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The Problem With Non-Vedantists by Jai Maha Dev
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Having discussed the issues dealing with neo-vedantists, we will now bring to light the problem with non-vedantists (really, other non-vedantists). There are many people from all different faiths who embrace the idea of the eternal distinction between the soul and God. The problem is that they do not fully comprehend and appreciate the similarities as much as they do the differences. These people are referred to as non-vedantists, and their problem is almost as serious as that of the neo-vedantists. We are EXTREMELY close to the Supreme Self, Who completely pervades every pore of our being (mind, body, and spirit/energy) and Who also totally pervades the core of our being (Atman, soul). The Supreme Self is our Best Friend, Lover and Beloved, Teacher, Brother, Mother and Father too. GOD is NOT a puppeteer and we his puppets. God is NOT a slave master and we his slaves. Though we are not His equals, He treats us as such. He creates this Universe and makes us feel at home in these human bodies, though really only He is the Host and we the guests. That Supreme Being NEVER degrades or demeans us in any way, and is NOT at all pleased by false humility, feigned weakness, or the innumerable excuses we make for our self-imposed limitations and imperfections. The Supreme Self resides in every one us as our Eternal Companion. When we are playing this Sport of Life, our Supreme Friend is playing right along side of us. Our Supreme Friend is not happy if we play foolishly or act like weaklings. GOD did NOT create a bunch of beggars and street-people. We have inherited all of His wealth in the form of Divine Wisdom, as well as all the riches of the Universe. But of course we have to work for these things: our Supreme Father would NEVER make us weak and indolent. Our Divine Mother showers us with divine love and understanding and would NEVER smother us with false attachment and stunt our spiritual growth. Our Divine Mother and Father want all of us to evolve into strong, vibrant, enlightened beings, and certainly DO NOT want us to remain as cute, ignorant babies, or inexperienced little children. We are God’s children; but as God’s children we should honor our Divine Mother and Father by studying intensely (Swadhya), raising our consciousness, and maturing into deep, self-contained, high souls. God is NEVER happy when we put our souls (selves) down and grovel in the mud of our mind and negative memories. We are only happy when we remember (when we put back into our mind) that Divine Presence. We are NEVER happy when we are preoccupied with our stupid opinions, whims, and images and lose our presence of mind. When our mind is filled with the wrong thoughts we forget who we really are. We become absent-minded instead of Absolute-minded. To become Absolute-minded we have to fill the mind with the Wisdom of the Absolute. When we do this, we are very close to our Absolute Nature; we are very close to GOD. We can never be close to God so long as we distance ourselves from Him. We can never realize just how close we already are to GOD so long as we make up our mind to be different from Him. This is the problem with ALL OF US, whether non-vedantists or neo-vedantists: we have formed our mind in such a way that we (as the mind) do not realize the Truth. It is absolutely impossible to realize the Truth so long as we are acting untruthfully. EVERYONE has the Truth within their own Self, and no one could exist without that Truth (manifested as the presence of consciousness). If we REALLY follow our conscience, we will eventually be led to the whole Truth; if we go against our conscience (and follow our ego and mind) we will become more and more unconscious (and unaware of our real nature). It is time to do away with all the false religious beliefs, superstitions, and suppositions. It is time for each of us to do our own ‘homework’ and look within ourselves and realize the Truth directly. We can do this together by coming to a common understanding about where and how to begin. We begin with ourselves by the practice of the basics: good character, honesty, self-discipline, humility and non-violence. Non-violence is the essence of all spiritual practices and is the fundamental principle of Self-Realization. It is absolutely impossible to realize the Self (or actualize it in the mind) so long as we are violating the nature of the Self through our actions of loose character, lying to one’s self, arrogance, and lack of mental and physical discipline. The
time to begin is NOW. We don’t
have to wait for the next so-called Avatar (which will NEVER appear);
we don’t have to wait for the Guru to appear; we don’t have to wait
for Christ to ‘rise again’; and we don’t have to wait for moods to settle
down or our mortgage to be paid off.
We have to begin now, and move forward with conviction in our
Higher Nature and humility in our hearts.
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