A Discussion With Manatita on Spiritual Philosophy - Part 3
Man is by nature a lover. Only he has yet to discover the real thing to love. This quest awakens him to the fulfillment of his real Self.
— Sri ChinmoyAn Ongoing Adventure
In the second part of this spiritual adventure, my Brother, Manatita helped me, and I hope you too, to approach the idea of Karma. In this third part, we will continue with some more questions about the Karma and the tricky term of “evil”. I hope you'll enjoy it as I did.
Spiritual Adventure, Part 3
Ioannis: “Grace is always the last word and Karma can be nullified, either by God or the intervention of a God-realized Soul.”
Thank you, my Brother, for your Love, your tolerance and your willingness to help. Your words are what I wanted to express, but my lack of understanding could not allow me to do! That is the core of my belief.
A God-realized Soul can change the end or let it happen because this Soul, being in constant conscious contact with God, can understand what is best for us all. Something like Jesus did at the Mount of Olives, I think! As higher the level of spiritual evolution is, as fewer "clouds of misunderstanding".
I know that I have a lot of missing points in my understanding, my Brother, not only that, which is the reason why this discussion is a higher blessing to me. At the same time is the source of my next question.
Do you believe that our understanding, as we are members of this world, depends on the relative knowledge? Namely, to know the Light, do I have to face the darkness? Or there are other ways too?
Manatita: Always stay positive. Do not belittle yourself. I have weak points too. By the way, I said that the Master does not change it, according to the Will of the Supreme. Masters of the highest order do have the capacity, but they do not act contrary to the Higher Law… the Will of God. Can be confusing, I know. Christ is a good example … Ηim dying on the cross.
Sri Chinmoy has a very beautiful prayer, which I have paraphrased in my book called ‘Maxims for Our Children: A Look at the Teachings of Jesus, the Christ.’ Here he basically talks of The Avatar, (A direct descendant of God) as God’s slave. He has no will of his own and does basically whatever the Supreme wants or sees as being more beneficial for His Creation.
Sri Chinmoy Sings Avatar Songs
Yes, yes. Guruji teaches that Light must descend into darkness … that there is no other way. Other Masters say the same thing in different ways. They tell us that struggle or adversity is necessary … that the soul, even though it is in isolation from God (Rumi), comes here for necessary experience. Even that of your own wife and children, would be different from yours. Still, you are growing together as a family.
Karma is tied up in all that. There is a story where the Buddha had a very compassionate disciple. Like you bro, like you. Anyway, he saw through his psychic vision that something terrible was going to happen to a village, so he told the Buddha about it. The Buddha smiled and decided to do nothing.
The disciple was upset, and so when the fatal day came, he used his occultic powers, to hide the village into a very tiny place. The story goes that the powerful plague, turned itself into a tiny piece of destruction, entered the village and all died. You see, the Buddha saw quite clearly that it had to happen and did not intervene.
Vivekananda was quite a powerful soul and yet when he saw death approaching, three times he went to an occultist to prolong his life. You see, he had much good work to do. Three times Ramakrishna, his Guru, appeared to him with a sorrowful face. The wise say that Ramakrishna, even from the other world, had the capacity to save his life, but he knew that Vivekananda’s time had come. Vivekananda finally understood the message.
The great dacoit Angulimal, killed many people and also tried to kill the Buddha. He became the Buddha’s disciple finally (long story), but was finally stoned to death by his own village. He too, had to bear his cross and he bore it well.
Finally, Grace is the other way. Some get this, such as Arjuna in the Mahabharata, but most don’t. It seems that the soul itself wants the experience. Let me send you a million dollars every Friday and you will say: “Wow! Cool!” You can feed your wife and children. But a day will dawn … ten years, twenty years, sixty years … when you realize that all your friends and colleagues are working and you will wish to work than have the money free.
Such is the nature of the soul. Karma is tied up with all this, and so is Grace, self-effort and reincarnation. They are all connected. There is a piece on fate and grace written by Sri Chinmoy, let me quote it for you:
“There is a world which is infinitely higher than the planets. From there we can easily create and we can also delete anything in our fate. If we delete what is there, then we can add something new. Your fate can also be adjusted by the grace of the Supreme. If a seeker is very highly developed and gets considerable grace, either from God or from a great spiritual Master, then the planets cannot influence that seeker.
Even if one is an ordinary seeker, if the Master intervenes, then the planets cannot do anything … God’s Grace can change anybody’s fate. This Grace is almighty; it changes the occult possibilities and transcends the laws of astrology, which are God’s cosmic laws.” –Sri Chinmoy
I think that this is sufficient about Karma for the time being. Still it is connected and a very significant cosmic Law. We can ask other questions and come back to this later, as there are three types of Karma. It is also a complex subject. For the time being, let me leave you with three quotes that may be useful for the aspiring seeker:
“The law of karma applies to everyone and at the same time one can transcend it by one's meditation. The law of karma exists and at the same time it can be transcended by realization, oneness with God and by the power of spirituality…” –Sri Chinmoy
The next quote is powerful … authoritative:
“In the case of an ordinary, unaspiring person, karmic dispensation is unavoidable, inevitable. The law of karma is always binding; like a snake it will coil around him. He has to pay the toll, the tax; the law of karma is merciless …” –Sri Chinmoy
Now here’s a very promising piece which is in line with what the great Yogi’s say:
“…If I shed bitter tears and cry for forgiveness, then naturally God's compassion will dawn on me. When a person enters into the spiritual life, his karma can easily be nullified if it is the Will of God operating through a spiritual Master. Slowly God's infinite grace can nullify the results of his bad karma and expedite the results of his good karma.” –Sri Chinmoy
Ioannis: Oh! This was an absolutely clarifying answer, my Brother, and the three quotes of Sri Chinmoy's wisdom were redeeming!
I think we have created a solid base to continue this discussion with some questions that often I have been asked by my young students.
The first one is about something that torments the heart of many young people when they face our world. They ask:
"How can a God of Love and Mercy allow to evil rules the world?"
Manatita: This is a very popular and also a tricky question, nearly always leading to unclear answers. Still, I’ll do my best.
First we have to see God holistically, so to speak – from the highest viewpoint. The Beloved Absolute Supreme is all Light … Love, Existence, Consciousness-Bliss (Sat, Chit …Ananda.) He is above evil. But on a lower level of Creation, man has ‘limited freedom.’
The cow is tied with a very long rope and so it sometimes strays into its neighbour's garden, to continue eating grass. Here you can say that it is misusing its choice of judgments. This all happens because of what I have spoken of here a few times. Ignorance, in the sense of limitations, bondage, imperfections and negative traits. Sri Chinmoy also speaks of undivine or hostile forces playing their part or roles.
I suppose you can say that the cow lives in the room of the mind, which is dark and frightening, whereas the Heart is all Light, like a child. Again, there is only Consciousness/Spirit/God. There is nothing outside Consciousness and so what we call evil, is part and parcel of the plan. Yoga Philosophy speaks of no evil or darkness, but a lesser Light. Sin is also an impediment or obstacle, standing in the way of Love. It is that which binds us.
Since we are learning in and through suffering and adversity, they have Light to some extent. They are pathfinders, only in a lesser form. Sri Chinmoy teaches that everything is ultimately sanctioned, approved or tolerated by the Supreme, as there is no alternative from God’s point of view.
God is in everything. He is in strychnine and other poisons, but we do not consciously gravitate to them. Our desires are usually for pleasure … things that bind us … brings pain. The problem is that many do not accept God’s Justice as well as they accept His compassion, which is really Mercy in disguise.
God loves us all. He is above both good and evil, but in the process of spiritual evolution, He walks with us as we experience suffering. Ultimately, everything is an experience and the Beloved is having this experience, in and through us.
End of part 3.
To be continued… (link to part 4)
The Book
© 2018 Ioannis Arvanitis