A Continuation of the Commentary on Theologia Germanica, by the Frankfurter.
“Now when that which is Perfect is come, then that which is in part shall be done away.” But when doth it come? I say, when as much as may be, it is known, felt and tasted of the soul.
Those spirits which are sufficiently purified and evolved can know, feel and experience the infinite, though themselves finite. This is the fundamental purpose of creation and their entry into it.
But when will they be purified and evolved enough for this to take place? That is totally in their hands. God has already done everything necessary in the projection and supervision of the creation; the rest is up to them. They and they alone will decide when the Great Moment will come. But first the entire situation must be completely under their control. Wishing, aspiring, praying, affirming, and rousing up the will, emotions and intellect can accomplish nothing but further delusion and bondage.
The means
Yoga and yoga alone is the means of control and ultimate mastery. The aspirant must become a yogi, not a dabbler or disciple (read: groupie), but a proficient (and therefore self-sufficient) practitioner of the supreme science of yoga. From that moment onward it is all according to yogi’s application and diligence.
Because this is so, in the Yoga Sutras (1:20) Patanjali tells us that the yogi must have developed the effective faith, energy, understanding and high intelligence necessary for the attainment of samadhi. (For samadhi is not the end but the beginning of actual yoga.) Then he says that “it [samadhi] is nearest to those whose desire [for samadhi] is intensely strong” (v. 21). But that of itself is not enough. Effort must be put forth. So he continues: “A further differentiation [arises] by reason of the mild, medium and intense [nature of means employed]” (v. 22). And finally: “By total giving of the life to God” (v. 23). As the Gita affirms: “In yoga, the will is directed singly toward one ideal” (Bhagavad Gita 2:41): God-realization. The Krishna speaks of “that concentration of the will which leads a man to absorption in God” (Bhagavad Gita 2:44).
Now, considering all these necessary prerequisites, how many successful yogis do you think there will be? Krishna says in the Gita: “Who cares to seek for that perfect freedom? One man, perhaps, in many thousands. Then tell me how many of those who seek freedom shall know the total truth of my being? Perhaps one only” (Bhagavad Gita 7:3). There you have it. Saint Paul said it this way: “Know ye not that they which run in a race run all, but one receiveth the prize? So run, that ye may obtain” (I Corinthians 9:24). Those who do not approach yoga with this understanding and the requisite commitment as well as the strength of mind and heart to carry it all through are destined to fail. This is simple fact without favor or prejudice.
For the lack lies altogether in us, and not in it. In like manner the sun lights the whole world, and is as near to one as another, yet a blind man sees it not; but the fault thereof lies in the blind man, not in the sun.
By “lack” two kinds of deficiency are meant. One is simple limitation. We do not fly because we have no wings and cannot live underwater because we have no gills. There is no fault in this.
But the other is limitation and lack from making no effort to extend our limitation because we consider it too much trouble or simply have no interest in it at all. We live surrounded by people who never give God or spiritual life a thought. They will think about flying to the moon before thinking about God or spiritual life. In some this is a (no-fault) matter of lack of evolution, and in others a sign of conscious negativity and aversion to higher consciousness and God the Highest.
As already pointed out, there is no lack on God’s part, for the very presence of creation is evidence of His doing all to help us onward in evolution. As Yogananda once pointed out, we already have God’s blessing, but we lack our blessing for spiritual life. “What is man’s will and how shall he use it? Let him put forth its power to uncover the Atman, not hide the Atman: man’s will is the only friend of the Atman: his will is also the Atman’s enemy. For when a man is self-controlled, his will is the Atman’s friend. But the will of an uncontrolled man is hostile to the Atman, like an enemy” (Bhagavad Gita 6:5, 6).
The nearest of the near
Through His omnipresence God is near to every single person “that they should seek the Lord, if haply they might feel after him, and find him, though he be not far from every one of us: for in him we live, and move, and have our being; for we are also his offspring” (Acts 17:27, 28). Nothing can be closer to us than God. Some people are like compasses with sensitive needles that point always to God; others are like compasses with weak needles that sometimes do and sometimes do not point to God; and others are like compasses with needles that never point to God.
Believe it or not, when I was a boy scout I bought a cheap compass that never pointed north and after a while consistently pointed south! I have met a lot of people in my life whose inner compass was always turned away from God–sometimes intentionally and sometimes not intentionally, but the result was the same.
A sad example
When I was in my teens, one day an elderly man who was known to have a very weak heart came to work on our television set. When he was done he asked my father to play something for him on our organ. I never heard my father play anything but hymns, and this was no exception. But before half a minute had passed the man said to him: “You can save that for when I am laid out.” So my father stopped playing and the man went home and was dead in four days.
Many ignore God, but many have an aversion to God. Our spiritual state and destiny lie in our will alone. Few things are sillier than the “why does God allow?” demand. It is because we have been given freedom by God to be used or misused. It is all up to us.
Further Reading:
- When That Which Is Perfect Is Come: An introduction to the Theologia Germanica
- How Can You Know God?
- Bhagavad Gita for Awakening