AUM — Vol. 1, No. 5, 27 December 1965

Christmas: the play of universal emotion

This is the day that unites near and far. This is the day that awakens the best in us, within and without. This is the Day of Eternal Bliss, from which the Past, Present and Future derive much significance of Existence.

Christmas reveals to us a limitless ocean of Universal Joy. The waves of the suffering world dare not declare their existence.

A New Year's message

May, out of the pure fulness of the heart, the lips of Truth speak and the hands of Truth act in the year 1966.

The New Year — what can it teach us? It can teach us the secret of spiritual self-reliance. It can teach us how we ourselves can be our Masters and Saviours. From the New Year we can learn that God is God only when God is OUR God and not MY God. From the New Year we can learn that Truth is Truth only when Truth is OUR Truth and not MY Truth. At every moment it is we who can make ourselves a blessing to ourselves and the world at large.

Occultism and spirituality, part 2¹

The yogi says, "God is also a tortoise."

The occultist says, "God is Power."

The occultist says, "In my victory, God Himself applauds."

The occultist says, "To me, fear has no existence."

The occultist says, "My strength is God's dynamic Will."

The occultist says, "My speciality lies in my one-pointed Will."

He is truly a divine warrior who uses not only his occult power as a sword, but also his spiritual power as a shield.

The occult powers used by most primitive tribes are those capacities lying latent in man's unlit vital nature.

As human evolution is now proceeding along mental lines, most men are no longer interested in the vital plane and have lost the capacity to function there.

Humanity now cares little for the powers below the mind, aspiring, as it does, for a truth and light far above it.

Oh, Black Magician, to me, you are a snake-charmer!

If you err, its venom will reduce you to its piteous victim.

What exactly is 'black magic'?

It can never elevate man's consciousness, even by a fraction.

Just as it is impossible for a man to square the circle, so is it impossible for an occultist to live always in the sea of divine Peace.

Look at the eyes of an occultist.

Look at the eyes of a yogi.

Where indeed is the choice between the occultist's intensity and the yogi's immensity?

Vivekananda speaks about Christ

It is easier to have faith in the Personal God than in the Impersonal. God dons the earthly cloak. He bodies forth the creation of his own time and casts a far-flung glance into the yet unborn to bring it into existence. He reveals himself to each individual according to his power of receptivity.

To the beginner, Christ would immediately speak of the Personal God. "Pray to your Father in Heaven." To the one a little more advanced, he would say, "I am the vine, ye are the branches." But to the one who is fully advanced and his dear disciple, he would proclaim: "I and my Father are One." We find the same truth echoed in Sri Ramakrishna's words. He disclosed to his beloved Naren (Vivekananda) "He who is Rama, He who is Krishna, dwells at once in this body as Ramakrishna."

It is a sad fact that often the disciples of various paths misinterpret the teachings of their masters to the extent of claiming their's as the only Master. In doing so, they bring their teachers down to the level of an ordinary man. An aspirant, they claim, in spite of high achievements, counts for nothing unless and until he is prepared to give all credit to their master. What blind ignorance! If the master were an ear-witness of his disciple's utterance, he would be burned with shame. On this Vivekananda says:

> Suppose Jesus of Nazareth was teaching, and a man came and told him, 'What you teach is beautiful. I believe that it is the way to perfection, and I am ready to follow it; but I do not want to worship you as the only begotten Son of God.' What would be the answer of Jesus of Nazareth?

An interesting anecdote took place when Vivekananda was staying at the Thousand Island Park. It was a dark and rainy night. A few ladies from Detroit had travelled hundreds of miles to find him there. Having met him, one of them humbly spoke out, "We have come to you just as we would go to Jesus if he were still on the earth and ask him to teach us." Vivekananda, deeply moved and overwhelmed with humility, replied, "If only I possessed the power of Christ to set you free now!"

Christ unveiled the truth "The Kingdom of Heaven is within you." A heroic echo is heard in Vivekananda: "It is already yours . . . It is yours by right." We are drawn to the famous lines of the Gita: "He who seeth Me everywhere and seeth everything in Me, of him will I never lose hold, nor shall he ever lose hold of Me." Almost parallel to this, are the divine words of Christ: "He that loseth his life for my sake shall find it."

The Nazarene was a product of the East, although the people of the West have managed to forget this bare truth. "An Oriental of Orientals," said Vivekananda of the son of Mary. It is quite natural that in the Bible we come across many images, symbols, natural scenes and simple ways of living common to the oriental countries. But what is more important, the oriental view is that this material life falls short of true satisfaction. So when Christ says: "Not this life, but something higher," Vivekananda could not help remarking, "Like a true son of the Orient, he is practical in that."

Vivekananda meant that our earthly achievements, however grandiose, are in no way enough to quench the ever-pinching thirst of human souls to attain to a higher life.

Christ's body is Christianity. Christianity embodies humility. Vivekananda's humility the entire world treasures. He once said:

Nehru and America

Significant are these words. More so because President Kennedy brought forward clearly to the American consciousness one of the basic aspects of Nehru's Mission. Nehru was perfectly mirrored in Kennedy's accurate scrutiny. Neither did the Premier lag behind in assessing Kennedy:

> We face mighty problems in the world today, and you, Mr. President, bear perhaps the greatest responsibility in this world. And so we look up to you and to your country, and seek to learn from you, and sometimes also to express what we have on our minds, that we can achieve the greatest aim that the world needs today — peace and opportunity to grow and flourish in peace.

America discovered in Nehru's soul the secret of uplifting man's characteristics into character. Nehru discovered in America's soul the secret of transmuting human dynamism into international unity.

Worried by a shoreless sea of debts, hounded by the undying throes of poverty, and mercilessly faced with a rapidly increasing population — this fate of hers, India cannot so easily overcome.

Threatened by her own creation, the two roaring bombs, suffering from the pressures of others' demands, eclipsed by doubts about her own future in the world of tomorrow — this fate of hers, America cannot so easily escape.

A profound insight is the element with which President Johnson characterises Nehru's contribution to the four frontiers:

> History has already recorded his monumental contribution to the moulding of a strong and independent India. And yet, it is not just as a leader of India that he has served humanity. Perhaps more than any other world leader, he has given expression to man's yearning for peace. This is the issue of our age. In his fearless pursuit of a world free from war, he has served all humanity.

Unlike a good many luminaries of the world, Nehru's was the reputation that did not rise and fall like the flash of a sky-rocket. With his passing behind the curtain of eternity, India's heart was smitten with excruciating pangs and slow-healing sorrows, while America was deprived of two far-flung embracing arms. To America, Nehru was a fount of inspiration and an unforgettable International. To Nehru, America was a towering Achievement, a great boon to the world at large.

Two Olympian influences: East and West, surprisingly luminous and instructive, ran simultaneously through the span of Nehru's life.

Kipling's prophetic utterance: "East is East, and West is West, and never the twain shall meet" proved empty in the life of Jawaharlal Nehru.

People railed at Nehru's neutralism, but his neutralism had a profound purpose of its own which was appreciated by the deepest minds in America.

> Nehru's great contribution has been reason and patience. His influence helped to cool national tempers, to work the nations away from each crisis. Sometimes his efforts were misunderstood, his complicated neutralism condemned. But if we are safer in the world today, as we seem to be, much of the credit goes to India's gentle leader."

Life to the American consciousness is nothing short of completing one task after another with the hope of realising the all-liberating Freedom. Life to the Indian consciousness is nothing short of completing one endeavour after another with the hope of realising the all-nourishing Peace.

The Hinduism of today²

To add to the joy of our enthusiasm, a voice, quite unexpected, of a courageous dreamer, is now heard echoing and re-echoing in the recesses of our memories. A century and a half ago, he saw the light of day here at Long Island, New York. He is Walt Whitman. The Seer-Poet with his message of the universal "I" joins us in our momentous journey.

Our first stop is a visit to Dr. Radhakrishnan, one of the greatest living philosophers. He speaks on Hinduism:

> The Hindu attitude to religion is interesting. While fixed intellectual beliefs mark off one religion from another, Hinduism sets itself no such limits. Intellect is subordinated to intuition, dogma to experience, outer expression to inward realisation.

Keeping this in mind, let us move on to examine Hinduism. It is no doubt a great religion. But it is also a simple religion. It does not want to confuse a man or test his intellectual capacities. It does not crave for his attention or solicit his favour. What it significantly wants from him is his soul's understanding. Hinduism wants not only to preserve, but also to propagate the inner law of every human soul, if so is the Will of God. What it precisely wants is to possess and be possessed by all that is best in the cultural, religious and spiritual wisdom of the world.

Although it has had its periods of inertia, Hinduism is not a static religion. A static religion would lead only to sterility and finally to death. Hinduism has, in its long history, become an emblem of flexibility, independence, creative thinking, spontaneous innovation in both thought and action. Hinduism knows how to adopt, Hinduism knows how to absorb; it knows too how to reject in order to sit at the feet of Truth. Hinduism is a ceaseless mounting cry for Truth. It aspired and so does it still aspire to epitomise an all-embracing spiritual outlook of humanity.

India's past is remarkably rich and varied. The same can be said of her dauntless present. It can and must provide a starting-point for the golden future. The Hinduism of today is sincerely trying to discover an unprecedented way of life in which the groups of radically differing racial, historical, ethical, conceptual and spiritual backgrounds may live in perfect harmony and at the same time actively collaborate in the fulfilment of one task: the marriage of matter and spirit. India, in its purest essence, is neither a matter-mad nor a world-shunning country. And the tolerance with which Hinduism has always been associated is firmly rooted in sacrifice and in recognising fully the other man's right.

India is acting without fear but not with a sense of superiority. Indeed Hinduism has become self-critical of late. Hence its improvement is dawning fast. It is true that the Hinduism of today has countless problems. It is equally true that Mother India alone has to solve all her problems. And certainly she will. An indomitable will is energising Bharat Mata. Progress, both material and spiritual is being effected with lightning speed. One thing of supreme importance is that the Hinduism of today is going to model itself, not on western or eastern, southern or northern patterns, but on the Infinite's own pattern.

Here in America, we are in the land of freedom, a freedom that nourishes dynamic thoughts and dynamic movements. There in India, we are in a land of freedom, the freedom of a fertile tolerant spirituality nourishing all religions. Here we wish to reach God by running speedily, while there we wish to reach God by climbing, swiftly.

Now let us go and listen to a devout Hindu. He says that his father is Silence, his mother is Power. Silence feeds his consciousness. Power utilises his consciousness. His parents teach him to breathe in the air of spiritual oneness, to feel that oneness in all human beings, indeed in the entire creation.

His parents have taught him the secret of secrets that through meditation alone the world can be seen and felt, fully and integrally. They have made him realise his life as part and parcel of humanity. He has no race, no nation of his own. His religion, if there be any, is God-vision. To realise God, he has not to kill his lower self. He has just to transform it into his Higher Self. Lo! The Goal beckons him. Indeed it is a new approach to and a new fulfilment of Truth. Finally, he wants, not only to see God, but to be God himself.

So our boat is sailing, dancing in tune with God's eternal, mystic cadence. We are dreamers. We are at once realists and idealists. Our boat, with its heart's love, pines to touch the far-off shores of the Golden Beyond. Our boat, with its soul's peace, aspires to commune with the Breath of the Supreme.

Questions and answers

_Question:_ My wife, who is otherwise the most reasonable of beings, insists that all religious beliefs are delusions brought about by existential anxiety. Most people find the thought unbearable that there is no meaning in life except for the biological and rational fact of life itself. This, she feels, should satisfy anybody. The fact of death, she believes, is to be similarly faced as a biological reality. It is an old theory, which, I realise, can neither be proved or disproved at an intellectual level.

Human memory is not the first and last word of creation. If, at the age of eighty, I fail to recollect an incident that took place in my own life at the age of four, it does not mean that I did not exist then. Just as a series of years passes by between the ages of four and eighty, so is there a series of lives which connects the present with the distant past and projects itself into the imminent future.

Then, too, there is something beyond the comprehension of our limited body-consciousness. Even while a man is grossly involved in his most ordinary physical activities, he may feel within himself, at times, some strange truths. These are usually unfamiliar and greatly elevating. These truths come from a higher or deeper world, from a different plane of consciousness, and they knock at his mental door. Thus he possesses and is possessed by forces beyond his ordinary awareness.

It is when we put ourselves in tune with these higher forces, indeed with the universal harmony, that life ceases to be unbearable. I entirely agree with your wife's view that when a person sees no meaning in life, no goal or purpose, the thought, nay the life itself, becomes intolerable. However, regarding religious beliefs, I wish to place before her an analogy:

I am now living in a Brooklyn apartment. If a child calls on me and asks, "Is there a place called Cologne?" I shall reply, "Certainly, my child, it is in West Germany." Suppose he says, "You must prove it to me!" Now how can I prove it to him, apart from showing him maps and photos? I can only tell him that I have personally visited Cologne and that there are millions of others who have also done so. His doubt cannot negate the existence of the city.

AUM — a monthly journal of spiritual philosophy and yoga³

The first issue of the journal AUM (Vol.1, No.1) deals with its full spiritual significance.

AUM is a monthly journal devoted exclusively to the spiritual writings of Chinmoy Kumar Ghose. It will deal with the spiritual life and its problems from the point of view of Indian philosophy and yoga.

AUM is intended to help aspirants of the West in their search for a true inner life by acquainting them with the realisations of a seeker of the Supreme.