Jesus' beard is slightly
thicker and longer than the image below
>
>
From: jagbir singh <www.adishakti.org@gmail.com>
> Date: Fri Jul 16, 2004 11:27 am
>
Subject: Jesus' beard is slightly thicker and longer
than the image
> below
>
>
Dear All,
>
>
A few
minutes ago i was just updating a webpage on Lord Jesus and
>
just
checked with Arwinder about His features in comparison to
this
>
picture
below. He replied that Jesus' beard is slightly thicker and
>
longer
than the image below. However the hair is "alright", i.e. of
>
the same
length.
Shri Jesus in Sahaja Yoga Mantra Book
>
>
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/adishakti_sahaja_yoga/message/1905
>
>
We obtained our first Sahaja
Yoga Mantra Book on 8 May 1994 after
>
the Sahasrara Puja at Val
David, Quebec, Canada (information
>
written on first page). It was
given to us by SYs Robert and Lisa
>
McNeil. Prior to that we had no
idea that Shri Mataji had described
>
the eternal Jesus existing in
the Kingdom of God to SYs so that they
>
could make an image of Him.
>
>
However, a few months earlier
on December 25, 1993, Kash did
>
describe to me how the Savior
looked like when Shri Mataji took him
>
to wish Jesus a "Merry
Christmas."
>
>
i wrote down his observations
the same day:
>
>
" He
was wearing a long, whitish-gray robe that reached His
ankles.
> Another piece of cloth was draped across His right
shoulder and
> diagonally down the left waist. He was tall, big boned and
muscular.
> He had a beard, with wavy hair cascading into curly locks.
The eyes
> were either dark brown or black. Kash noticed that His
skin was light
> brown, and was of ethereal form. Jesus Christ looked very
fresh and
> youthful, as if He had just stepped out of a shower and
groomed
> Himself."
>
> Now compare these observations with the photo above. Only
a
> genuine experience can be that correct in detail and
accuracy.
>
> Shri Mataji assures all believers that the Kingdom of God
that the
> Savior preached exists, both within (Sahasrara Chakra) and
without
> (Spirit World). The Last Judgment assures eternal life in
the same
> Spirit World where Shri Mataji, Jesus, Radha-Krishna,
Muhammad,
> Guru Nanak, Buddha, Ganesha, Shiva-Parvati, Lakshmi-Vishnu,
Sita-
> Rama, Hanuman etc., and all liberated souls live. Sahaja
Yoga is not
> a blind faith!
>
> Jai Shri Mataji,
>
>
> jagbir
>
DEEP MIND: Beyond Mind, Beyond Spirit
Peter Russel
Painting
by René Magritte
Beyond science, behind spirit.
"SCIENCE AND SPIRITUALITY have never made easy bedfellows.
Their views on the nature of things often seem to clash. And
the more our scientific understanding of the world has
grown, the stronger that clash appears to have become.
Modern
science, having explored deep into the realms of space, time
and matter, often appears to have done away with God.
Astronomers have looked out into deep space, to the edges of
the known universe; cosmologists have looked back into what
they call 'deep time', to the beginning of creation; while
physicists have looked down into the 'deep structure' of
matter, to the fundamental constituents of the cosmos. From
quarks to quasars, they find no evidence of God. Nor do they
find any need for God. The Universe seems to work perfectly
well without any divine assistance.
The
God that science has thus eliminated is called "the God of
the gaps" - the God that was needed to explain the gaps in
human knowledge. Over the centuries, science has
progressively filled these gaps. Before Newton, people
thought God moved the sun and moon through the heavens; now
we understand their motion in terms of gravity. Before
Darwin, it was believed that God created the many different
species of life; now we account for them in terms of genetic
evolution. Similarly with earthquakes, the aurora borealis
and the immune response: today plate tectonics, solar ions
and molecular biology explain them quite satisfactorily.
Steadily and mercilessly, science has filled the gaps. For a
while it looked as if the most significant gap of all - the
creation of the cosmos itself - would not be filled. But
quantum mechanics is now explaining how even the Big Bang
could have started all by itself. The God of the gaps has
finally, it seems, been made redundant.
There
is, however, more to religion than explaining the gaps in
our knowledge. Most traditions also speak of the profound
personal experiences that come from following a spiritual
path. They may talk of them in terms of rebirth, liberation,
awakening, enlightenment, transcendence, rapture or holy
union. Yet whatever the interpretation, there is a general
consensus that these experiences have a profound impact on
one's life.
Science has very little to say about spiritual experiences.
They are not occurring in the world of space, time and
matter that science charts so well, but in the world within.
To understand them fully we would need to venture into the
realm of 'deep mind' - a realm that Western science has yet
to explore.
SCIENCE MAY NOT have explored deep mind, but others have.
They are the mystics, ascetics, shamans and spiritual adepts
of every culture. These people have used practices such as
meditation to delve beneath the surface levels of the mind.
They have observed the arising and passing of thought. And
they have looked beyond, to the source of their experience,
to the essence of their own consciousness. There they have
discovered a profound connection with the ground of all
being.
Western science does not usually pay much attention to such
subjective approaches. It certainly does not consider them
'scientific'. Scientists are concerned with objective
truths, with verifiable facts that are not dependent upon
one's state of mind. They are looking for effects that can
be measured, not internal subjective changes.
But is
this subjective approach really so unscientific? The essence
of science is to gain knowledge through careful observation
of the natural world. Since scientists want to be able to
trust this knowledge, a process has evolved to make it as
reliable as possible - what is often referred to as the
'scientific method'.
An
essential part of this method is isolating the object of
study. If, for example, you were investigating the
electrical activity of the human brain during meditation,
you might put the subject in an electromagnetically shielded
room to reduce electrical noise ('noise' in the technical
sense of unwanted information). Then, in order to get as
much desired information as possible, you would ensure the
electrodes made a good electrical contact with scalp. You
might also set up a 'control group', studying non-meditators
in the same circumstances, to be certain that the effects
you measured were specific to meditation, not simply the
result of relaxation. Having gathered your data, you would
study it, draw conclusions, and then make your conclusions
available to others to see if they agreed. If they did, you
would have established some reliable knowledge about
meditation and the brain.
Similar principles apply to someone using meditation to
explore the mind at first hand. First, they would seek to
remove themselves from external noise. This is usually
achieved by choosing a quiet place, free from disturbance.
Since one wants to observe the mind clearly, it is important
to remain awake and attentive, so people generally sit in a
relaxed but alert posture. Then, closing the eyes, which
reduces visual distractions, one turns the attention within
and begins to observe.
The
first thing people notice when they observe their own mind
is the almost incessant flow of thoughts and inner dialogue.
This internal noise continually distracts the attention from
the subject of investigation: the nature of the mind itself.
Here meditation comes into play. It can be thought of as an
experimental technique employed to reduce the internal
chatter, allowing subtler aspects of the mind to come into
focus.
Countless people, throughout history, have entered the
laboratory of the mind and performed such inner experiments.
These 'inner scientists' have published the results of their
investigations in spiritual and mystical texts - the
Upanishads, the Tao Te Ching, The Tibetan Book of the Great
Liberation, The Cloud of Unknowing. Their conclusions show a
remarkable consistency across culture and time, suggesting
that this subjective approach does indeed lead to reliable
knowledge about the nature of mind.
What
have they discovered? Almost everyone notices that as the
mind settles down there comes a growing sense of peace. The
self-talk that normally occupies much of our awareness tends
to increase arousal and tension. We may be worrying about
things we have or have not done, feeling anxious about what
might or might not happen, planning a future action, solving
a problem or going over a conversation. As this activity
subsides, the mind naturally becomes more peaceful.
Reducing mental activity further, one can arrive at a point
where all verbal thinking ceases. At this level of
consciousness, one discovers a much deeper, all-pervasive
peace. Some call it bliss, others joy or serenity; but all
agree that the pleasures of everyday life pale in comparison
to this profound feeling of inner wellbeing.
Another quality that is found in this inner quiet is love.
This is not the love we know in our daily lives, a love that
is usually focused on a particular person or circumstance.
It is pure love, love without an object. It is 'being in
love' in a new sense: one's whole being is bathed in love.
Perhaps the most significant effect of stilling the mind is
transcendence of the ego. When all the thoughts, feelings
and memories by which we usually define ourselves have
fallen away, the sense of a separate self dissolves. There
is no longer a sense of "I am experiencing this thought or
this sensation." Instead there is an identity with the
essence of being. I am the consciousness in which all
experience takes place.
ALTHOUGH THE DESCRIPTIONS of deep mind are remarkably
consistent across cultures, the ways in which people have
interpreted them vary widely. within the monotheistic
worldview that dominated Western culture for nearly 2,000
years, mystical experiences were usually interpreted in
terms of a personal God. Such states of consciousness are so
far removed from daily life that it is easy to see how they
could be taken to be a direct connection with divinity -
particularly when aspects of the experience correspond so
closely to traditional descriptions of God.
A
state of profound peace could indeed seem to be "the peace
of God that passeth all understanding". An upwelling of the
heart that bursts forth in an all-pervading love might well
be interpreted as the love of God miraculously entering
one's being. The compassion that dawned could be
confirmation of a caring, forgiving God. And the sense of
deep fulfilment and inner freedom that comes with such
states could easily be taken to be the salvation promised by
a merciful Deity.
The
experience of the pure 'I am' did not, however, fit into the
monotheistic worldview quite as easily. Many identified this
unbounded sense of self with God. Some went so far as to say
"I am God." To traditional religion, this rings of
blasphemy. How can any lowly human being claim that he or
she is God, the almighty, supreme being? When the
fourteenth-century German mystic Meister Eckhart preached
"God and I are One," he was brought before Pope John xxii
and forced to "recant everything that he had falsely
taught." Others suffered a worse fate. The tenth-century
Islamic mystic al-Hallãj was crucified for using language
that claimed an identity with God.
Yet
when mystics say "I am God," or other words to that effect,
they are talking neither about the individual person nor
about a supernatural deity. Their inner investigations have
revealed the true nature of the self. This they have
experienced as a connection with the ground of all being.
And it is this that they have named God.
Explaining such experiences as a direct contact with God
could be seen as yet another example of the God of the gaps
- albeit in a more subtle form. In this case, the gap is in
our understanding of deep mind. Western traditions, both
religious and scientific, have left this realm largely
unexplored. To find a coherent body of knowledge about the
inner world, we must look to the East, where spiritual
adepts have been exploring the mind for thousands of years.
Of the
Eastern traditions, Buddhism has probably gone the farthest
in charting the mind. Buddhism has no concept of God: it is
an atheistic religion - paradoxical as that may sound to
Western ears. For Buddhists, peace, ease, joy and compassion
come from knowing the essential nature of mind. They are
inherent qualities of pure awareness - an awareness that is
unsullied by the agitation of everyday thoughts and
concerns.
A
similar approach is taken by other Eastern traditions. Some
of them may talk of deities and devas, but in most instances
these are interpreted as aspects of the mind - the inner
challenges we face and the inner allies that can help us on
our journey.
Although these traditions do not need to invoke a supreme
deity to account for mystical experiences, this does not
make these states of mind any less awesome, meaningful or
life changing. On the contrary, by interpreting them in
terms of one's essential nature, the Eastern traditions can
offer practical ways to make them more accessible.
Western religions have much to offer on theology, morality
and the potential for spiritual advancement, but less on
techniques that facilitate spiritual experiences. Eastern
teachings, however, provide detailed analyses of how our
awareness becomes trapped in habits and attachments, and
various techniques and practices - we might call them inner
technologies - to relieve the mind of its dysfunctional
patterns. The goal is self-liberation, freeing the mind to
experience its essential nature, and reaping the rewards
that come from such an awakening. Here spirituality is
science, the science of the mind.
A
THIRD WAY OF interpreting spiritual states is that of
Western science, which believes that the real world is that
of space, time and matter, and that all phenomena are
reducible to events in that world. It seeks to account for
transcendental experiences, neither as a union with some
supernatural deity nor as a reflection of the mind's
essential nature, but in terms of brain function.
Some
recent research, which has aroused quite a debate in this
area, investigated changes in the brains of advanced Tibetan
Buddhist meditators. When the subjects reported that their
everyday sense of self was beginning to dissolve, the
researchers took a brain scan. By observing the flow of
blood through the brain, they were able to identify changes
in brain activity. They found that as the sense of a
separate self dissolved, activity in the parietal lobe, an
area towards the top of the brain, decreased. This is
precisely the area that neuropsychologists believe is
responsible for the distinction between self and other.
The
conclusion that many draw from such studies is that
spiritual experiences can now be explained in terms of brain
function, and that science has once again triumphed over
religion. But there is really nothing very surprising about
these findings. It is generally accepted that brain activity
and subjective experience bear a close relationship (even if
we cannot say whether one causes the other, or how). We
should expect, therefore, that changes in consciousness as
profound as the cessation of verbal thought, the dissolution
of a separate sense of self, and a feeling of deep peace
would show corresponding changes in the brain.
That
we are beginning to chart these changes does not explain
away spiritual states. If anything, it validates them. It
shows that meditators probably do experience what they
claim. So we could think of these discoveries as Western
science beginning to confirm the conclusions of the inner
sciences.
Meditators also claim that such states of consciousness have
beneficial effects on their lives: a tendency to be more
open, generous, caring and forgiving. There seems little
reason to doubt that this, too, is true. If so, rather than
concluding that spiritual experience has been satisfactorily
accounted for, the scientific community might ask: how can
we use our growing understanding of brain function to
enhance the occurrence of these deep states of
consciousness? For they would appear to be just what the
world sorely needs.
IN THE
PAST, spiritual awakening was seen as essential for one's
personal salvation: to save us from hell, whether
God-delivered or self-created. Today it has become an
imperative for our collective salvation.
Humanity is clearly in crisis. If we continue consuming and
polluting as we have done, with little regard for the
long-term health of our environment, we will almost
certainly trigger some or other ecological catastrophe. We
may even render ourselves extinct.
Looking to the underlying causes of this crisis we find,
time and again, the human factor: human decisions based on
human desires, needs and priorities, often driven by human
fear, greed and self-centeredness. It is clear that the
crisis is, at its root, a crisis of consciousness.
If we
are to navigate our way safely through these challenging
times, we need to see some significant shifts in attitudes
and values. We need to recognise that inner peace does not
depend on what we own, our social status, the roles we play,
or how wealthy we are. We need to wake up to a deeper sense
of self that is not at the mercy of external circumstances,
and that does not need to be continually defended and
maintained. We need a degree of care and compassion that
extends beyond our immediate circle of family and friends to
embrace strangers and people of different race and
background - and also the many other species with whom we
share this planet. We need to know in our hearts that their
wellbeing is our wellbeing.
What
is the most effective way of promoting such shifts in
consciousness? The evidence points to spiritual experience.
Rather than distracting us from the course of scientific
progress, spirituality could be our saving grace.
Our
burgeoning scientific knowledge has led to technologies that
have enabled us to control and manipulate our world. The
underlying goal has been to free us from unnecessary
suffering and increase human wellbeing. Spiritual teachings
have likewise sought to liberate people from suffering, but
their path has been inward. They have sought to understand
the mind and to develop inner technologies that enable us to
find happiness and freedom within ourselves.
It is
now becoming obvious that the material approach has not
achieved all that people hoped. Despite our abundant
luxuries and freedoms there is little evidence that people
today are any happier with their lot than people were fifty
years ago. On the other hand, we have only to look at the
peace and wisdom emanating from someone such as the Dalai
Lama to see that the spiritual approach does seem to bear
fruit.
When
it comes to understanding the cosmos, science and
spirituality are describing two complementary aspects of
reality: one the nature of the material world we observe
around us, the other the nature of the mind observing this
world. When we consider how these understandings can be
applied to the betterment of humanity, we see that science
and spirituality are again complementary. To create a truly
sustainable world, we need both: the knowledge of science
integrated with the wisdom of spirituality."
DEEP MIND: Beyond Mind, Beyond Spirit
Peter Russell
http://resurgence.gn.apc.org/issues/russell220.htm
Peter Russell is the author of From Science to God: A
Physicist's Journey into the Mystery of Consciousness.
www.peterussell.com
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