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 Posted - Jul 08 2005 : 12:06:00 PM
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860 From: "Rasa Von Werder" <rasa@womanthouartgod.com>
Date: Thu Apr 28, 2005 8:59pm
Subject: CHRISTIANITY & YOGA - WHY THEY BELONG TOGETHER rasavonwerder
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By "Guru" Rasa Von Werder
Read this & Rasa'a other teachings on Yoga , Mystical Union With
God, Dreams & Visions, et al, on:
http://www.womanthouartgod.com
Christianity and Yoga - can they be One? Can they, in any way, be
united? What stands them apart, and what makes them the same? Are
they totally different or not? In what way are they different, in
what way similar? Is there anything they both agree on completely?
It all comes down to one word: suffering. The religion of Jesus
has a profound theology on suffering, yoga has not. (When I use the
word Christian and Jesus, I refer mostly to the theology of
Catholicism.) Contemplation belongs to both. Renunciation is the
same. But Suffering is not something yogis recommend, - they seem
to abhor it and teach us how to rise above it. Not that it stops
suffering! The world is full of it!
Life is full of it!
Contemplation is in both. This is the vision of God. Both
religions teach that to find God, we must pray. To yogis it's
Mantra or Japa and chanting. To Christians it's all kinds. There
are litanies, prayers of praise, petition, and thanksgiving,
personal and public prayers. Prayer, including silent prayer, along
with other practices, leads to contemplation, or the vision of
God. For yogis, meditation and mantra, along with other things,
leads to Nirvikalpa Samadhi, Nirvana, and Bliss. Here, Christian
and Yoga are the same.
Renunciation is also the same. You must not have ego. Christians
call it pride and selfishness; the opposite is humility and the
virtues of poverty, chastity and obedience. The East calls our ego
the big delusion, where we set apart a world that doesn't exist, a
framework or domain that we create in our minds. We have a fantasy
of who we are, but we are not that. Break that delusion of a
separate self, and ego dissapears. For Christians, it takes a lot
to break us of pride and selfishness. We must be humbled time and
time again before we are humble.
In the area of sin there is a slight difference. The East sees sin
more like darkness and delusion which cause one to stumble and make
mistakes, while Christianity sees sin as deliberate acts. (In fact,
a rule is that if you don't know it's sin, it is not. You have to
understand what you are doing, on some level at least.) The Eastern
way is that we must live again and again to evolve to a place where
our sinful nature dissapears, while the West is we have one chance
at it, and what we do in this lifetime is it. It's either Heaven,
Hell or Purgatory (Protestants don't believe in Purgatory,)
thereafter. At one time, Christians believed in reincarnation, then
they voted against it at one of the councils.
Christians say "we are all sinners." But yogis don't think that
way. They do not have our heavy burden of "guilt trips." We are
taught that we all come short of the glory of God, and even the
saintliest of souls had the "devil's advocate" accuse them before
they were declared fit for veneration. Yogis are supposed to
worship and imitate "living saints," but to Catholics and
Protestants, that is a no-no. With Catholics, you only honor them
when they're dead, to Protestants, never. (Only Jesus, they say.)
They have no registry of saints, and they do not systematically
praise their dead saints.
East and West both believe in Paradise or Heaven, as well as Hell
and demons, and Purgatory. But Hell and Purgatory is different to
yogis, since they believe in reincarnation, and so, it seems to me,
punishment is a temporary place of various degrees, where they
reside until they are born in another body.
I personally believe that Jesus was teaching Yoga when He
ministered. He taught seeing the guru as God, identification with
the guru (guru-bhava) and becoming him, transference of the power
and identity of the guru (initiation and shaktipat) through Holy
Communion, and other types of transmission. He was not a higher
form of Judaism, it was another religion altogether - yoga. (With a
Matriarchal stamp.) He was probably in India during the "lost
years" (twelve to thirty) and there is evidence of that. (Check
Vedanta Press in Hollywood.) Of course, Jewish men had no idea what
He was talking about, and turned Jesus into the One and Only
Incarnation of God - and no one comes to salvation but by Jesus.
Jesus taught and said many things that so-called Christians
misunderstood. But the thing I want to emphasize most here is the
difference - the absolute difference - between yoga and the
understanding on Jesus and suffering as it developed after Our Lord
died.
In our theology of Jesus, suffering plays an important part.
Because of this "dispensation", if you will, we have a sacred place
for suffering, and so, for us, suffering is a part of life that has
great utility and purpose. I like this point of view because I can
use my sufferings as ministry, and help others as well through it.
We suffer anyway - why not put it to good use? When I suffer, in
any way, be it physical, mental, emotional or spiritual, it all goes
first, to help souls in Purgatory. This is called "reparation for
sin." I unite myself with my Spouse, Jesus Christ, and receive his
infinite merits, joined to my limited merits. Then the reparation
carries infinite power, and souls are delivered. My suffering
cleanses me and gives me spiritual medals (Lights) which can be seen
upon my soul. The Divine Stigmata is the biggest one. It is seen
as rose Light coming out of the Heart Chakra. The terrible
sufferings caused by love cause the Heart Chakra to dilate, and make
it a giant. The big heart then has something most people do not
have - compassion. Our heart has to be awakened and enlarged before
we can have sensitivity to the pain of others, and truly have
charity for them.
I treasure my sufferings as some of the most important things in my
life, as they unified me with my first guru, Jesus Christ. We say,
to love him, and him CRUCIFIED is the mark of perfection. To love
him crucified, means we, as individuals, are also crucified! How
else could we be ONE with him? There, on the cross of our
unbearable pain, we are helpless, and we absolutely know we are with
him - the one we love. The worship of Jesus' wounds has the most
bittersweet quality. We learn to identify with each and every
wound, from his Crown of Thorns, to his nailed hands and feet, the
secret wound on his shoulder where He carried the wood, the terrible
Stripes which could have killed him, the Agony in the Garden before
his Passion, and last of all, the crem-de-la-crem of all suffering,
Divine Stigmata, which is martyrdom. I have found no teaching like
this in yoga. No theology of suffering, and no praise of
martyrdom. Perhaps it is there, but I have not seen it.
What is there, and extremely powerful, is the thesis of abstraction,
that place where one goes to be alone with God. Here yoga is
profound, (when I say yoga I include Buddhism, because after all, it
came from yoga and India) having points in theology not found in the
same depth and detail for Christians. The Atman being worshipped
frees a person from all outer forms of religions. Here, Christians
admit God is within us fully and completely, yet no one is
encouraged to worship the God Within. The Witness Consciousness
also explains, to Eastern practitioners, that bonding with the
Spirit, not the flesh, lets one see things objectively and
truthfully and gives one a great vantage point on life. Equality of
Consciousness - where all things are equal in God's mind - I cannot
find in Christianity. Man is always on top to Christianity, with
animals and others far below, where we humans, as "stewards" have a
wide berth with them. That we are the Spirit, not the body is in
both disciplines. Both Yoga and Buddhism agree that earthly desires
cause suffering, and suffering can and should be stopped.
Christianity believes that desires not of God are suspect, and
pursuing the things of the world and flesh should be put aside for
the Highest: "Only one thing is necessary..." (Magdalene at the
feet of Jesus) and "Put first the Kingdom of God, and all things
shall be added unto you." And then again, "What profit a man if he
gains the whole world, but loses his soul? For what shall he
exchange for his soul?" It is agreed in both that God is first, and
all other things second.
Now to the subject of suffering.
Why are yogis and Buddhist so against it, while Catholicism holds it
sacred, when united with Christ? How could these two great
religions disagree so strongly on a point that affects everyone? In
Catholicism, it is said that a mark of perfection is to be totally
one with the will of God, that whatever happens we must accept, good
or bad. The bad things - even attacks of the devil - God allows for
a reason. So all that happens, all calamities, accidents,
sicknesses, deaths and so on, must be accepted as the will of God.
This is called "uniformity with the will of God."
Yoga deplores suffering so much, that some yogis laugh at social
work, saying basically, that let people meet their own karma, you
have better things to do. Is this callousness, or are they putting
first the Kingdom of God, who is above the human condition, and
pursuing it? There is an argument on both sides. On the side of
suffering and the Mother Theresa's of the world, there is this:
Without suffering, compassion is not developed. How can you
understand the pain of another if you have not experienced it
yourself? And if you bore distress with love (not with hate) then
it gave you strength and wisdom. There is nothing more terrible
than the person on a cushion, who cares only for his own pleasure.
The one in the gutter is more likely to save another soul.
Which is right? Should we accept suffering or should we strive to
end it and reach Nirvana at all costs? The answer is that both are
right. Here is what I have found:
We humans are composed of two things, humanity and Divinity. Our
humanity is felt, primarily, in the Heart Chakra, or feeling part.
Our Divinity is present mostly in the Sahasrara, the illuminated
mind. When we go off to pray, and abstract ourselves, and fully
receive the vision of God, we are not suffering. In order to have
this vision, in fact, we have to leave behind the things which make
us suffer - all attachments and distractions. It is EXTREMELY
difficult to receive Enlightenment unless one goes off from family,
friends, and all ties. One must be alone with the Alone, for some
time, even if it is, like St. Catherine of Sienna, staying in her
room at home (meals being brought to her) FOR TWO FULL YEARS BEFORE
ENLIGHTENMENT! After the first great experience of God, one
continues the pursuit, and growth never stops. At this time, you
are above it all. In various states of contemplation, Nirvana,
Samadhi, you are to some degree, abstracted from all the cares of
the world. The world spins around you and evryone is suffering to
various degrees, but you don't feel it. You are FAR AWAY. You are
intimate, cacooned and embraced by God and you want and need for
nothing else. (I've been there, more than once, for months at a
time.) This cannot go on indefinitely. Why? Because, what are we
living for? Only ourselves? Does not God want to save everyone?
After being with God, we must come down from the mountain, in order
to bring this Light and Truth to others.
Now there are two ways of bringing this Light to others. There is
the way some yogis prefer, and that is, to remain abstracted as much
as possible, keeping some sort of a shield around them, be it
physical or emotional, and not letting others get under their skin.
This works for some people. They bring what they have to others but
refuse to get down "into the dirt and dirty". They might have a few
in the circle who protect them from the mob, they might work through
writing books. But then there are those who lower themselves to the
needy, in a way that by the nature of the job, requires suffering.
Jesus went to the people - with no curtain or shield - deliberately
seeking out sinners and outcasts - and Jesus LOVED. Is it right to
love? Not just in a supernatural way, but in a human way, so that
ones loves one's family and pets, and friends? And if they suffer,
you suffer? Of course it's right! Jesus loved his Holy Mother,
Mary Magdalene, Lazarus, all his friends and disciples, and every
sinner there ever was. He loved them enough to suffer for them.
Yes, he went to the wilderness to pray and touch base with "Father,"
but He always came back to love and suffer. Eventually, it cost him
his life, paving the way for all martyrs that went after him. You
do not have to be abstracted when you are saving souls. An
anointing works through whatever state you are in as an individual.
The anointing (shaktipat, power, gifts) is given not for your
pleasure, but for the sake of others, and it EVEN WORKS IF YOU FALL
FROM PERFECTION IN YOUR OWN PERSONAL SANCTITY!
In order to be fully developed, the human must taste both worlds.
When you enter samadhi, you must break attachments and be fully
absorbed in God. Later, you must descend into the lower world,
through compassion, and touch others. In my experience, both
disciplines, samadhi and bhakti, (abstraction and love) work one at
a time. If you are abstracted, your love is fully absorbed in God.
When you love others, that love flows horizontally to them, and
then, by the very nature of the act, your mind has to descend - as
mind follows action and focus. (Here again, there are variations.
Your mind does not descend when giving supernatural love, like
shaktipat or faith healing, but it does go lower to give natural
love, that which is given in compassion.) Now the vision of God
can be lost in pain, even the pain of saving souls. Indeed, the
greatest pain I know is fighting to lift souls out of darkness who
resist the love of God. If you want to be fully, absolutely and
perfectly developed, you must let God steer you to one state, then
another, from season to season. In Springtime, your heart grows,
and that means suffering. TO LOVE IS TO SUFFER. Then, in winter,
your mind grows, and that's by perfect contact with God. These work
in symbiosis. The vision of God dilates the heart. Then, charity
being given, opens up the mind. I have experienced time and again
that after forgiveness and charity, I have had revelation.
I might add one more thing. Nobody, not even Buddha or Ramakrishna,
could stay in a trance all the time. Reading Ramakrishna's life I
noted that he suffered agonies. Once he was going to kill himself
if God didn't reveal Herself to him. Another time, he was going mad
with desire to see the tarrying Vivekananda. Bhagwan Nityananda got
so angry at devotees, he used to beat them. If you look at all the
lives of the yogis, you have to read between the lines. Their
legends have made them seem above human life. I believe these
legends give a false impression, that their humanity was asleep.
These saints, Avatars and Incarnations of God, suffered. They had
people they loved. They grieved, they toiled, they cried. They
were not spirits or angels, they were flesh. Flesh feels, and
therefore, it suffers. For us to think that in order to imitate,
say, the Krishnas, the Chaitanyas, the Nityanandas that we must be
fully in samadhi all the time is a mistake. No, indeed, I tell you,
life is composed of two things. Yes, we try to stay on the upper
levels WHENEVER POSSIBLE. It is possible for short lengths of time -
for days, weeks or months. Years? I don't think so. You see, this
is not Heaven. In Heaven, all sufferings end, but not here. You
can reach Nirvana, but world comes back, feelings come back. Then
you must work with these feelings to grow a great soul's heart; at
the core, forgiveness, mercy and love. To live, to have association
with others, means suffering.
Here I have explained the two disciplines I practice, East and
West. I am closer to Jesus when I suffer, but when I must escape
pain, yoga is my best friend. That is why, to me, both religions
merge. I have incorporated into myself the principles of both.
Rasa Von Werder April 21, 2005 "GuruRasa"
861 From: "Adam West" <adamwest1@iprimus.com.au>
Date: Fri Apr 29, 2005 1:36am
Subject: Re: CHRISTIANITY & YOGA - WHY THEY BELONG TOGETHER fraterandros1
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Hello Rasa and all,
In response to Rasa's views on Yoga and Christianity, I thought I might offer a Realized Christian Mystic Adepts views on same. See below his introductory article and if you are interested follow the link to his site, where he has a bunch of free lessons on 'his' intuitively realized teachings on meditation practice. He is an advanced Yogi, but he does teach out of the Christian Mystical tradition. In my view, it becomes abundantly clear from the beginning that there is no conflict with his views and that of Yogani's and that of most other Adepts who speak from Realization, rather than Dogma :-)
In kind regards,
Adam.
http://www.chrmysticaloutreach.com/.../1/index.htm
All mysticism in every major religion on earth is about the one reality that once directly experienced completely changes a person's understanding of the nature of all existence: That is, directly experiencing the souls true nature in God. Please understand that this relationship can be directly experienced but also understand that this relationship is something that cannot be made totally real in our lives until it is directly experienced.
This site contains the lessons in contemplative prayer and Christian mysticism about our guide to this one reality that Jesus left to his followers two thousand years ago; the Holy Spirit. It can be heard, seen and felt within all of good heart and once open to it will guide and direct our lives to the reality that is God.
LM Richardson
Please Note: I can be reached at lmrichsn@yahoo.com and I do very much appreciate hearing of your experiences and comments, especially your experiences using the exercises in these lessons which I will continue to use in the lessons as examples of what others are doing. But please be advised that at this time I am spending extended periods away and cannot answer any of your questions directly. If your question has not already been answered in the lessons, I will add it to them as quickly as I can to the Q&A or appropriate section, so if you have written a question please check back in every couple of months. Thanks for your consideration in this. lmr
INTRODUCTION
There is a saying in mysticism that only one out of a thousand people will be drawn to the narrow path. Out of this thousand only one will start to directly experience God. Out of these, few will come to know God as He truly is. I have repeated this saying because it is not my purpose in these lessons to tell anyone interested in Christian mysticism how to worship or what to believe in God. Even when a person is born again unto the Holy Spirit, that is, through a lifetime of contemplative prayer has eventually come to directly experienced Divine Consciousness as soul, it is still only the birth of it not the full understanding of it: No more than a new born child fully understands the air it breathes, the food it eats or the love that is so freely given from it's mother. Even those who have practiced contemplative prayer for a lifetime and have come to rest in IT have different opinions about what IT is, what IT does and what it all means.
On this path, I only hold one thing as absolutely true: It is that no matter what each soul believes to be true on it's journey to God and the ultimate truth of existence, the Holy Spirit is the enlivening force in that soul and it is the gift of the Holy Spirit in each soul that is the WAY of Christianity that takes that soul to the truth of God. It was and still is Jesus' immediate and most tangible gift to his followers. I firmly believe that becoming open to the inner direction of the Holy Spirit was and still is the one work with, but above all other works that Jesus would have each of us do.
I do not want to tell anyone what to believe about who and what Jesus was. Every denomination seems to think that they are the only ones that have a true understanding of what he taught and who he was. I believe that this aspect of religion is best left between each person and their priest or minister and so I have purposely avoided the discussion of the nature of Jesus in my lessons.
It is Jesus' gift of the Holy Spirit that I wish to discuss and fortunately for all of us, the Holy Spirit does not seem to care if we are correct in our beliefs about the givers of this gift or not. Over the years I have noticed that the Holy Spirit can be awakened in each of us on this earth if we only allow the gift of the Holy Spirit to come into our lives.
My Godfather is a parish priest. When he asked me to be his spiritual director, I wrote him a letter describing a few of my contemplative prayer experiences. I wanted him to know in advance what he could expect from the Holy Spirit should he choose the path that Christian mystics like St. Teresa of Avilla and St. John of the Cross had walked. Another parish priest visiting from out of state read the letter and asked if I would expand on it so that he could use it as a study guide for a course in Christian mysticism and contemplative prayer that he was about to teach. These lessons are the result of that request. They are only a short introduction to the path of the contemplative saints but the concepts discussed are far from casual reading.
I shall make an attempt to explain my understanding of the truths experienced by the Church Fathers and mystic saints relative to the nature of God and soul and Christ's gift of the Holy Spirit: Then a little personal experience of my own in contemplative prayer and last, a brief explanation of a few scriptures relative to that personal experience. Also I have included quotes from a few of the Church Fathers and contemplative saints. I hope that those who read these lessons will ponder the nature of their one experience in God, what they are trying to tell us about it and perhaps start to personally research their writings. I wish to thank both priests for giving me the opportunity to serve. lmr
I personally believe and please keep this thought in mind as you read the lessons. It is what St. Justin Martyr wrote:
"Whatever is true belongs to me as a Christian."
THE HIGHER REALITY, lesson #1
INTRODUCTION
Well, I might as well start off with the most difficult concept for everyone to come to grips with. If you can get through this understanding, this one reality that is the basic experience for all the mystical understanding of all the great religions on this planet, you will begin to look at life from a whole new perspective. The rest of the lessons are relatively easy, for they are nothing more than practical advice on the path to the direct experience of this most basic truth of existence.
This lesson is about the soul's physical relationship with God. It is not about a belief in anything or anyone but the soul's innate being in God and simply said: It is what it is. It is said by all who have directly experienced the soul's innate being in God, what is called union in Christianity, enlightenment in yoga, Nirvana in Buddhism, bliss by the Sufi's, born again in the bible, that the true understanding of it only comes from the direct experience of it. So anything said about it is not the whole of it. More than in any other lesson I will try to quote from as many different saints on this understanding as I can. From these quotes, the reader should be able to easily see that the direct experience of the soul's true nature in God, union, is not limited to any one time or person, or denomination but is spread throughout the whole of Christianities existence and that it is the same experience for everyone who has progressed far enough on the spiritual path to have the experience of it.
LESSON #1
Mystics have traditionally taught the truth of God to people according to each students individual level of understanding. In every society throughout the history of mysticism the deepest truths have only been revealed from mentor to disciple when the disciple was capable of understanding the truth being given. The Jewish mystics, that is the prophets, and also Jesus and the early Christian mystics closely followed this tradition. Considering the society of his time, Jesus gave good reason for this.
He said: "Do not give what is holy to dogs or toss your pearls before swine. They will trample them under foot at best, and perhaps even tear you to shreds." (Matt. 7:6)
Jesus had to be careful with giving too much spiritual information too soon to his own disciples. He said: "I have much more to tell you, but you cannot bear it now." (John 16:10)
The apostle Paul followed the same tradition. He wrote: "Brothers, the trouble was that I could not talk to you as spiritual men but only as men of flesh, as infants in Christ. I fed you milk, and did not give you solid food because you were not ready for it." (1 Cor. 3: 1,2)
Origen, one of the most renewed early Christian scholars, writes: "But for those who are wise he has always the higher teachings, which are given only to those who have proved themselves worthy of it."
And: "I have not yet spoke of the observance of all that is written in the Gospels, each one of which contains much doctrine difficult to be understood, not merely by the multitude, but even by certain of the more intelligent, including a very profound explanation of the parables, which Jesus delivered to "those without" while reserving the exhibition of their full meaning for those who had passed beyond the stage of exoteric teaching, and who came to him privately 'in the house.'"
Origen wrote in ON FIRST PRINCIPLE: "The scriptures have a meaning not only such as is apparent at first sight, but also another, which escapes the notice of most men. For such is written in the forms of certain Mysteries, and the image of divine things. Respecting which there is one opinion throughout the whole Church, that the whole law is indeed spiritual, but that the spiritual meaning which the law conveys is not known to all, but to those only on whom the grace of the Holy Spirit is bestowed..."
Origen wrote in ORIGEN AGAINST CELSUS, this response to the Roman emperor Celsus' charge that Christianity was a secret organization teaching half truths to the masses. He wrote: "But that there should be certain doctrines, not known to the multitude, which are divulged after the exoteric ones have been taught, is not a peculiarity of Christianity alone, but also of philosophic systems in which certain truths are exoteric and others esoteric."
St. Clement of Alexandria (the second pope) writes: "those who are still blind and dumb, not having understanding, or the undazzled and keen vision of the contemplative soul, must stand outside of the divine choir. Wherefore, in accordance with the method of concealment, the truly sacred Word, truly divine and most necessary for us, deposited in the shrine of truth, was by the Egyptians called "adyta", and the Hebrew 'the veil.' Only the consecrated were allowed access to them."
St. Clement writes: "He who has been purified in baptism and initiated into the little mysteries becomes rife for the greater mysteries for the gnosis, the scientific knowledge of God."
Jesus: "said unto them, 'Unto you is given the mystery of the kingdom of God: but unto them that are without, all things are done in parables: that seeing they may see, and not perceive; and hearing they hear, and not understand.'" Mark 9: 33,34
What is this Truth of God, soul and the nature of all manifest creation, hidden by what the Egyptians called "adyta"; hidden behind "the veil" of the prophets, hidden within the parables of Jesus, hidden within key words and phrases of the scriptures and writings of the saints? What is this truth of the nature of existence that has been and still is so far out of "those outside of the divine choir's" reality that if heard will be trampled underfoot and in some religions even get the teller of this truth torn to shreds?
The answer is in a child's song.
ROW, ROW, ROW YOUR BOAT
(live your life)
GENTLY DOWN THE STREAM
(with love, throughout all your years)
MERRILY, MERRILY, VERILY, VERILY
(with much joy but in all seriousness)
LIFE
(Everything we do, think and believe, everything that happens to and around everyone and everything on earth or in heaven)
IS BUT A DREAM
(is but Divine Consciousness individualized as each soul and all that is manifest, dreaming the dream of creation)
Perhaps I need to explain.
THE DREAM REALITY
When we dream we enter a partial reality; a dream reality that is only a small part of the awareness that makes up our fully awake self. It is like having blinders on to who we really are. Each night we play a myriad of roles and while dreaming each role, absolutely believe that we are the various personalities we are dreaming ourselves to be. In our dreams we are hurt, we love and are loved, we harm others and others harm us; we are chased by evil and are consumed with visions of grandeur. Yet the roles we play in our dreams are illusionary, having no independent reality from us dreaming them and each morning we awake, with the fundamental nature of who and what we are untouched by the previous night's roles that we have played out in our minds.
When individualized Divine Consciousness (the soul) is born into the world and lives it's life, it enters a partial reality, a dreamlike reality that is only a small part of the full awareness that makes up it's true Self. The soul lives it's own waking dream, playing a myriad of roles, hurting and being hurt, loving and being loved, manipulating others and others manipulating it, absolutely believing that it is the personally of the role it is playing. It feels isolated, separate from God and even life, unaware that it is an individualization of the Infinite Untouchable Consciousness that is in actuality dreaming the dream it is living.
The apostle Paul describes it this way: "For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then shall I know even as also I am known." (1Cor. 13: 12)
In other words, When our consciousness expands beyond the dream reality into the higher reality that so many of the saints have experienced we will come to know ourselves as God knows us.
Those who have awakened, (are "inside the house") begin to live life from a different and expanded reality. Paul says: "But when that which is perfect is come, then that which is in part will be done away." (1Cor. 13: 10)
The saint's who begin to rest in this higher reality begin to experience their true nature as individualization's of infinite Divine Consciousness. They begin to experience a profound peace and joy, a sense of absolute completeness, of oneness with God and life that only comes from having the soul's full awareness restored. The soul begins to see clearly and becomes untouched amidst the din and clamor of the world. No matter the role the soul plays or the personality that it may have assumed, the soul feels and knows itself as a wave in the infinite ocean of consciousness that is God.
The saint's who have experienced the higher reality speak of but one truth. "Outside God nothing has any existence at all. " (St. Veronica Giuliani)
"The soul, when purified, " wrote St. Catherine of Genoa, "abides entirely in God; it's being is God."
COMPLETENESS IN GOD
When the Greek word teleios is translated from the Greek scriptures of the first Christians into the English word, perfect, as we see it in the King James Bible, we have a meaning in English that comes to our minds: Usually flawless or if applied to a person, sinless. But Strongs' concordance, the 1982 edition that I have, lists the literal meaning of teleios as used in the ancient Greek language as "completeness". The concordance gives an example of a person who grows up, gets married and raises their children being considered "teleios" in the ancient Greek language. They would not be considered sinless as the English word perfect might infer but to have attained "completeness" in life. It is true that the early Christians used (teleios) with the exoteric meaning of "flawless" but when referring to the soul, they used (teleios) with the esoteric meaning of resting in the higher reality, literally meaning, the soul attaining completeness in God.
St. Clement wrote: "Another consideration shows us clearly how much of this early teaching has been lost. The church now devotes herself solely to producing good men, and points to the saint as her crowning glory and achievement. But in the older days she claimed to be able to do much more than that. When she had made a man a saint, her work with him was only just beginning, for only then was he fit for the training and teaching which she could give him then, but not now, because she has forgotten her ancient knowledge. Then she had three definite stages in her course of training-Purification, (right living) Illumination (knowledge of the kingdom) and PERFECTION." (resting in the higher reality, attaining completeness in God) THE STROMATA OF ST. CLEMENT.
St. Polycarp, Bishop of Smyrna wrote in his epistle, chapter 7 that he hopes those he was writing to were: "well versed in the sacred scriptures and that nothing is hidden from you; but to me this privilege is not yet granted." and continuing after relating what had been revealed to him, he wrote: "...though I am acquainted with these things, yet I am not therefore by any means PERFECT,..." (that is, he had not attained completeness in God, he did not yet rest in the higher reality)
With "teleios", completeness of the soul in God in mind, listen to what Jesus said: " If thou wilt be (teleios, complete in God) PERFECT, (IF you want to rest in the higher reality) go and sell that thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come and follow me." Matt. 19:21
"Be, ye therefore (teleios, complete in God) PERFECT, even as your Father which is in heaven is (teleios, spiritually complete) PERFECT." Matt. 5:48 (That is, directly experience that the Father, completeness, is the fundamental nature of the soul.)
"The disciple is not above his master: but everyone that is (teleios, complete in God) PERFECT shall be as his master." Luke 6:40 (That is, those who rest in the higher reality will have attained the same consciousness as Jesus.)
"I in them and Thou in me, that they may be made (teleios, complete in God) PERFECT in one;" John 17:23 (That is, the higher reality can be awakened in the disciple through the master and they will literally be one in the same infinite consciousness of the Father.)
Later mystics have written: " If I am to know God directly, I must become completely He and He I, so that this He and this I become and are one I." (Meister Eckhart)
"and thus we are brought forth by God, out of our selfhood, into the immersion of love, in which we possess blessedness and are one with God." (Ruysbroeck)
"To understand the nature of this union, one should first know that God sustains every soul and dwells in it substantially, even though it may be that of the greatest sinner in the world. This union between God and creatures always exists. By it He conserves their being so that if the union would end they would immediately be annihilated and cease to exist." (St. John of the Cross, 1542 to 1591)
We are not and cannot be separated from God because our being is innately one with the whole of Divine Consciousness. We can't go anywhere but within our own nature to realize the truth of our own nature in God and find the reality that is our true Self. We can't go out and get It when we are already It. We can only work to remove whatever is obstructing our realization of already being It.
"A ray of sunlight shining upon a smudgy window is unable to illumine that window completely and transform it into it's own light. It could do this if the window were cleaned and polished. The less the film and stain are wiped away, the less the window will be illumined, and the cleaner the window is, the brighter will be its illumination, The extent of the illumination is not dependent upon the ray of sunlight but upon the window. If the window is totally clean and pure, the sunlight will so transform and illumine it that to all appearances the window will be identical with the ray of sunlight and shine just as the sun's ray...The soul upon which the divine light of God's being is ever shining...is like the window." (St. John of the Cross)
Cleaning and polishing the window to the soul in God is a lifelong process. Saints come to know that there is nothing of lasting value for oneself outside of the refinement of one's own nature in God.
"No one can be saved without self-knowledge." (St. Bernard)
Jesus said in another way that is harder for a person who is attached to the objects and pleasures of this world to achieve the unfolding of individual consciousness as Divine Consciousness (entering the Kingdom of God) than it is for a camel to traverse that ancient pass known as "The Eye of the Needle."
He said: "The Kingdom of God is within you." (Luke 17:20,21)
Therefore in order to realize the "Kingdom of God" within each of us, "Let us enter the cell of self-knowledge." (St. Catherine of Sienna)
DIVINE CONSCIOUSNESS AS SOUL
All of the saints who have directly experienced the true nature of God tell us (In ways that they think the followers of their denomination can best understand) that God is not a "big person" in the heavens.
Evagrios the Solitary in On Prayer writes: "Be on your guard against the tricks of the demons. While you are praying purely and calmly, sometimes they suddenly bring before you some strange and alien form, making you imagine in your conceit that the Deity is there. They are trying to persuade you that the object suddenly disclosed to you is the Deity, whereas the Deity does not possess quantity and form."
St Cyril of Alexandria (378 to 444) writes that God is "incorporeal, immaterial, impalpable, beyond quantity and circumscription, beyond form and figure."
In other words, God is not staring down at His creation, rewarding and punishing mankind like some petty Roman deity. God's true nature is far beyond the concept of a personality that can be located in time and space, up there somewhere. The far greatest part of Divine Consciousness is like an infinite unchanging sky, an omnipresent consciousness that rests behind creation as an infinite unchanging, formless and unmanifest presence. But at the same time this formless unmanifest presence manifests on the surface of Itself that which dreams the dream of creation that is each soul and all that is manifest as the heavens and earth.
I will try explain the best way that I know how: With an example that came to me many years ago while doing my practices in the desert followed by the commonly used example of the ocean. Hopefully between the two examples, I can get my understanding of the soul's true nature in God across clearly enough for you to understand the concept even if you choose to totally disagree with it.
The first example is in this way. Souls are a part of manifested Divine Consciousness; very much like the little whirlpools of air that I have so many times seen in the desert are a part of the sky. Called dust devils, the little whirlpools might seem different from the sky from which they are made but this is only because of the debris each has picked up on it's journey across the land. It is illusionary: For it is only the movement, support and flowing of the sky that is carrying the dust. The whirlpools have no separate existence from the whole of the sky and can only maintain the appearance of an individualized structure as long as there is a creative impulse that is supporting them. Remove the creative impulse and the whirlpools are "immediately annihilated."
As St. John of the Cross explained, the same concept is true of the soul. Expressing itself through the substance of creation, the soul is that pure Infinite and omnipresent Consciousness, individually focused as each soul by the creative impulse, the wind of God. By identifying itself with the captivating and illusory structure of creation (the bejeweled angel Satan) into which it is born, the soul is deceived about it's true nature and temporarily loses its awareness of it's own perfection and unity in God. The soul becomes lost in its' own dream, its' mistaken sense of separateness. (the tree of the knowledge of good and evil) and casts itself out of the garden of the awareness of it's own structure of individualized Divine Consciousness (the tree of life) into a self involved, self created world of thorns and thistles. This is my understanding of the meaning behind the story of Adam and Eve.
Through the action of the Holy Spirit, on earth or in the heavens, it is the innate impulse (the grace of God) and natural evolution of the soul to eventually burn away the dust, look to it's true nature and find that it is not the substance of creation after all, but rather "I am that" greater reality and individualized Infinite Consciousness behind the personality I have dreamed myself to be. As an inseparatable part of Infinite Consciousness, as a wave in the ocean of infinite consciousness that is God, each soul exists as one of the countless individualizations existing within the whole. Each soul will eventually come to realize the simple truth that Moses spoke: "I am that" and will come to rest as "I am".
Extending everywhere, within and as everything, Divine Consciousness (God) is all there is, ever has been, ever will or can be, and souls as well as all of creation as individualization's of It, are not now, never have been and never can be separate or apart from the whole of It. The soul as well as all manifest creation would "immediately be annihilated and cease to exist." if Divine Consciousness was not it. The truth is that only Divine Consciousness exists. All things are One Thing. There is only God.
Nicholas of Cusa, (1401 to 1464) writes: "From the infinity of your mercy, I see, O Lord, that you are infinity embracing all things. There is nothing that exists outside you, but all things in you are not other than you. You teach me, Lord, how otherness, which is not in you, does not exist in itself, nor can it exist."
St Symeon, The New Theologian, (949 to 1022) writes: "How then was the Word everywhere before making the world and, when He had made it, how was He shining in it without the world comprehending Him? Pay careful attention: God "Who is everywhere present and fills all things" was not, Scripture says, separated from it by location when He created this sensible world, but by the nature of the glory of His divinity, it being evident that nothing created approached or comprehended Him at all. Indeed, being inseparable from all He is as clearly in all."
Echoing the Christian mystic's understanding of the nature of God the Hindu scriptures repeatedly say,
THOU ART THAT
St. Catherine of Siena, (1347 to 1380) speaking to God writes: You, eternal Trinity, are a deep sea: The more I enter you, the more I discover, and the more I discover, the more I seek you. You are insatiable, you in whose depth the soul is sated yet remains always hungry for you, thirsty for you, eternal Trinity, longing to see you with the light in your light.
You are a fire always burning but never consuming; you are a fire consuming in your heat all the soul's selfish love; you are a fire lifting all chill and giving light. In your light you have made me know your truth: You are that light beyond all light who gives the mind's eye supernatural light in such fullness and perfection that you bring clarity even to the light of faith. In that faith I see that my soul has life, and in that light receives you who are Light...
Truly this light is a sea, for it nourishes the soul in you, peaceful sea, eternal Trinity..... This water is a mirror in which you, eternal Trinity, grant me knowledge; for when I look into this mirror, holding it in the hand of love, it shows me myself, as your creation, in you, and you in me through the union you have brought about of the Godhead with our humanity.
Is the wave (the soul) the whole of the ocean (God) or is the whole of the ocean the wave? After all, they are the same light, the same substance, the same being and consciousness. When I have rested in any of the three aspects of the trinity, that is the Father, Christ or Holy Spirit it has been like being a wave resting in an infinite ocean of light. This light of Divine Consciousness appears continuous and infinite, enveloping all things. In my own humble experiences with the three different aspects of God, I have never found that there is a point where the light that is the soul ends and the light that is God begins. It seems to be one continuous light whose understanding and direct experience of is only limited by how much we have limited our own consciousness.
Take the example of the ocean. In the whole of it, you cannot isolate any of it's waves from the body from which they come, the body that supports them and upon which they owe their existence. Their substance cannot be removed and isolated and have them remain waves. Waves are more like impulses created by the wind that as impulses travel across the surface of the sea. You must realize that the particles of ocean water do not travel the thousands of miles from land to land that make up the birth (individualization) and death (reabsorbtion into the whole) that is the lifespan of a wave; that only the impulses travel and can be said to be waves. The waves have no substance of their own that they can say this is me and not the ocean. Take away the wind, the creative impulse and what happens? Is not the whole of the ocean still there? Not one particle of it is missing but the waves cease to exist. The same is true of the soul. There is no point at which you can isolate the soul's being from the whole of God. Like a wave, the soul is an impulse created by the wind of God that rides upon the surface of the body of Divine Consciousness. The saint's who have directly experienced God repeatedly tell us that the soul has not substance of it's own that it can say this is me and not God. If the Wind of God should stop blowing, what happens? The whole of Divine Consciousness is still there. Not one particle is missing but the impulse, the manifested divine consciousness returns to formlessness, returns to that point in time before manifestation and souls as well as all that is else that is manifest as the heavens and earth will have ceased to exist.
Perhaps, all of creation's manifestation to merging back into the whole is but one day in the infinite life that is God, perhaps followed by an equal period of unmanifest, formless rest. If this is so, as some mystical traditions put forth, this would certainly explain why at this point in time in the vastness of eternity, the creation of the universe and the universe's and each soul's destiny in this vast eternity of time: For the whole existence of the universe would only be one day in eternity, in an endless series of days and nights in the eternity that can only be God.
On a more personal level, one of my students wrote this question: " You have stated that God is not a personality. Does that mean, that God is not personal? That we do not have a relationship with God as a human son and father would have, as the Gospels seem to portray Jesus having with His Heavenly Father?"
Answer: We cannot have a more personal relationship than that which we have with God. Divine Consciousness is the very core of our being and most mystics relate to God in a very personal way. This is the soul's nature. But this does not mean that the ocean of Divine Consciousness, that is the Father, Christ and Holy Spirit, are personalities or a single personality that relate to us as we relate to them. God is not a big person in the sky that we can point to and say that God is there and not over there. The essence of our being is infinity, just as God is infinite but the soul is individualized infinity; infinity with a single focused point of individualization through which it relates. From this viewpoint it tends to personalize most everything. The ocean of Divine Consciousness is not individualized and relates to each soul from the whole, from infinity. God is the closest thing to us and yet is totally impersonal with us as well as everything else that exists within the whole. Knowing that it is His own dream playing out within Himself, it is as if God has stepped back and is simply watching the love, hate and drama of the play.
But at the same time, through the Holy Spirit, God seems to be intimately available to His creation. At the many times that I have reached out to God, through superconscious or even in moments of distress, I have sometimes been answered with very personal responses in the nature of visions, comfort or understanding. But over the course of many years and many experiences I have come to a much better understanding of the nature of these responses. I am not saying that it is not God who has responded but only that I have come to a better understanding of how something so completely impersonal can respond so personally. It is probably one of those revelations that instead of being told, should be experienced over the many years of one's life and then only after we have stepped back far enough from it all and have taken a deep hard look at it all before the truth of it all can settle in. At least it took that long, and that type of reflection for me to better understand and I doubt that I still have it quite right. Hope this information helps, for it really is the best that I have to offer for your question. lmr.
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
871 From: "Kathy" <nagoyasea@yahoo.com>
Date: Sat Apr 30, 2005 2:01pm
Subject: Re: CHRISTIANITY & YOGA - WHY THEY BELONG TOGETHER nagoyasea
Offline
Send Email
Adam,
I wanted to thank you for posting the lesson #1 text and the site
link. The time it took to go through lesson 1 was time well spent
indeed. With no objections, I'm going to share that site with
another group. Good stuff.
Peace,
Kathy
--- In AYPforum@yahoogroups.com, "Adam West" <adamwest1@i...> wrote:
> Hello Rasa and all,
>
> In response to Rasa's views on Yoga and Christianity, I
thought I might offer a Realized Christian Mystic Adepts views on
same. See below his introductory article and if you are interested
follow the link to his site, where he has a bunch of free lessons
on 'his' intuitively realized teachings on meditation practice. He
is an advanced Yogi, but he does teach out of the Christian Mystical
tradition. In my view, it becomes abundantly clear from the
beginning that there is no conflict with his views and that of
Yogani's and that of most other Adepts who speak from Realization,
rather than Dogma :-)
>
> In kind regards,
>
> Adam.
>
> http://www.chrmysticaloutreach.com/.../1/index.htm
> All mysticism in every major religion on earth is about the
one reality that once directly experienced completely changes a
person's understanding of the nature of all existence: That is,
directly experiencing the souls true nature in God. Please
understand that this relationship can be directly experienced but
also understand that this relationship is something that cannot be
862 From: "PamelaP" <pamela@rabboar.com>
Date: Fri Apr 29, 2005 9:43am
Subject: RE: CHRISTIANITY & YOGA - WHY THEY BELONG TOGETHER pamelaporch
Offline
Send Email
Try checking out this "Christian" philosophy:
http://www.unity.org/index.html Not all Christian organizations are the
same -- that aside, Yoga can be part of any religious belief system, unless
that system, in its closed-mindedness decides otherwise.
IMHO
Pamela P.
www.rabboar.com/studio
"To be good is noble; but to show others how to
be good is nobler and no trouble."
-- Mark Twain
-----Original Message-----
From: AYPforum@yahoogroups.com [mailto:AYPforum@yahoogroups.com]On Behalf
Of Rasa Von Werder
Sent: Thursday, April 28, 2005 7:59 PM
To: AYPforum@yahoogroups.com
Subject: [AYPforum] CHRISTIANITY & YOGA - WHY THEY BELONG TOGETHER
By "Guru" Rasa Von Werder
Read this & Rasa'a other teachings on Yoga , Mystical Union With
God, Dreams & Visions, et al, on:
http://www.womanthouartgod.com
Christianity and Yoga - can they be One? Can they, in any way, be
united? What stands them apart, and what makes them the same? Are
they totally different or not? In what way are they different, in
what way similar? Is there anything they both agree on completely?
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
864 From: "azaz932001" <richardchamberlin14@hotmail.com>
Date: Fri Apr 29, 2005 0:14pm
Subject: Re: CHRISTIANITY & YOGA - WHY THEY BELONG TOGETHER azaz932001
Offline
Send Email
--- In AYPforum@yahoogroups.com, "PamelaP" <pamela@r...> wrote:
> Try checking out this "Christian" philosophy:
> http://www.unity.org/index.html Not all Christian organizations
are the
> same -- that aside, Yoga can be part of any religious belief
system, unless
> that system, in its closed-mindedness decides otherwise.
>
> IMHO
>
> Pamela P.
> www.rabboar.com/studio
>
> "To be good is noble; but to show others how to
> be good is nobler and no trouble."
>
> -- Mark Twain
>
> I like the 5 basic principles Pamala if I were a practicing
christian that would be it for me.
Love and blessings R.C.
863 From: "Adam West" <adamwest1@iprimus.com.au>
Date: Fri Apr 29, 2005 11:14am
Subject: Re: CHRISTIANITY & YOGA - WHY THEY BELONG TOGETHER fraterandros1
Offline
Send Email
Hi Pamela,
I went and checked out the site, sounds like a great Church and organization :-) If I was a Christian, and lived locally, I would probably become involved! Very impressed ;-)
In kind regards,
Adam.
Try checking out this "Christian" philosophy:
http://www.unity.org/index.html Not all Christian organizations are the
same -- that aside, Yoga can be part of any religious belief system, unless
that system, in its closed-mindedness decides otherwise.
IMHO
Pamela P.
www.rabboar.com/studio
"To be good is noble; but to show others how to
be good is nobler and no trouble."
-- Mark Twain
-----Original Message-----
From: AYPforum@yahoogroups.com [mailto:AYPforum@yahoogroups.com]On Behalf
Of Rasa Von Werder
Sent: Thursday, April 28, 2005 7:59 PM
To: AYPforum@yahoogroups.com
Subject: [AYPforum] CHRISTIANITY & YOGA - WHY THEY BELONG TOGETHER
By "Guru" Rasa Von Werder
Read this & Rasa'a other teachings on Yoga , Mystical Union With
God, Dreams & Visions, et al, on:
http://www.womanthouartgod.com
Christianity and Yoga - can they be One? Can they, in any way, be
united? What stands them apart, and what makes them the same? Are
they totally different or not? In what way are they different, in
what way similar? Is there anything they both agree on completely?
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
For the AYP Lessons and Books, go to:
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866 From: "PamelaP" <pamela@rabboar.com>
Date: Fri Apr 29, 2005 2:49pm
Subject: RE: CHRISTIANITY & YOGA - WHY THEY BELONG TOGETHER pamelaporch
Offline
Send Email
Thanks everyone for checking out the web link. I think my favorite part of
the "service" is at the end when we stand in a big circle holding hands and
singing "let there be peace on earth, and let it begin with me". For years
I would find myself humming that song (of course, I only knew one verse
then!) and I was so amazed the first time I went to Unity and they sang it.
It was a "sign"!!!! ;} ;} Unity sure IS different from other churches I've
been to.
Pamela P
-----Original Message-----
From: AYPforum@yahoogroups.com [mailto:AYPforum@yahoogroups.com]On Behalf
Of Adam West
Sent: Friday, April 29, 2005 10:15 AM
To: AYPforum@yahoogroups.com
Subject: Re: [AYPforum] CHRISTIANITY & YOGA - WHY THEY BELONG TOGETHER
Hi Pamela,
I went and checked out the site, sounds like a great Church and
organization :-) If I was a Christian, and lived locally, I would probably
become involved! Very impressed ;-)
In kind regards,
Adam.
868 From: "Kathy" <nagoyasea@yahoo.com>
Date: Fri Apr 29, 2005 3:33pm
Subject: Re: CHRISTIANITY & YOGA - WHY THEY BELONG TOGETHER nagoyasea
Offline
Send Email
Pamela, thank you for posting this. I didn't know that Christian
churches existed that embraced the original mystical gnostic
teachings. I am fortunate to live within driving distance of one of
these churches and I am going to visit.
Kathy
--- In AYPforum@yahoogroups.com, "PamelaP" <pamela@r...> wrote:
> Thanks everyone for checking out the web link. I think my
favorite part of
> the "service" is at the end when we stand in a big circle holding
hands and
> singing "let there be peace on earth, and let it begin with me".
For years
> I would find myself humming that song (of course, I only knew one
verse
> then!) and I was so amazed the first time I went to Unity and they
sang it.
> It was a "sign"!!!! ;} ;} Unity sure IS different from other
churches I've
> been to.
>
> Pamela P
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: AYPforum@yahoogroups.com [mailto:AYPforum@yahoogroups.com]
On Behalf
> Of Adam West
> Sent: Friday, April 29, 2005 10:15 AM
> To: AYPforum@yahoogroups.com
> Subject: Re: [AYPforum] CHRISTIANITY & YOGA - WHY THEY BELONG
TOGETHER
>
>
> Hi Pamela,
>
> I went and checked out the site, sounds like a great Church
and
> organization :-) If I was a Christian, and lived locally, I would
probably
> become involved! Very impressed ;-)
>
> In kind regards,
>
> Adam.
>
>
> Try checking out this "Christian" philosophy:
> http://www.unity.org/index.html Not all Christian
organizations are the
>
>
> [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
872 From: "Adam West" <adamwest1@iprimus.com.au>
Date: Sat Apr 30, 2005 3:30pm
Subject: Re: Re: CHRISTIANITY & YOGA - WHY THEY BELONG TOGETHER fraterandros1
Offline
Send Email
Hey Kathy,
Thanks for writing... yeah that's what I thought too! That gentleman is one of the few genuine spiritually advanced souls I have come across out of thousands... truly worth the read :-)
In kind regards,
Adam.
Adam,
I wanted to thank you for posting the lesson #1 text and the site
link. The time it took to go through lesson 1 was time well spent
indeed. With no objections, I'm going to share that site with
another group. Good stuff.
Peace,
Kathy
--- In AYPforum@yahoogroups.com, "Adam West" <adamwest1@i...> wrote:
> Hello Rasa and all,
>
> In response to Rasa's views on Yoga and Christianity, I
thought I might offer a Realized Christian Mystic Adepts views on
same. See below his introductory article and if you are interested
follow the link to his site, where he has a bunch of free lessons
on 'his' intuitively realized teachings on meditation practice. He
is an advanced Yogi, but he does teach out of the Christian Mystical
tradition. In my view, it becomes abundantly clear from the
beginning that there is no conflict with his views and that of
Yogani's and that of most other Adepts who speak from Realization,
rather than Dogma :-)
>
> In kind regards,
>
> Adam.
>
> http://www.chrmysticaloutreach.com/.../1/index.htm
> All mysticism in every major religion on earth is about the
one reality that once directly experienced completely changes a
person's understanding of the nature of all existence: That is,
directly experiencing the souls true nature in God. Please
understand that this relationship can be directly experienced but
also understand that this relationship is something that cannot be
|
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