What Is The Guru / Disciple Relationship about?

Many different types of guru-disciple relationships have been defined. Practically, it is important to believe in only one and that is a heart-to-heart relationship. If you can follow that then you don't have to worry about any others. In order to develop a heart-to-heart relationship, it is important that first of all you become aware of your own idiosyncrasies and nature.

Guru is not a person on whom you can dump all your rubbish. Guru is a person who inspires you to lead your life in a creative, efficient and effective way so that there is development of self-awareness – what I can do, what I can't do, how I can be, how I can't be, what is the right thing to do, what is the wrong thing to do, how to understand other people's attitudes and concepts and how not to impose our own egos and ambitions. This is the basis of the guru's teaching.

Australian National Tree Day 2005

Toyota supports Australian National Tree Day - July 31, 2005

2005 marks National Tree Day’s 10th Anniversary and marks Toyota’s 6th of association with this important event.

Toyota's enthusiasm for National Tree Day is demonstrated throughout Toyota Australia operations; from the Altona & Port Melbourne production personnel enthusiastically planting trees, to Toyota Dealers across the country organising and participating in planting sites in their local community.

“At Toyota, we have made the choice to establish a culture that supports the Australian environment and the communities where we live. Our manufacturing and corporate activities in Australia are conducted in the spirit of respect for our natural environment, and supported by action plans that set tangible environmental targets.” says Ted Okada - President and Chief Executive Officer, Toyota Australia.

Also see the Planet Ark web site.

A Matter of Perception

The following discourse on 'perception' will equally serve as the perfect vehicle for Me to reveal the truth to the world about the enigma called AIDS. The time has come to put an end to the senseless suffering being proliferated by nothing more than simple ignorance. So many hypotheses about its origin. So many pursuits to solve the puzzle and rid the world of this 'plague,' as it is most commonly viewed. So much money being spent, which could otherwise be used. And, lastly, so much confusion and disagreement over what God delivered to the world—at man's own desperate request—as a sacred Gift.

Before I delve into the specifics of this condition called AIDS, it is necessary to establish a few fundamental truths to serve as the foundation for this discourse. There is no such thing as a terminal disease. The origin of the nomenclature 'terminal' comes only from man's false belief in mortality. 'Disease,' by definition, is a condition within the self with which one is not at ease. When the distorted thoughts and feelings within one's consciousness reach a certain point, the very same conditions manifest in the physical body—'as within, so without.' Why? The physical plane is the densest plane of creation and, therefore, the last plane upon which anything manifests. Thus, it is only after your soul has been whispering—many times screaming—a message to you and after the universe has sent you signs from every conceivable direction and, still, somehow you refuse to hear it or react to it, that your soul uses a circumstance on the physical plane as the lender of last resort.

There are no accidents, coincidences, or diseases. Every single thing that happens to you is carefully, meticulously planned and orchestrated by your soul. Distortion arises because the bi-polar condition of human consciousness perceives God's perfect will as 'good' and 'bad.' Separation is the gap between what Is and one's perception of what Is. On either side of man's fear-based perceptions of God's ever-perfect world lies pure, infinite love.

The easiest and best way to transcend this delusion which plagues the human mind is to re-program your own consciousness with this divine truth: Everything is a gift. Everything. A broken leg, a million dollars, birth, 'death,' marriage, divorce, getting fired or getting promoted, living in a palace or in a cardboard box… these are all gifts. While only some are perceived as gifts, and others as curses, in truth they are all the same. They are all of God. They are all gifts.

How you can discern whether you are intellectualizing the truth by simply saying, 'I know that already,' or living the realization of that truth is by observing whether or not you are living in the quintessence of gratitude in every single moment, regardless of—and because of—your circumstances, whatever they may be. Truly knowing that everything in life is a gift would render you incapable of feeling anything but gratitude in every single moment. As a further enticement into a life of eternal gratitude, be it known that gratefulness is the highest form of prayer. Gratefulness creates instant attunement to the will of God through its inherent confirmation of God's omnipresent and singular, loving creation.

Integration of this divine realization opens the door for one to finally establish the Divine breath as a way of life. When you can honestly have your every single inhalation resound 'I am blessed' throughout the universe and every single exhalation resound 'I am grateful,' you are breathing the direct prana of God. Through practice of this sacred breath, your earthly life will eventually reflect your oneness with Divinity.

Now that a precedent of truth has been established, I can address the controversial, albeit simple, subject of AIDS. Theories of its origin are as ridiculous as they are diverse: a monkey bite, the flight attendant from Florida, a government science lab conspiracy using genetic manipulation to eliminate certain strains of the human race and, of course, the ever-popular theory of the 'illuminati' of twelve dark and powerful families who rule the world. Have I covered them all? There is one commonality among all these theories. They are all distortion, all false, all fear-based, and all focused on the physical plane.

AIDS is a cure, not a disease. Before a dis-ease can affect a body, it must already exist within one's consciousness. The condition now classified as AIDS was made manifest as the cure for one of the most insidious, non-loving, and destructive diseases ever to touch this planet: Prejudice.

Using the same model I shared earlier in this treatise, when the distorted thought form of Prejudice and its subsequent behavior patterns reached epic proportions in the human collective consciousness, AIDS appeared on the physical plane to curtail and, eventually, eliminate this ugly disease. How more simple did God have to make it? Its very name means 'help.' How AIDS cures the disease of Prejudice is by gifting the world a vehicle to develop deeper and deeper levels of love and acceptance for self and others.

Why did it appear first, and in greatest number, in the communities of homosexuals and those of African descent? Because homophobia and racism are the two arenas of Prejudice which had reached the breaking point. What is the foremost in the consciousness of ones who have the disease of racism or homophobia? 'Get out of my sight. Get away from me. Go away.' Since whatever one resists persists and intensifies, what do these ones get in return? AIDS puts the very object of their malcontent in their faces, accompanied by the most hideous, 'will not go away, cannot ignore it' circumstances. It then infiltrated the media to bring this message to the whole world community. People call AIDS the disease? AIDS is the cure for a disease that was rampant on the planet. How dare anyone deny another the right to live or condemn another for the free-willed, free-loving choices they make, choices granted to them by their own Creator!

When you come into this world, your divine, masterful soul—carefree and unaffected by the world of illusion—simply scans through all potential human experiences and picks the ones that will serve it best. When your soul is looking at creating a life for itself, all the outer trappings of a human embodiment mean nothing, in and of themselves. Rich is the same as poor. Fat is the same as skinny. Aging is the beautiful next phase of a life, not the decrepit deterioration of one. Your soul just picks. Whatever experience it needs, it will choose and create, effortlessly and calmly.

That is how your soul, as God, views the world. Is that how the world plays out? Far from it. On Earth judgments, criticisms, complaints, oppressions, punishments, and crime abound—all stemming from distorted perceptions of what is right and wrong, good and bad—and AIDS was woven into manifestation by those same non-loving energies as their cure. And, indeed, AIDS will not be removed by any pill, by any shot, by any genetic manipulation whatsoever, until the disease of Prejudice is sufficiently removed from the collective consciousness, if not cured altogether. And if, by some reason, an unyielding heart of humanity renders some commonly accepted, false 'cure,' while still avoiding treatment of the real disease, you can rest assured that another, even more heinous circumstance will arise to command the attention of mankind. Lava always finds the weak spot in the rock.

In every single case of someone who completes their embodiment via this vehicle called AIDS, that person becomes the nucleus of a community which forms around that one. As this community watches—and vicariously experiences—all the exile, pain, and suffering that this one draws unto him- or herself, their hearts get pierced in a way that they had never before experienced. Those whose gaze and focus are centered upon that nucleus watch their own lives go through unprecedented levels of transformation, as their hearts literally explode with love, mercy, forgiveness, and compassion. As they continue to serve, clean, care for, feed, talk to, and hold this one, their hearts just keep breaking and breaking. The often-hideous physical deterioration of the beautiful human body, coupled with the ostracism and exile imposed on the patient by so many who are stricken with fear and judgment, are powerful enough to override anyone's resistance to becoming unconditional love.

Once that physical incarnation is complete, the blessings that all those in that community have received continue to ripple out into their own communities—their families, friends, employers, etc. They now have an eye on the world which they never had before. They have a depth of compassion for others beyond their wildest dreams of what was humanly attainable. They, likewise, have evolved into a similar capacity for forgiveness and acceptance of others. And the levels of appreciation that those most closely touched by AIDS now find for each other, and for the gift of simply being alive, is astounding. To be present to the glory and the beauty of every moment is a priceless gift.

Consider (for those of you who have not actually had this experience) what it would be like to have darker skin than your next-door neighbor and to be hated for it? To be unwelcome, ridiculed, spit at, oppressed, assaulted, and even murdered? Allow your mind to move beyond the perception of 'black and white.' Those are connotations, flavors with which non-loving hearts 'color' the truth. The truth is that there are no black and white people. This planet is inhabited by one people, the human race. And every single person among that race has a certain amount of pigmentation in his skin, some more, some less. All have the same skin and the same pigmentation process. To see that racial prejudice actually arose over differences in pigmentation, not people, shows how absurd and insane it is.

Add to that prejudice over sexual preference, something as equally absurd, a choice which affects no one outside of those freely choosing with whom to engage and love. Now add to that the fact that your soul has neither gender, nor color, nor desire or preference and the insanity reaches a level for which classification does not exist.

The next obvious question is 'Why does the person who has AIDS contract it? AIDS is magnetized to an individual to heal conscious and unconscious internalized prejudice. Imagine if you were living in one of the above-mentioned circumstances. It is very easy to see how one would assume those negative thoughts, judgments, and feelings about oneself. How much homophobia could one withstand before becoming homophobic oneself (fearing being homosexual, because of what one would have to endure in the world, and then loathing oneself—and God—because of it)? The same goes for racial prejudice. How much of that abuse could one withstand before internalizing it and thus losing the ability to love oneself and others unconditionally… and eventually demonstrating the very same racial prejudice towards the oppressors and towards self, be it overtly or unconsciously?

It is for this reason that individuals draw AIDS into their bodies, in order to learn self-love and self-acceptance as the cure for internalized prejudice towards the self (which, in turn, is also often projected onto others). Then, there are those who draw AIDS to themselves via someone close to them who contracts it. It is by learning to unconditionally love and accept others that these ones will transcend their prejudices and ultimately attain greater self-love and self-acceptance.

It is only by curing the diseases of the human consciousness that one can cure the diseases which plague the human body. Finally, it is imperative that I address the misperceptions many have over the word 'cure.' Most people define 'curing' as 'please God, make it (this condition) go away.' But this fear-laden perception is linked to a chain of others. Nothing in this perfect world ever needs changing. It is only by changing your distorted perceptions of the world that its own inherent divinity is revealed to you.

Once realizing that you only need to change your distorted perceptions and not your circumstances, you would only have one question to ever bring to the altar of God: 'Please help me to understand why I created (the blessing of) this circumstance (for which I am so grateful) and what it has come to teach me?' Thus, the true definition of 'curing' is, 'To expand into a greater consciousness of Love through one's experience.'

It is entirely possible that physical conditions can remain—and even intensify—after a consciousness has been healed. It is simply a question of dharma. It is sometimes God's will for a soul to complete its incarnation under physically debilitating circumstances for the sake of the continued gifts they are bestowing unto the self and the world. Such was the case for St. Francis of Assisi and Lord Jesus. Their physical suffering had nothing to do with distorted perceptions or with a lack of attunement to God's will. Both lived in an ongoing and ever-expanding state of surrender. In point of fact, their 'suffering' (human perception) was the way they had contracted to serve God. Their hearts and minds were at peace and they lived in bliss. And their lives clearly demonstrated that they never allowed their temporary, physical circumstances to define their own divine, immortal nature. A heart at peace knows no suffering.

In closing, always remember to welcome and bless every circumstance and condition in your life, for you needed, wanted, chose, and created them. Ask yourself in every situation, 'What is this teaching me? How can I expand my consciousness and become greater Love, by way of this experience? Most of all, turn every inhalation into the mantra 'I AM blessed' and every exhalation into the mantra 'I AM grateful.' Do this and yours will be a world filled with peace, love, and joy.

- Bhagavan Sri Pranananda

The RAVE Diet & Lifestyle

"The best health insurance money can't buy".

"You'll feel the difference".

Side effects: happiness, better health, longer life, disease reversal.

"The RAVE Diet & Lifestyle describes a weight loss program that is also designed to reverse heart disease and prevent our common cancers, as well as a host of other diseases".

"The author explains why Americans cannot lose weight, why modern diets don't work in the long run, and shows you how to reach your ideal weight by going back to the old-fashioned foods Americans used to eat, before losing weight was a problem".

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

For more information go to the RAVEdiet website.

(Above link will open in a new window)

“Never Acknowledge Defeat”

Resurrect your soul from all dreams of frailties. Resurrect your soul in eternal wisdom. What is the method? It includes many things: self control, proper diet, fortitude, an undaunted mental attitude, and relaxation of the consciousness from body identification by faithful daily practice of scientific concentration and meditation principles. Refuse to be defeated. Do not acknowledge defeat; to acknowledge defeat is greater defeat. You have unlimited power; you must cultivate that power, that is all.

Meditation is the greatest way of resurrecting your soul from the bondage of the body and from the shackles of all your trials. Meditate at the feet of the Infinite. Learn to saturate yourself with the consciousness of God. Your trials may be heavy, may be great, but the greatest enemy of yourself is yourself. You are immortal; your trials are mortal. They are changeable; you are unchangeable. You can unleash infinite powers and shatter your finite trials.

Two frogs, one big and the other a small one, fell into a pail of milk. The sides of the pail were shiny and smooth, too slippery and steep for the frogs to climb out. They were battling to stay alive; but every time they lifted their mouths to catch a little oxygen, down they went. They paddled around and around. After a while, the big frog gave up and drowned. But the little frog said, “Life is too sweet. I don’t want to die. I will keep paddling no matter if my little feet fall off.” So it was battling for hours, when suddenly it found something solid under its feet – the milk was churned to butter! Out jumped the little frog! That is just how life is! After battling adversities insufficiently like the big frog, if you give up you deserve to succumb to your troubles; but if you keep on battling with determination, your difficulties will be overcome – some answer from the Infinite will emerge and you will hop out of your troubles. Be like the little frog. By all means keep battling. Determination! Resurrect yourself from weakness, disease, ignorance, consciousness of disease, and above all from the frailties of mortal habits that beset your life.

- Paramahansa Yogananda

(Page 344 – ‘Journey To Self-Realization’ – ParamahansaYogananda)

LDD-Retreat-Melbourne-Dec2005_300x417

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Australia / New Zealand 2005
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Hamilton, New Zealand
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"Half-Day Retreat"

Date: Sunday, Dec. 11, 2005
Time: 1:00 pm – 6:00 pm
Location: Hamilton Bridge Club
20 Richmond Street, Hamilton
Cost: NZD $75
Contact: Jenny Rowden
jennyr@paradise.net.nz
(647) 854-5436

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Melbourne, Australia
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"An Evening with Louix Dor Dempriey"

Date: Friday, Dec. 16, 2005
Time: 7:30 pm – 9:30 pm
Location: Melba Hall
Gate 12, Univ. of Melbourne,
Royal Parade, Parkville
Cost: by donation
Contact: Kharananda Mayi

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"Residential Retreat"

Date: Dec. 29, 2005 – Jan. 1, 2006
Location: The Country Place
Olinda Creek Road, Kalorama
Cost: AUD $1250
Contact: Kharananda Mayi
kharananda@LouixDorDempriey.com
(613) 9505-6855

For further information please click here

Your Search Has Ended

So many are lost, and you are found.
So many are floundering, and you are held in My embrace.
So many have nowhere to look, and your search has ended.
So many have never seen the face of God,
And you live with His adoring gaze upon you,
Every waking and sleeping moment of your life.
So many live in fear of the pain and suffering that tomorrow may bring,
And you live in the certain knowing
That tomorrow’s dawn will bring you inexorably closer to God.

As this world continues to go increasingly more mad, always remember that you are guided, anchored, protected, and will not only find your way through, but will become so empowered, freed, and uplifted that you will be able to be way-showers, guardians, helpers, and saviors for so many others who find themselves lost in despair, disillusion, hopelessness, and helplessness. And may that birth a new and unprecedented level of gratefulness within you, as well as inspiration, hope, and, above all, passion, commitment, discipline, and obedience to the will of God—particularly as I speak it and reveal it to you, as well as when and how you feel it being spoken to you, in and through your heart.

My beloveds, let these words inspire you and remind you how truly blessed is your life. And, through this, may your lives serve to awaken, uplift, and reassure those around you that they, too, share your birthright and your destiny to live and bask in the glory of God.

If there could be but one humble request I could ask of you, and one alone, it would be for you to be the love and the strength for others that I have been for you. There is no greater gift or offering that you could give to Me. By doing this, we merge as One and you replicate Me; you replicate, share, and spread My life, My glory, My love, My legacy, My very existence; and you ground My eternal existence within humanity—its every thought, breath, word, feeling, and action.

Please be this love, this strength, and the knowingness for others, so they, too, will find Me as you have and, in so doing, will discover and remember themselves as Love.

- Avatar Louix Dor Dempriey

Namaste Meaning

"I honor the place in you where the entire universe dwells. I honor the place in you that is of light, love, truth, peace and wisdom. When you are in that place in you, and I am in that place in me, We Are One."

Albert Einstein was fascinated by Mohandas Gandhi. He watched newsreel after newsreel of Gandhi's doings in India. having seen Gandhi greet people in the street with his hands placed together, as if in prayer, and with a bow, he wondered what
Gandhi was saying (newsreels had no sound in those days). Einstein wrote Gandhi and asked him what he was saying. The simple reply: "Namaste." Einstein then wrote again to ask the meaning of this hindu word, "Namaste", and the reply was: "I honor the place in you where the entire universe resides. I honor the place in you of light, love, truth, peace and wisdom. I honor the place in you where, when you are in that place, and I am in that place, there is only one of us."

Australian National Day of Thanksgiving - 14 May, 2005

The National Day of Thanksgiving is a unique opportunity for Australians to celebrate and give thanks for our God given heritage as a nation and to demonstrate the God given values of honour, respect, thankfulness and gratitude towards our fellow man that have made us the great nation we are.

It is a day for us to pause as a nation and say thank you to God and to each other for those many things we often take for granted but which really make our lives worth living. Let us use this day to be a blessing to those who have been a blessing to us during the past year.

http://www.thanksgiving.org.au/

RockPray

Tilt your head to the left to view the picture (two people praying).

The Coming New Age - The Transition Of Ages
============================================

• SouledOut.org


• Transition of Ages ~ Pisces to Aquarius 1


• Transition of Ages ~ Pisces to Aquarius 2


• SouledOut - Site Map

Namaste.

Q: How do I have a good relationship with my Master? (Q.9)

Q: How do I have a good relationship with my Master? Inwardly I am often rebelling at the feeling that my free will is being usurped. In fact, I no longer feel I have a free will, or that such a thing as "free will" even exists. I am surrendering more and more, day by day, but I wonder: must my surrender be forced? If my surrender is forced, cannot it even still be called "surrender?"

A: How you can have a good relationship with your Master is to fall head over heals in love with, and in gratitude for, this being. It is to realize that what you now have is the single, greatest gift bestowed upon any human being on Planet Earth, to walk with a living Master. This is the greatest, and only, vehicle necessary for the liberation of the soul. Enlightenment is not attainable without a Guru, period. There is only one way out of the labyrinth of Separation and that is with the help of one who lives outside of that labyrinth, in the land of Illumination and Freedom. No one inside the labyrinth can get you out, no matter how rich, famous, or smart that one is or professes to be. How to have a good relationship with this one is to move into a level of such deep appreciation for the gifts you are being given and to see this one as your victory, as your key to the kingdom of heaven. Respect and listen to this one.

As far as your feelings over your free will being usurped, know that the last and greatest gift of creation is free will. It is never usurped. Yours was a statement spoken by a victim. In order for anyone to take you over (as you say) or to force your surrender, you would have to be a victim. And since there are no victims, that is anything but the case. The Master's will is attuned to God's will. Your will—the human, separate will—is guided and directed by the overwhelming and all-consuming desire to gratify the senses, to continue numbing yourself so you will not feel separate from God. No true Master would, or even has the power to, override your free will. In God's infinite love and patience, God waits. The well does not travel on wheels to those that are thirsty.

Surrender cannot only not be forced, but it is also not an action. You do not 'do' surrender. Surrender is a state of consciousness that you attain by way of purifying yourself, by letting go of, and moving beyond, your inauthenticities, of all that no longer serves you... all of which your Master is well aware (infinitely more aware than you could ever be). Be grateful and listen to this one. Consider yourself both blessed and a very, very hungry and mature soul, that you were even able to magnetize this blessing to yourself. It says more about you than it does about your Master. Where you place God in your life is where God shows up in your life. Evidently, your hunger and desire for God is enormous, for very few people (in proportion to the number of people on the planet) walk with Masters. Furthermore, since whatever you place your focus on, you become, it is by walking with mastery that you will become mastery.

- Avatar Louix Dor Dempriey

GraceInAction

GraceInAction, originally uploaded by mala_heart.

Pranananda answers the question,
"Why is it that You, The Maitreya, have chosen to be born into the world of Separation and live the life that You have?"(MP3 file)
(Duration: 7 minutes 56 seconds)

Click Here for more Audio Discourses
(* Will open in a new window *)

Where You Place God In Your Life

The Homecoming

O how I have longed for you
My brother, My lover, My friend

My dream, for so long relegated to a distant yearning
has now finally come true

Here you stand before Me
with eyes that reflect My own eternal love

Somewhere in the storm of man's illusion
an angel heard the whisper of My voice

Traveling the road of discordant thoughts
a heart so pure has found its way home

Blessed art thou for never giving up
on the love I promised would one day claim you

Courting the seasons, bending the hands of time
dauntless was I in My search for you

My heart is now and forever your home
as My home now gracefully enfolds your heart

Live with Me, My son, in paradise
that others, too, will soon hear My call

All that I AM I give unto thee
drink from Me the elixir of immortality

Ask of Me and receive My kingdom called heaven
your birthright, your destiny, your inheritance

Having vanquished Fate
a single ray has returned unto the Sun.


- Louix Dor Dempriey

Many companies world-wide now produce plastic from corn starch. Some of these are Sanyo, Sony, Mitsubishi, and Nature Works. These companies produce products such as food packaging, CDs and electronics products cases all made from plastic derived from corn starch.

'The Cooperative Research Centre (CRC) for International Food Manufacture and Packaging Science', developed biodegradable plastic, and has sold the formula to start up company Plantic Technologies (Australia), which specialises in turning plants into plastic.

If you are interested in knowing more about 'corn-based plastic', then
you may like to do a search for "Corn Plastic" on Google - "Corn Plastic".

Enlightenment

An Interview with Bhagavan Sri Pranananda



(The following excerpts were taken from an interview granted to a college student who was doing a research paper on Enlightenment.)


What religion are you affiliated with, if any?

BSP: I am affiliated with all religions. All religions were spawned from absolute Truth, through pure hearts who heard the word of God. I AM that Truth and I AM that word. Thus, who I am, and what I speak and teach, predates all religions, and, yet, includes the best of all of them.


What caused you to seek the path of Enlightenment?

BSP: What causes a drop of rain, when it falls from the sky, to return to the sea? I was born with an innate knowingness of God, and the hunger was there from birth. At some point, it became very clear that the trappings of the world offered no true satisfaction to Me. No matter which career I chose, what endeavor I did, there was always a piece missing. I knew that piece was God. And, eventually, that hunger took hold of Me in a way that I could not turn My back on anymore. In truth, I was not seeking Enlightenment, I was just seeking total union with God. I knew nothing about Enlightenment, nor did I think that I was eligible. But what I did know was that I was destined to merge in, and with, the heart of God. And I made a decision, around the age of thirty, to pursue that, at all costs to Myself. No matter what, I had to have it.


What does it mean to be enlightened?

BSP: Enlightenment is a point whereby individuals have transmuted and cleansed more than fifty percent of their karma. At that point, they are freed from the labyrinth of Separation, in which all humans live. It is then that they are God-realized or illumined (these are both synonyms for Enlightenment), and they live as one with God.

Another way of describing it is that an enlightened being has more than fifty percent of his or her consciousness as being love-based. One who is not enlightened has more than fifty percent of his or her consciousness that is still fear-based. A consciousness that is mostly fear-based is ruled by a force, a gravity, that holds you in fear. You may have moments of bliss, moments of ecstasy, moments of rapture, epiphanies and revelations—when you have experiences of profound love and ecstasy. But, because most of your consciousness is still fear-based, that ‘gravity’ eventually will pull you back into a life that is ruled by fear. If you were illumined, the exact opposite would be true. Because most of your consciousness would be love-based, there would be a gravity that would hold you in a love consciousness. In this scenario, you would still have moments—because you are in a human body, living in the world, and interacting with people—when anger would come up or fear would come up or sadness would come up. But, eventually, the gravity of pure love would pull you back into love without your having to really do anything, because you would have crossed that threshold. And that is the meaning of Enlightenment, as well as the differentiation between one who is enlightened and one who is unenlightened.


What does Enlightenment do for you?

BSP: A better question would be to ask, “What do you do for it?” Beings who are enlightened have one motivating factor in life, and that is to serve and help other people. The meaning of Life, itself, is to be in service to a Purpose which is greater than the self. All enlightened people know this and live this.


If someone is enlightened, does he or she retain it for the rest of that lifetime?

BSP: Yes. Enlightenment is a benchmark—a turning point—in the evolution of a soul, and it is the destiny of every soul in existence. All life, all creation, moves in one direction, and that is back unto the Creator. So, no, it cannot be undone, and it cannot fizzle or fade—absolutely not.


What happens to a person who is enlightened, after death?

BSP: The same thing that happens to an unenlightened person, after ‘death.’ First of all, there is no such thing as death, so that renders the question as being rather moot. The only thing that changes when you finish your incarnation is that you are no longer contained in a corporeal form. You are already immortal; you are already an eternal being—everyone is. And you are already part and parcel of the fabric of every cell of creation—every plant, every person, and every object (animate and inanimate, living and dead). When you finish your earthly embodiment, you simply drop that one form. But you are still part of everything, constantly evolving, growing and expanding into greater and greater love.


Does an enlightened person reach a certain state of being and then seek to help others become enlightened?

BSP: Yes. In fact, that is all enlightened people do. That is their vocation.


Do you believe that people have to go through chaos and destruction, or much pain and suffering, before they can seek the path of Enlightenment?

BSP: They do not have to go through chaos and destruction, pain and suffering. However, it just so happens that most everybody does. There have been very, very few exceptions to this, over the course of history. Look at it this way: Suppose you are a ball. And when God drops that ball, that is when you enter Creation. Now, if a ball is falling, when does that ball begin its ascent? The answer is simple: when it hits the ground. This explains the nature of human evolution on Earth. It is when you have hit rock bottom in your own selfish pursuits for sense gratification—for all the material goals and gains, at some point in a given lifetime (and it is not this lifetime for everyone)—that the ball begins its ascent. And in this third dimensional world of polarity, of duality, that does entail much chaos, destruction, pain, and suffering because all pain and suffering is caused by resistance to God’s will. Resistance to God is the sole source of pain and suffering. Therefore, one does beget the other.


Do you believe an enlightened person can tell if someone else is enlightened?

BSP: This is often, but not always, the case.


Is there anything beyond Enlightenment?

BSP: There are as many levels within the realm of Enlightenment as there are within the realm of Separation. Thus, when ones cross the threshold of Enlightenment, they still have an enormous amount of evolution to experience. In fact, long after you have become illumined (perhaps years and years later), when you have finished refining and purifying all the distortions in your consciousness, you just continue refining the refinements.

You can attain full God-realization, and still continue to expand because God is a quantity that is always increasing. Even though God is the consummation of all the love that exists in all of Creation, that God-head (the totality of God) is also constantly increasing because all of outer Creation (all the aspects or particles of the God-head) are also, each one, constantly ascending into higher vibrations of love, on their journey back into the God-head. Thus, at any moment—even one minute after the ‘Big Bang’—if you put it all back together again, God would be larger than its original mass, because each of those separate pieces would have increased. This is why, once you attain God-realization, you continue growing into greater Love, because so is God, Itself.


What are some of the qualities that an enlightened person possesses?

BSP: Unconditional love, compassion, mercy, forgiveness, a deep level of acceptance, understanding, wisdom, insight, intuition, kindness, and caring... and the list goes on.


Is pain and suffering an individual perception that really has no relevance to our existence?

BSP: Well, it is an individual perception, but it has tremendous relevance to your existence. It is of vital and crucial importance in your life. Pain and suffering is a wonderful thing because it is the barometer that measures your level of resistance to God. Now, interestingly enough, when most people experience pain, they immediately try to numb it. They get pain killers and all kinds of medications. And, if it is emotional pain, they seek distraction. This is why human beings are totally consumed with the vocation of gratifying the senses: sex, drugs, alcohol, gambling, prostitution—anything they can. It is to numb the pain of feeling separate from God.

It is better if you let yourself feel that pain of being separate from God, because it is that very pain that eventually creates the hunger for God. The hunger for God is what creates the Awakening, which creates the seeking, which creates the merging—and then the union—with God. Thus, as you can see, pain and suffering has tremendous relevance to your existence. It is one of the greatest gifts you can ever have—and ever know. Remember also: A heart at peace knows no suffering, regardless of circumstance.


How do we inform others about Enlightenment, if they know nothing? Should we inform others, or do they have to seek the path of Enlightenment on their own?

BSP: You are informing others right now. Now, should you inform others? ‘Should’ is a non-existing word. It is an illusion. ‘Should,’ ‘try’—those words do not exist; there is no such thing. What you ‘should’ do is just ‘Be Love.’

Do people have to seek the path of Enlightenment on their own? Absolutely. That is an individual journey. The return to God is wholly the responsibility of the individual. The awakening of the dormant, or slumbering, consciousness is like a time capsule in the heart and mind of every human being. And on that one given day, in one given moment, somewhere in the evolution of a soul, the bubble bursts and an individual becomes ‘the Seeker’.


Do you know what it means to be in a state of ‘Nirvana?’ If so, what does it mean?

BSP: I know what it means to be in a state of Nirvana, because that is the state in which I live. What it means, simply, is that no circumstance, no person, nor any event has the power or ability to move Me or tempt Me out of the space of unconditional love. I live in pure love and pure joy all the time. I still have certain feelings and moods. There are some things that I find distasteful, and there are certain behaviors in people that I may not like. But I have never stepped out of seeing someone as pure love, (out of) seeing through the eyes of pure love, or seeing the absolute, God-filled vibration of every cell of Creation in every single moment, period. In other words, you have cloudy days and sunny days, and you are affected by them as cloudy and sunny. Because I live in a state of Nirvana, when it is dark and cloudy and rainy, I still fully see the sun behind the clouds, and I experience the sun, even though I am experiencing the clouds and the rain along with you.


Do you believe chaos and destruction is caused by God, and why do we perceive it this way?

BSP: The only thing that is caused by God is love: the creation of love, the giving of love, the sharing of love, and the blessing of love. God is a river that is constantly flowing with pure, unconditional love. Why humans perceive God as the cause of chaos and destruction is because human beings live in the illusion of being separate from God. Thus, they have this natural chip on their shoulders, which speaks: “God, you abandoned me; God, you hurt me; God, you did this to me.” People live in victim consciousness, so they blame God for everything and give God credit for next to nothing. But that is one more testimonial of God’s unconditional love—that God keeps loving and giving anyway. Even for people who have renounced God, or say that they do not believe in God… Is not God still inflating their lungs after every exhalation, and do not their hearts continue to beat? Neither one of those has an ostensible power source. So it is the Creator that continues inflating the lungs and beating the hearts. There is no greater testimonial as to the level of God’s unconditional love for His children.


Do people have to reach Enlightenment before they receive the gift of eternal life?

BSP: No. Everyone is already eternal and immortal. When you attain Enlightenment, what changes is that you now have the experience of your own inherent divinity and immortality. Couple that with the knowing that it is the dharma and destiny of your soul—you have no ultimate say in this process or outcome; it is going to happen anyway, because of you and/or in spite of you—and you, like most, would immediately come to the realization of, “Why not just do it now?”


What happens to those who have not achieved Enlightenment before they die? Do they have to come back to this world?

BSP: You only have one true, full incarnation on Earth, and that is the one in which you are now living. What you understand to be your past lives are lives that your soul experiences vicariously through others, to prepare itself for its one journey on Earth. Furthermore, if you do not realize God in your one lifetime on Earth, you continue vicariously through (what you understand as) future lifetimes, assuming and absorbing the experiences of others as part of your evolution. The journey to God-realization has to be achieved on Earth and through human incarnations. In other words, if it is not done in your lifetime, you still have to work through the human factor to realize God.

Now that poses an interesting subject, because many people find great comfort in believing “Well, I can just come back and finish.” If you truly knew you only had one chance, you would really make the most of it. People waste a lot of their lives. They either glorify themselves over all these wonderful things they did in the past, or they procrastinate by saying, “Well, I can just do it in my next life.” Luxuriating and indulging in past lives and future lives are excuses people give themselves for not making the most of their one, true life on Earth—the one in which they are now living.

Why, might you ask, does what I just said seem to contradict what has been taught by other Masters, mystics, sages—and even some religions—with regard to past lives and reincarnation? There really is no conflict. The world was not ready (until now) to hear of this one, Higher Truth. Humanity needed to see and experience the cost of laziness, procrastination, lack of caring, and trying to pass the responsibility onto others. The state of this world now shows it.

It is only by your adopting full responsibility for all of Creation—knowing that you are God, and that everything and everyone on this planet is you—that the Miracle of miracles can happen, both in your life and in this world. “It’s all up to me” must become your life mantra. Act as if you are the only person on this planet—because you are—fragmented into seven billion pieces (people), as well as all the plants, animals, objects, and events. It is all you. All it takes is one. Jesus proved this. Gandhi proved this. That one is you.

It is only by truly knowing and believing that this life is all you have, that you will finally know and experience the precious sacredness of life, appreciate the gift that it is, and then act accordingly in treating it with love and respect.


If a person has achieved Enlightenment, does that mean he or she does not have any karmic debts left to pay? And do karmic debts have to be paid in order to achieve Enlightenment?

BSP: Karmic debts do have to be paid in order to attain Enlightenment. That is the journey and the process—the purification of the self. You are made as Pure Love, in the image of Pure Love, and you came into the world with a promise to be only love, to learn of love, and to spread love. Furthermore, you are responsible and accountable for every single creation of yours (and there are four levels of creation—thought, feeling, word, and action). And you promised that all four levels of your creation, in every moment, would be of pure love. So, for any time that you create anything that is less than pure love, your soul already had a promise that it would clean it up and restore it to pure love. Now, if you do not take responsibility and accountability, and make restitution and clean up your mess, then the universe acts on your behalf, with your promise and agreement, to do that for you. And that is the understanding of the Law of Karma. The Law of Karma is the Law of Balance. The universe is always in perfect balance, in every moment. If you are fully accountable and responsible, you can balance the karma yourself and not have to have things happen to you. You see, the physical plane is the densest plane of Creation, and the last place anything appears.

Any time you step out of love, you automatically know it—everyone knows it. The heart is the seat of the soul, which is the seat of your own divinity, which is the seat of your own omniscience. The truth is that the heart knows everything in every moment, and, when you think, feel, say, or act anything outside of pure love, you know it. In the private and still of your night, you know. And you have a choice to go rectify that situation and restore it to love, or to be a victim, and then have the universe do it for you. And that is the understanding of why karmic things happen to people, because they do not want to be responsible to sew only seeds of love.

If a person has achieved Enlightenment, yes, he still may have karmic debts to pay. I said, earlier, that attaining Enlightenment is when you cross the fifty-yard line, when you have transmuted and purified more than fifty percent of your consciousness back into unconditional love—the vibration of God. So, theoretically, one may still have up to forty-nine percent remaining to transmute, to purify.


If that is the case, then what about the karma that we are healing from past lives and this lifetime?

BSP: I have already spoken about past lives. There is just you—the totality of you. The principle is the same. Karma is karma. You acquire that which you need as part of the journey to God-realization. Past, present, future—it is all the same. You are created by God as pure love. You enter into the illusion of Separation. And the purpose of every soul’s journey on Earth is to reunite and merge with the Creator, as Pure Love. It is to discover love, remember love, purify into love, become love, and spread love that you were born.

- Bhagavan Sri Pranananda