Four Mantras

The essential mantra is silence. This mantra represents the Heart.

The primary mantra is the breath. This mantra represents the Beloved.

The mantra of awareness is the mind. This mantra represents the Buddha.

The mantra of life is the body. This mantra represents the Jivanta.

Differences and Non-differences

There are both differences and non-differences between Yeshu of Nazareth and Siddhartha Gautama; between Muhammad and Guru Nanak; between Sri Krishna and Abraham; between Vardhamana and Kongfutzu; between Zarathustra and Ramana Maharshi. Each is different, because each has limitations as well as advantages; each is non-different, because each can act as the ishta-guru, or 'chosen guru', the spiritual friend. The charge of 'relativism' does not apply, since differences are acknowledged. The charge of 'exclusivism' does not apply, since non-differences are acknowledged. And if none of the above seem worthy of being a spiritual friend, then an infinite number of other events awaits your attention.

The Life of the Prophet

The life of the prophet is like that of someone walking upon a rope: matter on one side and spirit on the other; heaven on one side and earth on the other; the imperfect self journeying towards perfection and at the same time bearing the burden of numberless souls, many of whom have not yet learned to walk even upon the earth. In the history of the prophets, at whatever time they have come on earth, one reads of their struggle being fourfold: struggle with self, struggle with the world, struggle with friends, and struggle with foes; and yet many wonder why a prophet should be a warrior! Most people know that the Prophet Muhammad was a warrior, but are unaware of the fact that Moses had the same experience; and very few know that the whole lives of the prophets of India, Rama and Krishna, were nothing but warfare from beginning to end. Their scriptures are full of the wars and battles that went on all through their lives, and if some prophets apparently did not have to wage war, then they had some other form of warfare to go through. The blood of the martyrs was the foundation of the Church.
-- Hazrat Inayat Khan

The Fourth Truth

And this is the Fourth Truth of the Way of Abhaya. The Way of Abhaya consists of (1) fearless view, (2) fearless intention, (3) fearless speech, (4) fearless action, (5) fearless livelihood, (6) fearless effort, (7) fearless concentration, and (8) fearless awareness.

The Third Truth

And this is the Third Truth of the Fall of Bhaya and the Rise of Abhaya: the remainderless fading and dimming, renunciation, relinquishment, release, and defeat of that very bhaya; and the absolute appearance and brightening, engagement, embodiment, incorporation, and victory of that very abhaya. That is, to shine as the Heart dims that very bhaya; to fight at the side of the Beloved defeats that very bhaya. To shine as the Heart brightens that very abhaya; to fight at the side of the Beloved is the victory of that very abhaya.

Four Functions for All Humans

Vayu (air): to study and teach
Agni (fire): to shine and fight
Prithvi (earth): to make and art
Apas (water): to serve and heal

The Second Truth

And this is the Second Truth of the Rise of Bhaya: to forget to shine, and to abandon the fight, lead to bhaya. That is, to forget to shine as the Heart leads to bhaya; and to abandon the fight at the side of the Beloved leads to bhaya.

The First Truth

This is the First Truth of Bhaya: bhaya afflicts birth, bhaya afflicts aging, bhaya afflicts death; bhaya afflicts sorrow and celebration, lamentation and praise, pain and pleasure, grief and joy, and despair and hope; bhaya afflicts association with the loved and unbeloved; bhaya afflicts separation from the loved and unbeloved; bhaya afflicts getting what is wanted and what is unwanted. In short, bhaya afflicts all phenomena.

The Ways Diverse and Unified

The Way of the Jivanta: knowledge of the natural world

The Way of the Buddha: satsang with the Awakened Ones

The Way of the Beloved: ascesis from the Divine Lord

The Way of the Heart: trust in the Unconditioned

Out and In

The Heart is neither transcendent nor immanent.

The Beloved is fully transcendent.

The Buddha is fully transcendent and immanent.

The Jivanta is fully immanent.


The breath-cycle replicates the nature of reality.

Breathing-in mirrors the Jivanta.

The stillness-after-breathing-in mirrors the Buddha.

Breathing-out mirrors the Beloved.

The stillness-after-breathing-out mirrors the Heart.


Each breath is communion.

Awareness of the breath awakens the Heart.

We're all Buddhists Now

Buddham saranam gacchami: I take refuge in the Buddha

Dhammam saranam gacchami: I take refuge in the Dhamma

Sangham saranam gacchami: I take refuge in the Sangha


"Official" Buddhists take refuge in the Triple Gem, by reciting some version of the Threefold Refuge. The Refuge, though, also has meaning that transcends religious boundaries. Christians take refuge in Christ, Muslims in Muhammad (which is not to say that Muslims see Muhammad as divine, however), Jews in Moses (since Mosaic, and not some other person's, law is followed by Jews), Vaishnavas in Vishnu, for instance. Christians take refuge in the Gospel, Muslims in the Qur'an, Jews in the Torah, Vaishnavas in the Srimad Bhagavatam, and so on. Christians finally take refuge in the Church, Muslims in the Ummah, Jews in the Minyan, Vaishnavas in Satsang, et cetera.

Days, Planets, Buddhas

Sunday: Sun: Dattatreya
Monday: Moon: Radha-Krishna
Tuesday: Mars: Yeshu
Wednesday: Mercury: Siddhartha Gautama
Thursday: Jupiter: Guru Nanak
Friday: Venus: Muhammad
Saturday: Saturn: Abraham

I Bind You Together

Have your eating and drinking in common. I bind you together. Assemble for worship of the Lord, like spokes around a hub. Of one mind and one purpose I make you, following one leader. Be like the Gods, ever deathless! Never stop loving!

Atharva Veda 3.30.6-7. VE

H3

What is "religion"?

Among the definitions given here, definition number four looks to be the basic definition from which sprung all the others.

4. A cause, principle, or activity pursued with zeal or conscientious devotion.

Beliefs about supernatural powers would then represent one, common way that people can be inspired to zealous devotion. Why this zeal? What's the purpose?

Middle English religioun, from Old French religion, from Latin religi, religin-, perhaps from religre, to tie fast.

"Religion" likely evolved from the Latin verb "religare", "to tie fast", or "to tightly connect", or "to bind again".

Latin religre, to bind fast : re-, re- + ligre, to bind

From "religare" comes the English word "rely". From "ligare" comes words like "ligate", "oblige", and "league".

"Re-" prefix carries a particular meaning, "again" or "back". To bind again implies that a prior binding, or union, existed.

To practice religion is to re-connect with what you had lost. The need to practice religion implies that one is not fully whole, that there is something missing. In Eastern Orthodox Christian terms, what was lost was the intimate communion with God in the Garden of Eden; and Jesus Christ becomes the way by which the communion is not simply restored but also cultivated and perfected. In Meher Baba's theo-cosmology, what was lost was unity with God; and Meher Baba becomes the way by which that unity is not simply restored but also cultivated and perfected. I'm not too sure about the Orthodox position on this issue, but for Meher Baba, the priori unity of God was an unconscious unity. God wanted to become conscious, and thus asked "Who am I?", simultaneously leading to the creation of the cosmos and of living beings within, and a part of, that cosmos. Living beings then evolve their separate centers of awareness, from atoms on up to mankind. Mankind is then able to evolve in spiritual awareness, into re-union with God, but now this new God-Union (unlike the prior unconscious unity) is filled with awareness.

Religion can be seen as the process of making whole, of re-uniting separate parts.

Something that has healed is now whole. Both "whole" and "heal"; as well as "holy" and "hallow", as in "Hallowed be Thy name"; come from the same Indo-European root "kailo", "whole", "uninjured".

Religion then, essentially, is truly "holy": healing, health, and wholeness, whether physically, energetically, emotionally, intellectually, or spiritually.

The Magician

The Magician

A youthful figure in the robe of a magician, having the countenance of divine Apollo, with smile of confidence and shining eyes. Above his head is the mysterious sign of the Holy Spirit, the sign of life, like an endless cord, forming the symbol for infinity, or the figure 8 in a horizontal position. About his waist is a serpent-cincture, the serpent appearing to devour its own tail. This is familiar to most as a conventional symbol of eternity, but here it indicates more especially the eternity of attainment in the spirit. In the Magician's right hand is a wand raised towards heaven, while the left hand is pointing to the earth. This dual sign is known in very high grades of the Instituted Mysteries; it shows the descent of grace, virtue and light, drawn from things above and derived to things below. The suggestion throughout is therefore the possession and communication of the Powers and Gifts of the Spirit. On the table in front of the Magician are the symbols of the four Tarot suits, signifying the elements of natural life, which lie like counters before the adept, and he adapts them as he wills. Beneath are roses and lilies, the flos campi and lilium convallium, changed into garden flowers, to show the culture of aspiration. This card signifies the divine motive in man, reflecting God, the will in the liberation of its union with that which is above. It is also the unity of individual being on all planes, and in a very high sense it is thought, in the fixation thereof. With further reference to what I have called the sign of life and its connection with the number 8, it may be remembered that Christian Gnosticism speaks of rebirth in Christ as a change "unto the Ogdoad." The mystic number is termed Jerusalem above, the Land flowing with Milk and Honey, the Holy Spirit and the Land of the Lord. According to Martinism, 8 is the number of Christ.

The Ocean of Fire

Mind has the habit of getting exalted, and then going down. Sometimes it is full of doubt. So, in one's spirit of trying to seek Truth, one sometimes gets in a mess and feels dry at heart. God and love for God are not child's play. In love, you have to be ready to drown yourself in the ocean of fire.

Jesus was never serious about anything, except about God, whose incarnation he was. He was serious about himself and God, with whom he was one. Otherwise, he was so lighthearted that he even got crucified for others, with the same lightness of heart. Why? Because he had no wants at all. He did not want, he gave. So the only thing that God wants is not ceremony, not yogas. He wants love, the love that makes you forget yourself in him.

Do you know that Jesus told his disciples, "Leave everything and follow me"?....So unless and until you are wholeheartedly prepared to follow someone who you think true, like Jesus, the best thing for you would be not to submit to anyone. Just go on following the inner voice. Can you surrender absolutely...? Just ask yourself. Be honest to the very core. If not, do not bother about it.

-- Meher Baba; 16 May 1952; Myrtle Beach, South Carolina