Forever Expanding Awareness In Liberation

A friend has recently brought the content of a particular translation and interpretation of the famous Bhagavad-Gita to my attention. That, and also a relatively well known — although perhaps now dead — Indian Guru that taught the content of the Gita to his students (the modern Hare Krishna movement). I was reading through some of this edition of the Gita and also a book by this Guru on “Bhakti Yoga” (the path of devotional yoga — the attainment of enlightenment through devotion to a Guru).

As I read this book I was starkly aware of what to me come across as major limitations in this sort of Eastern doctrine. In my experience, a dominant slant in these two books (this version of the Gita and the Bhakti Yoga book) was towards the notion that the soul of he who is unenlightened is tainted, impure, unable to contain ANY light, and essentially condemned to living hell until such time as this person finds a true Guru/Teacher and devotes himself entirely to such a Guru. This Guru will then guide the poor fellow toward his salvation. Without such guidance he will get nowhere and will remain forever tainted as a soul, stuck in the perpetual cyclic illusion of life in the material world. A pretty grim view of things, I would say, and one that sounds awfully similar to the Fundamentalist Christian view that we are all born with original sin, condemned to an afterlife in hell (for ever) unless we surrender ourselves to this particular fundamentalist version of Jesus Christ out Saviour, amen.
According to this particular Guru, the “three gateways” to certain hell are Lust, Desire, and Ignorance (I think I’ve remembered that correctly). The aspirant must be sure to renounce all Lust and Desire (oh, it may have been Lust and Greed), and to purify himself. Only when he is completely pure will he be ready to meet his Guru. As soon as he is 100% pure his Guru will appear and help eliminate his ignorance, so that he might be “saved” from this hellish world of the material plane.

Gosh. What an interesting thing to invest ones belief, energy, and personal power into. Sounds rather horrific to me.

My friend pointed out that it reminded her of the Bible. Hmmm… not wrong there.

What is it about man and the ego, that can take the words of an Enlightened Being and mash those words up to the point where they so completely contradict what that Being was on about that we’re left with nothing but fear inducing and condeming tripe? No wonder so many people get one taste of religion and run… swearing to avoid anything remotely spiritual for ever and a day. I don’t blame them.

Well… I can only come back to the point and the Truth — as I experience it — that EVERY-THING has a perfect purpose and function in the grand scheme of things—that of Forever Expanding Awareness in Liberation. Everything (such as spiritualist views such as those I experience in this teachers work) also has its place in the world of each man and women who invests their attention into it.

Blessings…