Sunday Service Reading #31

From Rays of the One Light
How Democratic is Truth?
(to long readings)

TRUTH IS ONE AND ETERNAL. Realize oneness with it in your deathless Self, within. The following commentary is based on the teachings of Paramhansa Yogananda.

We live in an age when people assume that knowledge should be available equally to all. In matters susceptible of judgment by normal common sense, however, everyone knows there are exceptions. Access to a control room for intercontinental missiles is limited, by universal consent, to a very few. Access to the controls of a passenger airliner is limited to those with the necessary knowledge for operating them, and also to those with the proper authorization. If people don't see the disadvantages of making more subtle knowledge universally available, it is only because they are ignorant of the risks involved.

In the case of subtle knowledge, the main disadvantage in making it universally available is the harm it might do to one who isn’t ready for it, and who might even mock it. True, by mocking truth he might undermine the faith of a few truth seekers. But then, such tests can also be beneficial, as a means of strengthening faith. Again true, the clever doubter's misrepresentation of those truths may dissuade a few seekers from following the spiritual path. But if a seeker really is sincere, he will recognize the truth eventually because it resonates with his own being.

No, the greatest problem accrues to the shallow doubter himself. To give him an opportunity to affirm his ignorance might only estrange him even more from the truth, delaying the time when he will turn—as all people must, eventually—to the light.

Thus, the Scriptures advise, not secrecy, but discretion in the sharing of truth. Jesus Christ says in the Gospel of St. Matthew, Chapter 7:

Give not that which is holy unto dogs, neither cast ye your pearls before swine, lest they trample them under their feet, and turn again and rend you.

And Sri Krishna says in the eighteenth Chapter of the Bhagavad Gita:

Never speak of these truths to one who is without self-control or devotion, who renders no service, who does not care to hear, or who speaks ill of Me.

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

VIDEO of Asha's Service on this Subject from 8-1-10

MP3 for Download (or online listening) of Asha's Service on this Subject from 8-1-10

VIDEO of Anandi's Service on this Subject from 8-1-10

MP3 For Download (or online listening) of Anandi's Service on this Subject from 8-1-10

VIDEO of Bharat's Service on this Subject from 8-2-09

MP3 For Download (or online listening) of of Bharat's Service on this Subject from 8-2-09

MP3 for Download (or online listening) of Asha's Service on this Subject from 8-2-09

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

#31 How Democratic is Truth?
(Titled: The Need for Inner Preparedness in Rays of the Same Light)

This passage is from the Gospel of St. Matthew, Chapter 7, Verse 6:

"Give not that which is holy unto the dogs, neither cast ye your pearls before swine, lest they trample them under their feet, and turn again and rend you."

Commentary

In this passage, Jesus makes clear a truth that we find often denied: namely, that people live on different levels of understanding, and, contrary to modern dogma, are not all equally capable of self-development.

In passing, another aspect of this passage may be pointed out: Jesus' sense of humor, evident in his exaggerated reference to those who are unfit for spiritual training!

The people of his times were accustomed in their social intercourse to a certain hearty give-and-take. The niceties of debate were not always observed. Rather, it seems to have been the practice to launch into descriptions of the other party that may generously be classed as low on the scale of flattery. Jesus found, no doubt, that he could reach his audiences more effectively if he sometimes resorted to hyperbole. A speaker must, after all, know how to relate to his listeners on their terms.

Nevertheless, this comparison of people of, shall we say, sleeping spirituality to dogs and swine displayed a certain vigor in the Master's personality that is often overlooked by those who prefer to think of him as sad, unsmiling, and wanly pensive — the sort of person, in short, who is forever given to understatement, and who would certainly never resort to the rather robust exaggeration of the facts that we find here.

Few people in this modern age of frowning fair-mindedness would dare to condemn so sweepingly an entire class of humanity with whose values they disagreed.

It is reasonably clear that Jesus was speaking humorously — even, if we can imagine it, with a certain impish smile. For the alternative would have to be that he was expressing intolerance, even anger. Negative attitudes such as these are evidence of spiritual ignorance, not of wisdom. Nor do we ever find Jesus, on those occasions where he showed his feelings unequivocally, expressing anything but kindness and compassion for all.

We draw attention to the humor in this passage primarily to make the point that spirituality is not a refuge for weaklings. Only bold, energetic spirits can ever expect to achieve divine awareness.

To proceed to the true point of this passage, Jesus was saying that people whose minds and hearts are closed to the truth, whether from predilection or incapacity, should not have it crammed down their throats. From his words, it is clear that he was not in favor of the sort of proselytizing that so many Christians have carried out since then in his name.

It was one thing for Jesus to tell his disciples, in Matthew 10:14, "Whosoever shall not receive you, nor hear your words, when ye depart out of that house or city, shake off the dust of your feet." In that case, their listeners would at least have had a chance to hear the message first before rejecting it. In the present passage, however, Jesus was saying, "Don't even share with such people in the first place."

It is not always easy to recognize people who are potentially hostile to the truth, unless one first gives them at least an opportunity to reveal their true inclinations. Dogs and swine are recognizable at a glance. It is more difficult to tell when people are closed spiritually.

For anyone who believes that sinners are damned for all eternity, it would be unthinkable not to do the maximum possible to save them from this appalling fate. Why did Jesus tell his disciples, in effect, to leave the blind to their own blindness? Such an attitude is conceivable only if we assume that he saw nothing so pressing as condemnation to eternity in hell for those who rejected the truth.

The fact that Jesus was not in favor of converting everyone to his teachings can only mean that in his view people have not only the right, but also the possibility, to arrive at the truth at their own speed — that they have all eternity, if need be, not to suffer, but to grow in wisdom. Eternity in hell, then, cannot be the fate of sinners after death, as orthodox Christians generally believe. Eternity is given to us, rather, to continue our upward climb toward our souls' true destiny: union with God.

Jesus' mission was qualitative first, quantitative only secondarily. We find the qualitative aspect demonstrated in the present passage. We find it again in his words, which he often reiterated: "He that hath ears to hear, let him hear." Always, he made it clear that his deeper teachings were intended for those who were ready to receive them. He wasn't reaching out to the whole of mankind, except in a general sense. To the woman of Canaan he even said, "I am not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel." (Matthew 15:24)

The ordinary churchgoer's view of salvation is absolutist: Either the soul is saved, or it is damned forever. This view developed not out of Jesus' teachings, but out of the contact between his teachings and the Greco-Roman world, where absolute alternatives formed the recognized basis of logic.

In Jesus' counsel not to "give that which is holy unto dogs," we see then that he accepted evolution in human consciousness as a self-evident fact. Our own democratic era denies inequality of talent and intelligence. Divine realities, however, cannot be voted into or out of existence by mere opinion, nor altered by opinion polls. Mankind grows only gradually toward perfection.

Even in the science of biology, it is an axiom that Nature never evolves by sudden leaps.

Every devotee, therefore, must look ahead to see how he might become progressively more worthy of God's grace.

It is important to understand the words here in their best sense. For Jesus never showed himself callous toward others. To withhold deeper explanations of truth from people who are unreceptive to them, however, may well be the only way of attracting them eventually to embrace the truth, on the tested principle that forbidden fruits taste sweeter. To inflict teachings on them, however, before they are ready to receive them may only build up in them a subconscious resistance to truth that might remain with them all their lives.

People are not all equally ready for the truth. To force calculus on a child before he has learned preliminary mathematics would be useless, and might well cause him to grow up hating math. Every human being needs to develop at his own natural pace.

Spiritual truths, then, should be taught selectively. This is not to say that we have no right to them, eventually. On a deeper soul-level, the highest truths are ours eternally. They are never denied us, but are only withheld, temporarily, until our receptivity equals the power of the revelation they contain.

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

Bhagavad Gita

God's Nectar Is For the Thirsty    

This passage is from the 18th Chapter, the 67th Stanza:

"Never speak of these truths to one who is without self-control or devotion, who renders no service, who does not care to hear, or who speaks ill of Me."

Commentary

It is common to find Scriptural warnings not to share high teachings with people who are not capable of understanding them. Jesus, as well, taught his disciples truths which he felt it necessary to withhold from the multitudes.

This passage of the Bhagavad Gita is doubly interesting, for it presents the disqualifications in terms of their opposite virtues: "One who is without self-control ... who performs no service," etc. Thus, it shows us also how to qualify for higher teachings: Quite simply, these are the virtues that we need to develop.

We see here an ever-inspiring feature of this great Scripture. Even in addressing sin, it does so in such a way as to offer positive guidance. Never does it leave even the least worthy without hope.

The first reference in this passage is to people who are without self-control. Such persons are not capable of perceiving reality on subtler than sensory levels. Their lack of self-discipline makes them unceasingly restless. Incapable of concentration, their equanimity battered by life's ups and downs, they are a constant prey to confusion.

Worldly people are like someone who is fond of the noise and glitter of a night club, but feels uneasy before the beauty of a moonlit lake. The mind of one without self-control is like a milk pail riddled with holes. No matter how much milk is poured into it, it all leaks out again.

Those who want to develop spiritually must learn to control their senses. An excellent means of doing so is through the practice of yoga concentration techniques. These techniques help the devotee to hold his senses in check by the reins of his will.

Next, the Gita says not to teach deep truths to those who lack devotion. Such people, too, are foreigners to spiritual insight. By devotion alone can that unitive consciousness be comprehended which is the essence of wisdom.

The nature of the intellect is to analyze, to see how this concept differs from that. It is, on the other hand, the special quality of the heart, once its emotions have been transmuted into calm feeling, to sense the underlying unity in diversity, and to understand the soul's eternal affinity for God.

No matter how intelligent a person may be, by intellect alone he will never grasp divine truths. Vital to spiritual insight is intuitive feeling — again, a heart faculty. Intellectual understanding is theoretical, and therefore, essentially vicarious. Intuition alone is experiential.

God is Love. As a radio program can only be heard clearly over a radio that is properly tuned to it, so the devotee can receive divine inspiration only when his consciousness is tuned to the proper "wavelength" of truth — that is to say, in the upliftment of divine love.

Even in a classroom, where lessons are normally taught intellectually, those students are most likely to draw from the teacher who love the subject they are studying. How much more necessary is it, then, for the devotee to love God!

Again, as poetry is not for those who prefer to read stock market reports, so divine truths are not for those whose minds are occupied with hunting for spiritual bargains. As Jesus Christ put it, "Father ..., thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent, and hast revealed them unto babes." (Matthew 11:25)

The Bhagavad Gita tells us, further, that high spiritual teachings should be withheld from those who render no service. Many self-styled devotees think only of achieving spiritual gains for themselves. They are not interested in giving of themselves to God, or to God through others. Spiritual progress, for such seekers, is not possible, for it affirms the very egoism which spiritual practices are designed to overcome.

That person alone who understands the path in terms of self-offering can attune himself to God's grace. For grace, too, is a self-offering, on God's part, of love. By giving of oneself, the heart's chalice becomes emptied and cleansed, making it possible thereby for God to fill it with His light.

The Bhagavad Gita says that divine teachings should be withheld also from those who do not care to hear them. This means — taking the positive interpretation — that one's readiness to learn depends on how intensely one does care — in other words, on how fervently one longs for God.

There is a story about a boy who went to a saint to learn from him. The saint led him down to a nearby lake. There he pushed his head under water, and held it until the boy began to kick frantically. Releasing him then, he inquired, "What did you want just now, more than anything else?"

"Air!" cried the boy, inhaling it in great gulps.

"Come back to me," rejoined the saint, "when you want God just as badly. I will gladly teach you then."

The final disqualifying condition listed in this stanza of the Bhagavad Gita is that, for one to be worthy of receiving divine teachings, he must not speak ill of the Lord.

How, one might wonder, would anyone who spoke ill of Him need even to be disqualified? Wouldn't he solve the problem by simply refusing to be taught?

There are many, however, who seem willing enough to receive divine teachings, but who in fact are curiosity seekers rather than devotees. One way of speaking ill of the Lord is to cheapen His teachings. This, curiosity seekers do. Another way is to seek truth with the attitude of a habitual fault-finder.

The no-saying principle is an oft-encountered trait in human nature. It exists not only among worldly people, but even among devotees. This quality arises from inner resistance to the soul's natural impulse to expand in God.

The carping critic typically tells himself that he likes arguing only because he wants to arrive at the truth of a matter honestly. The Gita, however, emphasizes here that the fault-finding tendency actually prevents people from arriving at higher perceptions of truth. Fault-finding, indeed, belongs to a lower level of mentation.

It is faith that is needed to perceive the truth, and to understand it at its depths. Such perception comes as an intuitive flow. To know what a river feels like, one must enter its water. It would be pointless to stand on the bank and complain that the water might make him wet.

To sum up the Gita's teaching in this stanza, then: To know God, one must renounce worldly attitudes and behavior; he must be willing to live not in the ego, but in soul-consciousness. That person alone is fit to receive divine teachings who is self-controlled; who has devotion to God; who renders loving service to God through others; who longs to hear the truth spoken; and who — far from speaking ill of God — sings His name in his heart wherever he goes, ever reverently and with joy.

Thus, through the Bhagavad Gita, God has spoken to mankind. Back to Top of Page

Longest Reading from the Book
The Promise of Immortality
NOTE: This book ended at Reading #26.

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