Bible. Hold the words up to God's holy presence within you, and to your own superconsciousness. For you have potentially the power, if you choose to develop it, to attain the heavenly heights. Remember always: It is from those heights that your soul descended to earth.

At the same time, be humble. Know that, as you have the potential to develop your own latent spirituality, so there must be others who even now are more spiritually developed than you — masters, too, who can say with Jesus, "We speak that which we do know, and testify that which we have seen."

With humility, such as true saints have shown, you will behold the sun of divine awakening rising gradually in the firmament of your consciousness. Then will every shadow of doubt be dispelled from your heart.

Thus, through the Holy Bible, God has spoken to mankind.

This passage is from the fifteenth Chapter, the 11th Stanza:

"Seekers of union with the Lord find Him dwelling in their own hearts. But those who, lacking in wisdom, seek Him with impure motives, cannot perceive Him however much they struggle to do so."

Commentary

Here the Bhagavad Gita is saying that we must seek God with no other desire than union with Him. The ancient philosopher Plotinus said, "Like only can comprehend like." God is the Lord of Love. Only through pure, self-giving love for Him can we know Him. This, again, is the deeper meaning of the Biblical commandment, "Thou shalt have no other gods before Me."

Many superficial devotees imagine that because the Scriptures say we are the children of God, they need only affirm this truth mentally to experience it fully in themselves. The kingdom of God is not for such spiritual dilettantes.

Those who do not try to follow the rules of moral conduct, and who practice yoga methods without deep interest and devotion, will not receive the spiritual benefits they look for.

Many students of yoga perform the techniques in a haphazard way; then wonder why they do not "get anywhere," and why they fail to feel communion with the Infinite even after apparently serious meditation. Scriptural statements to the effect that we have come from God are meant to encourage and inspire us to exert ourselves with zeal. They are certainly not meant to lull us with false reassurances regarding our present realities! As long as we give prime importance to the ego, and follow even the spiritual path for motives other than perfect union with God, we must remain in delusion.

Heavenly happiness in God, so the Scriptures solemnly declare, is our divine birthright. But we must diligently, unsparingly, and with deep attention remove the rust of egoism and self-seeking from the mirror of our consciousness, if we would find the Lord's ever-shining presence reflected there.

Thus, through the Bhagavad Gita, God has spoken to mankind.

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Longest Reading from the Book
The Promise of Immortality

#12 We Are Children of Light
("Heaven Is Our Birthright" in the original book)

Jesus Christ said, “No man hath ascended up to heaven but him that came down from heaven: [even so] the Son of man who is in heaven.” (John 3:13)

This passage comes from a verbal exchange between Jesus and Nicodemus in which Jesus hinted somewhat obliquely at certain deep truths. His words were obviously not intended for those whose outlook on life was too literal, for much of his imagery was poetic and, indeed, symbolic. He said, for example, in addition to the above verse: “The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit.” Further on he said, “As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up”: a statement that has been taken as referring to his coming crucifixion, although the context of that exchange was not historical, but mystical. To intrude into this discussion the subject of Christ’s death on the cross makes little or no sense considered even in terms of his atonement for people’s sins. The statement is meaningful for those only who, during deep meditation, have experienced the movements of consciousness and energy within the spine.

Jesus, when speaking of “heaven,” usually referred to God-consciousness and not to the beautiful world to which good people go after death. The average idea of heaven is a place where people live in bodies much like their present ones, but made of light. Such a “place,” so to speak, does exist. What Jesus is saying in this passage could therefore be applied to both levels of reality. His primary meaning, however, is that everyone can find God, for it was from Him that we have all descended. His statement is also true if we apply it to the higher astral worlds, for it is from our astral bodies that our physical bodies were projected. He goes on to state, in effect, “I myself came from there, and live even now in that state of consciousness. Therefore I know from experience what I’m talking about.”

Jesus Christ came to reassure people of God’s love. The above passage, however, might easily be taken as intended not to reassure, but to discourage, for it might sound as if Jesus were saying that only he will ever go to heaven. It is already an established dogma, in fact, that only Jesus Christ is, and ever will be, one with God. Many Christians consider it a dogma also that, since he tells us in this passage that no one but him ever “came down” from heaven, our normal state after death would be eternal damnation were it not for his atonement for us on the cross. It seems difficult to believe that people could hold such a dismal view of God, who is All Love, but there are those who find a sort of inspiration in the thought that they themselves are fortunate, and that others, by comparison, are unfortunate.

Could Jesus possibly have meant, “I’ve come down here to tell you how great I am, and how wretched you all are”? Absurd! Even to a criminal who was crucified with him Jesus said, “Verily I say unto thee, this day shalt thou be with me in paradise.” (Luke 23:43)

Again, could he have meant that not even the prophets before him had gone to heaven? Certainly not! In Matthew (8:11) he said, “Many . . . shall sit down with Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven.” Obviously, he was implying that Abraham and those others were “in heaven” already. They must, according to this passage, have descended from heaven in the first place. What did his words mean, then, “No man hath ascended up to heaven”? Obviously, he didn’t mean literally that no one before him had ever gone to heaven. Nor did he suggest, then, that in the natural course of events we ourselves would be banned from there.

His meaning is, as we said, subtle. It doesn’t, however, support literalist preachings that insist on depicting God as an old man with a white beard seated on a golden throne, with Jesus Christ by his side. What Jesus meant was akin to the parable of the Prodigal Son: that going to heaven means a return to our own true home. No man can ascend to heaven until he has realized that heaven is where he belongs. Patanjali, a great exponent of yoga in ancient India, stated that divine awakening is a process of smriti, or remembering. It was this truth that Jesus proclaimed. The very promise he brought to mankind was the declaration: “You are children of God’s light, not of darkness and sin.” It is not presumptuous on our part to claim heaven as our divine birthright. We came from God, and are forever part of Him. It would be presumptuous only if we claimed that this birthright can be ours for the mere asking (“by faith,” is the common expression), and that it needn’t be earned by arduous effort.

Jesus is saying that our souls came from God, and that we belong in Him. We have wandered far from that eternal perfection, acquiring many false identities along the way, but that state is our eternal reality. We are God’s; He is ours. Any other identity is born of delusion, and false.

Jesus underscored his authority to announce this truth by adding, “the Son of Man who is in heaven.” This shift in tense from the past to the present is significant. A great master lives simultaneously in the manifested universe and beyond it in the Supreme Spirit. His omnipresence includes all the subtler worlds. It is as natural and easy for him to communicate with the inhabitants of those realms as with the people of earth.

Heaven, here, may indeed be taken as referring also to the higher regions of the astral universe, for it is from them that the material universe, and therefore our own physical bodies, were projected. The atoms of the gross material universe are simply lower vibrations of astral energy. The astral plane actually resembles the material in appearance also.

Our physical bodies, too, are projections of our astral bodies, and resemble them. When a person dies, he leaves his earthly form but lives on in his astral body, and in the astral universe. There, he experiences whatever state of consciousness was predominant in him while he lived on earth. The major difference between the astral and material worlds is that a person’s awareness is no longer weighted down by matter. His feelings therefore can express themselves freely, and tend to be vivid—even as one’s emotions may be, in dreams. Whatever of happiness or misery has been habitual for one on earth becomes intensified in the world of energy. If his consciousness here was dark, heavy, and steeped in materialism, his negative emotions, there, will be strong. He will be driven by powerful gusts of rage, fear, or vindictiveness. If on earth he lived selfishly, acknowledging no one’s needs but his own, he will find himself alone there, and abandoned. Finding nothing external on which to fix his desires, he lives enclosed in a grey fog of self-preoccupation, in many cases believing that nothing but darkness exists. Thus, he experiences, as the Bhagavad Gita puts it, “great fear and colossal sufferings.”

If, on the other hand, while on earth he expressed kindness to others, and more so still if he loved God, the joy he knows in the astral regions will be intense.

Jesus’ statement in the above passage means that only that part of man can go back to heaven, or to God, which came down from there. Man’s physical body could not survive in those non-material realms. His jealousy and pride would make it intolerable for him to be surrounded by radiant love. His ego could never withstand what Paramhansa Yogananda called “the liberating shock of omnipresence.”

There are accounts of great souls having been assumed into heaven in their physical bodies. The dogma of the bodily Assumption of the Virgin Mary is, among Christians, a prominent example. Many similar events are described in the Hindu teachings as well. What those accounts mean is that, with the attainment of perfect spiritual purity, the transition after death is unbroken; one passes on to a higher state without any loss of consciousness. It would not be literally possible, however, to retain one’s physical body on non-physical levels of existence, any more than it would be possible in this physical body to stand on a cloud. What appears in heaven is, rather—especially in the case of a liberated being—a transformation of the physical body itself into astral energy.

Jesus, being fully awake in the Spirit, was constantly identified with the subtlest spiritual realms, even while he lived on earth as the “Son of man.” Even here, he was simultaneously conscious of himself in infinity. For in the state of union with God (nirbikalpa samadhi is the Sanskrit name for it), it is possible to maintain that perfect awareness even while living and acting in the physical body. Thus, Jesus could say that his astral body, too, was even at that moment in heaven.

It is important to realize that heaven is our divine birthright. By heaven is not meant only the attainment of some high astral sphere, but union with the infinite Spirit. As children of God’s light, darkened though we are by present matter-identification, there exists a center within each one of us where that divine Truth dwells and can be known.

The truth offered in this passage has been stated many times through the centuries. The Greek philosopher Plotinus said, “Like only can comprehend like.” The Bhagavad Gita makes this point even more clearly. It explains also the reason why it is not easy to enter into that beatific state. Krishna, in the fifteenth Chapter, states:

“Seekers of union with the Lord find Him dwelling in their own hearts. But those who, lacking in wisdom, seek Him with impure motives cannot perceive Him, however much they struggle to do so.”

To know God, we must first become aware of our “descent from heaven.” We must seek God with no other motive than to unite our souls with Him. “Like only can comprehend like.” God is Love. Only by pure, self-giving love is it possible to know Him. This is the true meaning of God’s commandment to Moses: “Thou shalt have no other gods before Me.”

Superficial devotees may imagine that, since the scriptures claim we are all children of God, we need only to accept this truth in order to experience it. Like only, however, can comprehend like. It is not by the intellect, but by soul-intuition that we can realize God. Divine attainments are not available to spiritual dilettantes. One’s aspiration must be earnest. We must follow inwardly as well as outwardly the rules of right and moral conduct. We must practice yoga meditation techniques or other methods for attaining deep concentration. We must pray with devotion. And we must above all seek divine communion.

Many spiritual aspirants practice the teachings haphazardly, and then wonder why they never seem to “get anywhere.” Scriptural reassurances that we came from God are given to encourage and inspire us toward zeal. They are not intended to lull us to spiritual complacency! As long as, in efforts to save ourselves from drowning, we cling to the tiny straw of ego-consciousness, there is no hope of our saving ourselves. We must relinquish our grip on this straw and swim bravely on, full of faith in our divine destiny. As long, however, as we seek even God and Truth from motives other than complete union with Him, we shall never escape the swirling currents of delusion. Death will claim us again and again for its own.

Heavenly happiness—so the scriptures declare—is ours by right. But we must work to achieve it! To find the divine presence reflected in our consciousness, we must diligently rub away from our mental mirrors all the rust of egoism.

It is not enough, then, merely to read the scriptures: We must hold their teachings up to the watchful Presence within us, which is our own superconscious Self. For we have potentially within us the power to attain the highest spiritual peak. We need only to make that simple choice to attain it—alas, not an easy one! Remember always, therefore: It was from the heights that, eons ago, you descended!

Every scripture gives a further, and enormously important, caution: Be humble! Know that, as you have the potential to develop spiritual wisdom, so there are countless others who, even at present, are more spiritually advanced than yourself: masters, even, who can say as Jesus did to Nicodemus, “We speak that which we do know, and testify to that which we have seen.” Don’t think of yourself as the lead runner in a pack of spiritual laggards. Think of yourself as the last one among countless devotees before you who have earnestly sought, and have finally attained, the one goal in life that is worth seeking. “Like only can comprehend like.” Identify yourself with those who are trying deeply to attain God, not with those who are still deeply asleep and haven’t yet realized how spiritually unaware they are. To pride oneself on being more spiritual than they is to identify oneself with them. Identify yourself, rather, with those whom you would join. Be only grateful that you have discovered, however belatedly, the truths you sought for so long, truths that can mean the difference between life and death—for yourself, and for those whom you love. Instead of a foolish “holier than thou” attitude, think what a sluggard you’ve been compared with countless millions before you!

If you maintain the humility that great saints and masters have demonstrated in their lives, you will in time behold the sun of divine awakening rise in the firmament of your consciousness. Then will the shadows of doubt be dispelled at last, and you will find yourself in the position, not of one who has found a sunken treasure and doesn’t want others to find out about it, but of an artist who, having been enraptured by an extraordinarily beautiful sunset, wants to capture it on canvas and share it with everyone.

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